Working on the same project on a network

Hello,

I remember asking this when C2 wasn't even out yet, and now I'd like to ask the same question but about C2, not Construct Classic;

What's the best way to work on the same project in a network? I have really small team and I'm introducing C2 to them, and since we have to be together to discuss the projects we've been wondering on how to work together.

Is this implemented in C2 already? Will it be? How would it work? Would it be possible for me to save the project and the project updates automatically on everyones computer?

Also, the "Preview on LAN" option seems really good, I'm going to test it later.

Thanks for all the hard work!

Short answer: yes working in team is implemented ^^

For a more elaborate answer: the saved project format is either a single .capx or a folder with a main .caproj file.

A capx is a zipped "caproj folder".

So working as a team with a tool like SVN or even dropbox, you can:

In the case of dropbox: Share the folder between all members of the team. The shared folder is the project folder, meaning that any modification on it is automaticly broadcasted to all the users.

This means indeed that if you modify the project and save, it gets updated in all members folder.

This also means that any member of the team modifying the project will automaticly modify the project for anyone.

But beware, there's no option in C2 that allows to "refresh" the code. You have to close and open again the project to use the "last modified version".

SVN (or SubVersion depending on the version) is a tool specificaly made for team to share source code.

It allows for revisioning and an easier way to manage the handling of modifications on each files.

Tbh, I only toyed with it, alone to see what it was about and it sound pretty powerful.

But I guess your team and yourself have to find your own way to integrate this tool to your workflow.

SVN is advised as files in the folder of a C2 project are mostly .XML/text files (that SVN can very well handle and is designed for. Actualy I'm pretty sure it can even be useful for graphics and any ressource files, keeping the previous versions of the files in need).

This allow a member of your team to work on a specific event sheet (an included one for example) while you're working on another one, and another member works on a layout, etc...

And when each one of the members save their work, SVN automaticly "merges" all the files into a single common folder.

And if a modification sucks, you can always go back to a previous version of the file.

To me, it sounds like a solid option, and something CC couldn't provide.

C2 has been designed with team collaboration in mind.

Edit: and for preview on LAN, be sure to check the tutorial out.

I'm pretty sure it would fit well for your team too, once again imo, once you figured how to use it in your worflow.

Yeah SVN can track any kind of file no problem. If you want to go fancy you can use services like Github or Bitbucket , but they use Git and Mercurial. I like Bitbucket better. For SVN on Windows i can't recommend Tortoise enough. It's just the best.

For the Dropbox option, a lot of people might say that it doesn't actually offer version control, but it does offer some previous versions of a file (I don't know how long it keeps them for though) - while it's not the same thing as a proper VC system like Git/Mercurial or SVN, it's enough for rolling back mistakes and such.

I literally cannot stress enough how good Dropbox is, really. There's basically nothing to learn, just drop files in the folder and go, whereas learning to use Git can be pretty confusing (I've been recommended http://progit.org for learning about it, it's a free online-viewable book that teaches you about how to get Git set up and work with it).

This is briefly mentioned in the manual. As always Kyatric has a great summary.

TortoiseSVN and VisualSVN Server are a great combo - I use them to develop Construct 2! TortoiseSVN is one of the nicest bits of software I've ever used in general, not just in source control.

I would highly recommend proper source control like SVN over Dropbox or just using shared files. Things like highlighting differences in files with a log of who changed what and when with the notes they made with the change is unmissable.

Some friends of mine started using dropbox for a project they are making in Unity and they regret deeply. They said that every once in a while dropbox loses track of some versions and everything gets messed up. So if you want to avoid headache use a proper version control software like Tortoise.

Would like an online version control system and looked on stackoverflow.com and got some ideas, but most free plans are limited to just code and come with a 1 GB or typically much less size repository.

Does anyone know of anymore strictly online products preferably one-click set-up like what you would get with a "Dropbox.com" or similar solution?

Currently I am using Syncplicity.com for syncing and "version control" with Carbonite.com for a redundant "version control" and backup.

Another great article on globinch.com with some more detail to help too.

Finally, I just read on chrispoulter.com about freepository.com and will give it a try, but thanks again for any other suggestions