Deprecation Guide
What is a deprecation warning? How does it affect you? How do you fix it? This page gives you a guide on how to deal with deprecations.
What does "Deprecated" mean?
Our systems are constantly evolving and growing. This is to give you a better and better product. Unfortunately this means that sometimes things that already exists and that you may be using becomes outdated. There are good reasons for this; maybe the old way had spelling mistakes, was error prone, or simply replaced by something unequivocally better. When this happens, instead of simply changing from one day to the next the alteration goes through the deprecation process.
How does the deprecation process work?
When deprecating some functionality we will begin with a deprecation warning (more below) with instructions on how you should proceed. After a period of time, during which you shall stop using the deprecated functionality we will then finally act on the deprecation. This means different things for different parts of the system, but for you it simply means that you should no longer use the deprecated part of the system.
API Deprecations
When functionality is deprecated in the API we will communicate this in good time giving you ample time to adapt to the changes. If the functionality that was deprecated is used by released products we will work with you to make sure that nothing breaks in existing copies of your game. However, if your game is still in development you should adhere to the deprecation warning and use the recommended replacement.
SDK Deprecations
When functionality is deprecated in the SDKs, you will get warnings in your build if you are using said functionality. Those warnings will tell you how to migrate from the deprecated functionality. Our target is to give you 3 months of advance notice before acting on the deprecation. This target can vary from case to case so we recommend acting on deprecation warnings as soon as possible.
Understanding deprecation warnings
When we deprecate functionality, we will give you as clear of a warning as possible. How we do this varies depending on how you interface with our product. Invariant of the delivery of the deprecation warning you can expect some common pieces of information: What has been deprecated and what you need to do to adapt.
API Deprecation Warnings
When we deprecate something in the API we will along with the response return a X-Endpoint-Deprecated: true header. This is a sign for you to change something in your usage of the endpoint. That could mean simply changing out a parameter, or discontinuing usage of the endpoint completely. You can find more information in the API docs. Either in the list of deprecations (https://ref.lootlocker.com/game-api/#deprecations, https://ref.lootlocker.com/server-api/#deprecations, https://ref.lootlocker.com/admin-api/#deprecations) or in the documentation for the specific endpoint that gave the warning.
Console Deprecation Warnings
If we deprecate something in the console that requires you change something in your game, we will give you a clear warning visually in the console. If you're uncertain about what a warning means then please reach out to us.
SDK Deprecation Warnings
When we deprecate something in the SDK it will be very obvious to you if you are using that functionality. Most IDE:s will give you a clear sign that you're using deprecated functionality. For example, this is what it looks like in Visual Studio:
If you hover it or go into it's documentation then you can see the deprecation message. Similarly, these are examples for how it will look when building with Visual Studio, using the functionality in Unity, and using it in Blueprints in Unreal Editor respectively.
When viewing the detailed information of the deprecation warning our intention is to always give you a brief explanation of how to fix the problem. For more detailed instructions, see the respective Deprecation Log for your SDK (Unity, Unreal).
Help, something I was using is gone. What do I do?
It happens. Maybe you missed the deprecation warning, or we had to move fast for some reason. In these situations please do the following: Look through the corresponding deprecation log (Console, API, Unity SDK, Unreal SDK), we should have instructions there for fixing your problem. If not, then search through the changelog for notes on the issue. If you still cannot find what you're looking for, then reach out in a support channel appropriate for your support tier.
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