Source Control Management (SCM) is the name given to the
method of working with sub-versions or backups of your
projects through a repository and local source. Basically, an SCM
solution is an independent software package which controls all the
aspects of maintaining, changing and comparing versions of your
project as you work on it. This is especially useful to those that
work in a team and need to be able to control who does what and not
worry about losing data or making changes that may need to be
undone at a later date, but individuals can benefit from this
powerful yet flexible system too.
We recommend that you have some working knowledge
of how source control works before attempting to use it in
GameMaker: Studio.
There are various SCM tools available to you, and GameMaker: Studio permits you to use the three most popular:
NOTE: You can use other SCM solutions, but these are the ones that GameMaker has tutorials and default configurations for. Other tools will require you to set up custom profiles, which are explained briefly on the page Source Control Preferences.
If you are not too familiar with SCM solutions then we recommend
you use SVN and install a user-interface like TortoiseSVN.
GameMaker: Studio comes bundled with the 1.7 and 1.8
versions of SVN by default, so if you use this option make sure
that the user-interface you use is for the either of the those
versions (preferably the 1.8 version). Both GIT and Mercurial are
advanced SCM solutions and require that you have a good working
knowledge of how SCM works, and prior experience with both is a
benefit if possible.
It is important to note that we recommend that you change the
following Preferences before continuing to activate SCM in
GameMaker: Studio:
The following sections outline the necessary steps that you need to take to get Source Control working in GameMaker: Studio:
NOTE: This functionality is limited to the Professional
Version of GameMaker: Studio.