will i need to start a new save for changes to take place from BETA to release, i hope not i've a pretty solid save as it is and spent a lot of time on it
It depends on the kind of change, some hotfixes can change existing games. Whereas there are certain patches where a new save is required for the changes to take effect. It's just a matter of finding out which is the case after each update, which is simple enough on the SI forums (Or this forum) I would imagine.