Though, is there a way to work onto the save files? having to restart when there is a new update everytime because its not compatible anymore might prove to be a bit bothersome.
It depends on the release really, I have been reworking the back-end pretty hard for the last few releases so it's been almost impossible to upgrade saves between versions. I expect it to be that way a bit more as I change the code's workflow but once that's done I'll be able to support old saves again like I did in older versions of the game.