Have you ever had all your work disappear because of a computer failure? Or, have you ever saved over a document and lose everything? Okay, last one, have you ever had to maintain multiple versions of the same document?
All of these in my opinion suck and should be a lot easier; this is where version control comes in.
What Is Version Control
Version control is technology that allows you to preserve information and maintain multiple versions of files. Yep, that’s right, no more ridiculous backup folders or losing information stored on your computer.
Now, you might be thinking that’s awesome, but I’m sure it costs money! Well, yes, but no!
Version Control Technology
The actual technology for version control is straight-forward and available for free. Some examples are git and subversion. These technologies allow you, the user to make use of version control on your computer. But, there is a catch.
You would have to learn how to use a computer terminal. Have no fear, we have the technology for those who don’t want to go that deep in terms of a couple of desktop applications. Here is a list of a few: Github desktop, Source Tree, Tortoise GitKraken, and SmartGit.
Now, the deal gets even sweeter; we can also store all the code, images, and information privately online so that it’s safe.
Remote Repositories
In the programming world, we call the online storage space of files under version control a repository. There are three main websites that do this: Github, Gitlba, and Bitbucket. Each one lets you do version control online. You can store the files online publicly or privately on each of these platforms.
Yes, that means your super-secret project can stay secret. More importantly, you as a user can easily collaborate with other users. If you bring artists and other people onto the project, you can easily work with them without having to constantly pass the game files around. This can improve development speed.
With that said, I wish you luck with your projects and have a good one!