Version Management for Games Developers (White Nights Conference St. Petersburg 2017) The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

1. Version Management
for Game Developers
Sven Erik Knop
Perforce Software

2. 2
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

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

5. 5
Working with Version Management (1)
#include <game.h>
int main()
{
InitialiseGame();
PopulateWorld();
SetUpOpponents();
StartUpGame();
}

6. 6
Working with Version Management (2)
#include <game.h>
#include <login.h>
int main()
{
LogOnUser();
InitialiseGame();
PopulateWorld();
SetUpOpponents();
StartUpGame();
}

7. 7
Working with Version Management (3)
#include <game.h>
#include <loot.h>
int main()
{
InitialiseGame();
PopulateWorld();
SeedLoot();
SetUpOpponents();
StartUpGame();
}

8. 8
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 release
Requires tooling!
Stable

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Milestone branches
Stabilise in separate branch
Merge fixes, ignore hacks

22. Perforce Helix

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Flexible Workflow
Version control, code reviews, simple file sharing, distributed,
Git
Fast and Scalable
From 10 to 10,000+ users, unlimited files
Every file
Efficiently handles large, often binary, data
All contributors
Familiar tools, natural workflows
Anywhere
Supports geographically distributed teams
Secure
Granular permissions, theft risk monitoring
Open and Extensible
APIs and integration hooks for customization
Introducing Perforce Helix
Next 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)

28. Thank You
Questions?