Why No Version/Edition Numbers?

[Lofgeornost]

I've recently been looking through some of my collection of games in PDF format--which nowadays dwarfs my actual physical collection--and I've been running into the same problem repeatedly. I will have multiple copies of a PDF of a particular game or supplement, acquired at different times--normally this is the result of buying the game on my own and then getting it in some sort of bundle later. And it's really hard to tell which is the latest version of the game, or if two of the versions are identical. The file date doesn't help, since that's when I saved it, not when it was generated. Often the file names do not help either--some writers/publishers seem to provide updated versions of games without changing the filename, or you can't tell from the name which is older and which younger. Nor does the information appear in the text itself.

I find myself scratching my head over this. I would think it would not be that hard to include a line in the front matter of any game, where you have the copyright information anyway, stating 'this is version X.Y created on date Z.' Nor would it be difficult to number versions in the filename itself--and some games actually do this, which is great. But a surprising number don't seem to note the version either in the filename or the front pages of text.

I would think that information would be useful for the creator as well, for keeping track of just what version of the work a given electronic file represents. So I'm puzzled that it often doesn't seem to appear anywhere.

 

[Fenris-77]

I tend to file my PDFs in a way that avoids this problem (my new Trophy PDFs are in a file folder called Trophy New, for example), and I sometimes rename the files for clarity. i agree that Rev numbers would be a useful thing to have though.

 

[gruagach]

The only file structure you'll ever need!

 

[The Mad Hatter]

I tend to file my PDFs in a way that avoids this problem (my new Trophy PDFs are in a file folder called Trophy New, for example), and I sometimes rename the files for clarity. i agree that Rev numbers would be a useful thing to have though.

This doesn't mean you couldn't have the info Lofgeornost is asking for. What he's asking for is something similar to what you see in a printed book; you know stuff like First edition, First printrun and such.
I agree that it would be nice to have this.

 

[Bunch]

You could see if this thread helps.

Wanted:Duplicate file detection-elimination for PCs

So for over a decade I had a little 1.3 Terabyte NAS that I jammed files on (Ready as NV+) that worked like a champ. My PC had a tiny 120Gig SSD drive for the OS and things that wouldn't go on the NAS. It failed. So I installed three 2 Terabyte drives on my of and in the span of a year I have...

www.rpgpub.com

 

[Exploderwizard]

Have you tried right clicking on a couple of suspected identical files to get properties? There should be a file creation date there that might be helpful.

 

[Neon]

Well... I guess if you were super motivated you could open each file and check the printed date (like one would do and find in the first pages of dead tree editions).
Small editing corrections usually don't require a new edition, so they just correct in later printings.

 

[Voros]

No one seems to think they need to have some kind of naming protocol for their files, including my co-workers at work!

 

[bleys21]

Since I work in IT, this is a pet peeve of mine with RPG PDF's. Please, for the love of whatever tentacled Old Gods you worship, just put a fucking version in the damn thing, just like software!

 

[AsenRG]

Since I work in IT, this is a pet peeve of mine with RPG PDF's. Please, for the love of whatever tentacled Old Gods you worship, just put a fucking version in the damn thing, just like software!

...tentacled, you say? Not feathered and honking?

 

[Lychee of the Exchequer]

Since I work in IT, this is a pet peeve of mine with RPG PDF's. Please, for the love of whatever tentacled Old Gods you worship, just put a fucking version in the damn thing, just like software!

Gavin Norman, of Old School Essentials' fame, does it with his pdfs' filenames on Drivethru. But then 50% of OSE's appeal is rational re-ordering of B/X rules (and I love it), so it figures.

 

[robertsconley]

Since I work in IT, this is a pet peeve of mine with RPG PDF's. Please, for the love of whatever tentacled Old Gods you worship, just put a fucking version in the damn thing, just like software!

Already on top of it.

 

[Jacob Rodgers]

One thing on the name challenges re: DriveThru. File management used to be super unintuitive (and I really haven't updated a file in a long while so it might still be). So while you could load a "BadAss RPG November 2023 Errata" file, you couldn't disable "BadAss RPG August 2033 Errata", so you either kept the name the same or trusted users to download the right one (which isn't always obvious or easy).

 

[robertsconley]

One thing on the name challenges re: DriveThru. File management used to be super unintuitive (and I really haven't updated a file in a long while so it might still be). So while you could load a "BadAss RPG November 2023 Errata" file, you couldn't disable "BadAss RPG August 2033 Errata", so you either kept the name the same or trusted users to download the right one (which isn't always obvious or easy).

You can now delete or rename files out of the product listing.

 

[bleys21]

Already on top of it.

View attachment 71806

View attachment 71807

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar!

And yes, there are publishers who are adopting versioning, and for this, I am thankful. I just wish everyone would do it, as it makes it so much easier to see if I have the latest version of a product, rather than having to download it, and do a compare/diff check on the file...

 

[Lychee of the Exchequer]

Maybe it's a dumb question, but what's the difference between "rev." and "ver." in Rob Conley's example ?

 

[Tulpa Girl]

Maybe it's a dumb question, but what's the difference between "rev." and "ver." in Rob Conley's example ?

Just guessing, but I would say 'Revised' and 'Version'.

 

[StubbornMule]

Maybe it's a dumb question, but what's the difference between "rev." and "ver." in Rob Conley's example ?

Not sure how he's using it, but I've worked places that used rev to mean 'revision #', which essentially throws the version number off by one (base_file.doc is the first version, base_file-rev1.doc is the second version, etc). Yes, it caused unneeded confusion over a simple v1, v2, v3, etc system.

 

[Yeti Spaghetti]

I've just started the process of uploading 2nd print run versions of PDFs. My assumption is that DTRPG sends a message to previous customers alerting them that an updated file is ready, and that anyone who wants it will simply delete the old file and save the new one. I guess I'm assuming too much?

I do understand the utility, though, of having a printing date on the copyright page, so I may need to do that on future printings.

 

[bleys21]

I've just started the process of uploading 2nd print run versions of PDFs. My assumption is that DTRPG sends a message to previous customers alerting them that an updated file is ready, and that anyone who wants it will simply delete the old file and save the new one. I guess I'm assuming too much?

I do understand the utility, though, of having a printing date on the copyright page, so I may need to do that on future printings.

This is true, DTRPG does send a notification (if you have your preferences set that way) and I do use that to immediately download the new version(s) and replace the old versions. One issue I ran into multiple times with the new Paranoia game was that there was no way to tell which of the 12 or so files were updated. They all showed the same new date, even though in theory, only one file changed. So I end up downloading all of them, just to be sure. I've only seen that with a few manufacturers, usually as part of a Kickstarter or a BoH delivery. And this may be improved on the new interface, as I haven't downloaded anything since they changed it.

Hence, the way robertsconley does his file naming is extremely appreciated by me :-)

 

[Turkey Lurkie]

when getting a new PDF I put it in a "New" (game name) folder and push out the older PDF to an "Older" sub-folder

 

[Kage2020]

In the deepest, darkest part of my brain I like to think that someone out there would put a game released today in a format like...

20231127_Awesomegame.pdf

I'm not sure that I'll leave that filename intact, but I so want it.

Edit: Typo was driving my batty.

 

[Ynas Midgard]

In the deepest, darkest part of my brain I like to think that someone out there would put a game released today in a format like...

20231127_Awesomegame.pdf

I'm not sure that I'll leave that filename in tact, but I so want it.

I often format my files in a similar way (at least those that don't have version numbers):
Awesomegame [231127].pdf

I've just started the process of uploading 2nd print run versions of PDFs. My assumption is that DTRPG sends a message to previous customers alerting them that an updated file is ready, and that anyone who wants it will simply delete the old file and save the new one. I guess I'm assuming too much?

I do understand the utility, though, of having a printing date on the copyright page, so I may need to do that on future printings.

But do you keep the first printings available for customers or only the latest version?
I think I've been spoiled by open source software, but I like to be able to pick up older versions of things I buy (provided they also come with a list of changes by version number). It's sometimes nice to see the evolution of a product; other times I dislike a "fix" the designer's implemented and just go back to a previous version.

 

[Yeti Spaghetti]

But do you keep the first printings available for customers or only the latest version?
I think I've been spoiled by open source software, but I like to be able to pick up older versions of things I buy (provided they also come with a list of changes by version number). It's sometimes nice to see the evolution of a product; other times I dislike a "fix" the designer's implemented and just go back to a previous version.

Only the latest version. The changes that I'm making are minor error fixes, grammar, minor layout shifts, etc. Plus, after 2nd printings I'm essentially declaring the modules "locked down" and I probably won't be going back in to change or edit anything moving forward.

I will probably also never be printing them again, unless there's some strange demand for old-school percentile horror games all of a sudden. You never know I guess. (Noble Knight Games will soon be selling my first two modules, so we'll see what happens.)

 

[Turkey Lurkie]

I just realized that there is a one set of PDFs that indicates what they are. Troll Lords puts the printing number on their PDF's and HC's. It's somewhere near the title page.

 

[Acmegamer]

I tend to file my PDFs in a way that avoids this problem (my new Trophy PDFs are in a file folder called Trophy New, for example), and I sometimes rename the files for clarity. i agree that Rev numbers would be a useful thing to have though.

Great minds, I started doing the same thing a couple years ago due to this problem and other related problems. I do wish they'd do a simple revision number though, that would indeed be nice.

 

[Ravenswing]

Not that it's hard to change the file name to suit your purposes. I'm an inveterate tinkerer, and my gaming folder has well over six thousand text files in it. If I didn't put the finishing date on every file (and promptly shuffled the outdated ones into an 'Old Stuff' folder), I'd be screwed.

 

[burbles]

What you can do is ask the author politely if they could do this.....


It worked for me!

 

[Lofgeornost]

I tend to file my PDFs in a way that avoids this problem (my new Trophy PDFs are in a file folder called Trophy New, for example), and I sometimes rename the files for clarity. i agree that Rev numbers would be a useful thing to have though.

Yeah, but the problem tends to come when I've bought a game on its own through Drivethru or the publisher's website and then later also got a copy of it from a Bundle. Then I'm not sure that that version I got later is a newer one. It doesn't help when the copyright page for all of the versions, even the latest update, bears a date like 2004 (in one instance).

Have you tried right clicking on a couple of suspected identical files to get properties? There should be a file creation date there that might be helpful.

This doesn't work with Windows; I get for the 'creation date' the date when I transferred things to my latest machine, and the 'date modified' is the date when I downloaded it originally. Interestingly, if I open the file in Acrobat and use its properties function, I do get what I assume is the real creation date. So thanks!

Not that it's hard to change the file name to suit your purposes. I'm an inveterate tinkerer, and my gaming folder has well over six thousand text files in it. If I didn't put the finishing date on every file (and promptly shuffled the outdated ones into an 'Old Stuff' folder), I'd be screwed.

Yes, that works fine as long as you know what version of the file is the latest one. My conundrum is that sometimes as a purchaser I don't.