General terms and concept about version control

I use SubVersion for version control.

commonly there are three directory :

/trunk
/branches
/tags

trunk is use for mainline development, where developer commit source to it everyday.

it is where the latest source located. for keeping daily changes.

branch is a line of development that exists independently, but share a common history.

just like Joomla and Mambo. for keeping releases. e.g. version 1.0

tag is a snapshot of the whole project, just like a release. nobody should commit anything to it.

e.g. version 1.0.0

bugs and features are handled in trunk and then port to branch, you may take another snapshot. e.g. version 1.0.1.

if a core design or architecture change, then move to another branch. e.g. version 2.0.

this is just a concept, you should find your own which makes you comfortable.

Using SVN (Tortoise) on local binary files

Well, I used to use svn on software development.

But I never setup the svn server, that’s not my resposibility.

When I play some games recently, I start to think,

maybe I can do a version control on autosave game.

Then I use tortoise, a svn client and Diablo 2 to test it.

Tortoise is claimed to be a svn client, but the thing is, it works

just like a server on local files. hmm, makes me wonder what ‘client’ means.

anyway, here is the flow of how to use it on game save.

1. create a folder for your repository.

and then right-click on it, select ‘create repository …’

then just use default setting.

2. go to the game save folder, right-click, select ‘import…’

search the repository folder in your file system, import into it.

3. delete you files in the game save folder.

then right-click on the folder, select ‘check out…’

3. check out those files, then you are ready, those files are now monitored by svn.

if they are modified, a red cross will be shown, you can then commit new version to the repository.

if you want to revert to previous game save, just delete all files, right-click, choose ‘revert…’

Have fun with version control.