Version Managementfor Game Developers

Sven Erik Knop

Perforce Software

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What we do

Perforce helps delivery teams build complex products collaboratively, securely and efficiently.

Commonly used for…• Software• Games• Electronics• Animations• Chipsets • Medical Devices• IoT

Global 24x7 Support

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Why version management?

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What is Version Management?

src

img

game.cc

game.h

test.cc

knight.psd

armour.png

shield.psd

File @1 @2 @3 @4 @5 @6game.cc #1 #2game.h #1 #2test.cc #1 #2 #3 #4knight.psd #1 #2 #3armour.psd #1 #2 #3shield.psd #1 #2 #3

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Working with Version Management (1)

#include <game.h>

int main(){

InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

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Working with Version Management (2)

#include <game.h>#include <login.h>

int main(){

LogOnUser();InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

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Working with Version Management (3)

#include <game.h>#include <loot.h>

int main(){

InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SeedLoot();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

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Working with Version Management (4)

#include <game.h>#include <login.h>#include <loot.h>

int main(){

LogOnUser();InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SeedLoot();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

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Merging ...

#include <game.h>

int main(){

InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

#include <game.h>#include <login.h>

int main(){

LogOnUser;InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

#include <game.h>#include <loot.h>

int main(){

InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SeedLoot();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

#include <game.h>#include <login.h>#include <loot.h>

int main(){

LogOnUser();InitialiseGame();PopulateWorld();SeedLoot();SetUpOpponents();

StartUpGame();}

Base

Source

Target

Merged

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Working together on binary files

Merging for binary files?

Locking!

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Single of Source of Truth

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Challenges in Games Development

Why is Games Development so hard?• Besides the obvious I mean …

Average AAA game:• 100 of thousands of files• 1 TB+ source code and assets at HEAD• 50GB + changes a day• 100+ Team size

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Consequences

Continuous integration• Builds take minutes (incremental) to hours (full)• Smoke tests?• Full tests?

Who broke the build? HEAD is not stable!

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Coding practices compared

Different ways to organise your sources There is no single best way

• Team size• Target platform: Mobile/Console/PC/4K/…• Rate of change• Iteration frequency

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Single Code Line

Head

Stable Head still stable?

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Development branches

Long-lived development branches can cause problems

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Task/Feature branches

Keeping feature branches short-lived avoids severe merge conflicts

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3-way merge for binary assets?

Images? 3D models? Sound files?

Locking! Across branches?

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Component-based

Shared trunk

Separate trunks

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Trunk-based Development

Trunk

Release

Extended testing for releaseRequires tooling!

Stable

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Milestone branches

Stabilise in separate branchMerge fixes, ignore hacks

Perforce Helix

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Flexible Workflow Version control, code reviews, simple file sharing, distributed, Git

Fast and ScalableFrom 10 to 10,000+ users, unlimited files

Every fileEfficiently handles large, often binary, data

All contributorsFamiliar tools, natural workflows

AnywhereSupports geographically distributed teams

Secure Granular permissions, theft risk monitoring

Open and ExtensibleAPIs and integration hooks for customization

Introducing Perforce HelixNext Generation Hybrid Version Management

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IDEs

Integrated into your workflow

Game Engines

Build/CI

Image and 3D Tools

+ APIs and many other tools

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Distributed Single Source of Truth

Versioning Service

Proxy

Proxy

Edge Service(humans)D/R

Edge Service(automation)

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Helix Streams

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How do I start?

Perforce is free (without restrictions)• For educational purposes• For Open Source projects• For 5 users / 20 workspaces

www.perforce.com

Hosted, for example, by Assembla (www.assembla.com)

Thank YouQuestions?