Which Version of Unity Should I use? LTS vs Latest Version
If you’re just starting out on your game development journey, and you have decided to go with Unity as your game engine of choice, you’re probably wondering why there are multiple versions of Unity Editor and which one to use.
Long-term support (LTS) versions are generally recommended for beginners and those who look to seriously develop fully-fledged games as they are more stable. The latest non-LTS version is commonly used when there are features unavailable in the LTS versions, which unless you need them, stick with the LTS ones.
There are some differences between versions, and there are multiple versions of LTS. Depending on what you want to do, some may not be suited.
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LTS vs Latest Version of Unity
As the general rule of thumb, you will almost always go with the latest LTS version of Unity as it contains the most features while being the most stable. And as the name suggests, it will be supported for a long, long time.
The LTS version gets updated from time to time with patches that mostly fix minor issues and will never get updated with breaking changes once it has already entered the LTS state.
It is highly recommended that beginners and serious developers who want to make production-ready games stick with the latest version of LTS to avoid the headache from bugs or issues that come with the bleeding edge releases.
The latest non-LTS version of Unity usually contains the most recent features, along with some UI changes. The Non-LTS version of Unity gets updates fairly regularly with bug fixes and sometimes breaking changes. So that’s one thing to keep in mind.
This version is recommended if you want to use the newest features that aren’t available in the LTS versions or there are things you can’t achieve unless it’s the latest version.
… Or you simply want to mess around and try out new features, then feel free to play around with it.
The non-LTS version can also be used if you’re in an early stage of development and want to explore possibilities and start prototyping as it can lead up to becoming a stable LTS release in the following year.
There is also another version called Unity Beta, which is the most of the most bleeding-edge release of Unity Editor and the most bug-ridden out of all the versions. This version is not recommended unless you want to test the latest build and provide feedback to the Unity team.
Both non-LTS version and Beta version get new updates very often, and I really mean VERY often, with minor patches which can be quite annoying to some people.
You can opt for it to never notify you of new versions, but then you might as well use the LTS version if it bothers you so much.
How to Install Different Versions of Unity Editor
There are 2 ways to get Unity Editors: Via Unity Hub and direct download.
Get Unity Editor via Unity Hub
Getting Unity Editor via Unity Hub is the recommended way to install Unity Editor as it lets you manage multiple versions of Unity all in one place, as well as manage your projects.
You can get Unity Hub by going to the official Unity download page. It should be fairly easy to download and install Unity Hub.
Different versions of Unity can then be downloaded and installed by going to the Installs tab of Unity Hub. Click on the Install Editor button on the top right corner to open the version select window.
Once you’ve selected a version you want, you’ll be taken to the Add Modules screen which lets you pick additional features such as the build support for platforms which adds the ability to build for specific platforms of your choosing.
I recommend you also install Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2019 instead of using other IDEs as Unity Editor works perfectly with it right out of the box, saving you the headache of having to configure it.
If you don’t know what modules to pick, or if you’re just starting out, I recommend picking the module that matches the operating system you’re using, i.e. pick Windows Build Support if you’re on a Windows PC, or pick Mac Build Support if you’re on a Mac computer, so you can build your game and try it.
Don’t worry about picking modules too much as you can come back and install more of them later without having to reinstall the editor.
Another good thing about Unity Hub is: You can manage your game projects from within the hub itself.
It also allows you to switch the Unity Editor version of any project in case you want to continue game development on a different version of the editor.
Unity Hub also comes with Unity Learn which is a collection of tutorials you can download and follow from within the editor.
Very convenient, right? I see no reason not to use it.
Get Unity Editor via Direct Download
If, for some reason, you don’t want to use Unity Hub, getting the editor via direct download is also an option.
You can download a specific version of Unity Editor on the Unity Download Archive page.
Find the version you want and download the installer from there.
This is good if you don’t want anything else Unity Hub provides and just want to quickly get to developing your game.
Conclusion
To conclude, pick LTS if you want a stable development environment and don’t want to deal with frequent updates and other issues, especially if you’re a beginner.
Pick a non-LTS release if you want to try out new features or if you’re looking to explore possibilities in the early stage of development.
Or, pick a Beta release if you don’t care about stuff breaking and just want to try out bleeding-edge builds of Unity and want to provide feedback to the Unity team.
Attribution
Unity logo by Unity
