TL;DR
Anchorpoint provides a simplified GameMaker GitHub workflow designed for artists and non-technical users. It is a version control solution that is 100% compatible with Git, allowing you to push GameMaker projects to GitHub without managing complex command-line tools. Key features include automated asset pipelines, file locking to prevent conflicts, and seamless GitHub integration to manage large binary game assets efficiently.
In this tutorial, we will set up GitHub for a GameMaker project, using Anchorpoint as a Git client to push and pull our files to and from GitHub. This all works with the free version of Anchorpoint.
While we won't cover GameMaker's official version control plugin in this article, the engine does have its own Git plugin. This can be accessed through the engine, but you will still need Git and a cloud repository such as GitHub, Azure DevOps, or GitLab.
Used by over 90% of all software development projects, Git is a widely used version control system with a huge ecosystem. While most software developers use it for code, Anchorpoint makes it accessible for GameMaker artists. GitHub is one of the most popular cloud repositories for storing your project, offering automation features that streamline your development. To get your files into the cloud, you can use a desktop application like Anchorpoint, which acts as a bridge for your GameMaker GitHub setup, handling the heavy lifting of pushing and pulling files.
While Git is a free and open source version control system, GitHub with Git LFS offers users 10 GB of free storage and bandwidth. Any additional usage is charged at $0.07 per GB for storage and $0.0875 per GB for outbound data transfer. Alternatively, if your project is large, you can use Azure DevOps, which is free for 5 users and has unlimited storage.
The first thing we need to do is set up GitHub, which will be used as the repository for our GameMaker project.
For this example, we will use Anchorpoint. While it is 100% compatible with Git, Anchorpoint is not just a Git client; it is a complete version control solution that adds missing features like file locking. To begin your GameMaker GitHub integration, download Anchorpoint and connect your GitHub account in the "Integrations" section. This allows Anchorpoint to communicate directly with GitHub's servers to manage your GameMaker project files.
It's important to make daily commits a routine part of your workflow. Whenever you make a significant change, such as creating a new version of your character or implementing a major change to a game mechanic, you should commit those changes. Git commits are fast because they happen locally. Once the commit is complete, you can continue working while all your files are pushed to GitHub in the background.
When using Anchorpoint to work in Git is basically a two-button solution. For example: You browse your Timeline, add a comment and then press Push.
Here are the usual steps to follow:
To avoid file conflicts, some teams work in two or more branches. One might be for programming, and another for design/art. Then, once a week, the programmers might merge the branches. Others work on copies of the same level, one for coding and one for design/art, and again merge them at the end of the week.
Desktop version control applications like Anchorpoint have a file locking system that allows you to lock a file while you are working on it, which can prevent conflicts as you work on the project.
GitHub: They need to create a GitHub account and accept your invite.
Anchorpoint: After receiving your invitation email from Anchorpoint, they will need to download, install and create an account. Once this is done, the first time they open Anchorpoint, they will have to accept the invitation and the project will be detected and opened automatically.
On clicking Join Git Repository, Anchorpoint will ask for a location where the files will be downloaded, and in some cases, a popup will appear requiring your team to install Git before Anchorpoint can proceed.
During the download process, another pop-up window from GitHub will appear that will require your member to authenticate with GitHub in order for Anchorpoint to download the files.
GitHub's free plan has some limitations when it comes to storage and bandwidth, and when you hit those limits, the push will be rejected in Anchorpoint and you'll get an error message. If your project is large, you may want to explore other options such as Azure DevOps or self hosting your Git server with Gitea.
GitHub's free tier plan limits file sizes to 2GB using Git LFS. This limit increases to 4GB if you are on a paid plan.
The free plan for GitHub with Git LFS offers users 10 GB of free storage and bandwidth. Any additional usage is charged at $0.07 per GB for storage and $0.0875 per GB for outbound data transfer.
Git was originally designed to handle code, which consists primarily of text files. However, games contain a large number of binary files, such as 3D models, textures, and sound files. To maintain efficiency and avoid downloading the entire history of your 3D models and textures, Git introduced an add-on in 2014 called Git LFS (Large File Storage). This add-on has since become a standard feature in nearly every Git product and service.
When you choose a Git hosting provider like GitHub, GitLab or Azure DevOps, you have to look at their Git LFS costs.
When a project becomes more complex or the team gets bigger, friction arises. Work in progress commits from e.g. developers can disturb the work of the artist. To prevent this, you can split the project into certain zones. Each zone can then be used by a developer or artist without getting in each other’s way. When the work is finished, these zones are dissolved and merged into the project. Git calls this feature, branches. A short video in our documentation explains them pretty well.
If you need branches, Anchorpoint allows you to create and toggle them using the drop-down list in the Timeline next to the Pull button.
GitHub works well for smaller projects, but once your project size reaches double-digit gigabytes, it's wiser to choose a different Git hosting provider like Azure DevOps or consider self-hosting your Git server. To save you the time and effort of researching your options, we've done a comparison in 2022.
