TL;DR: Anchorpoint excels in version control for game jams. It offers a simple GitHub/Azure DevOps setup with auto-LFS/.gitignore for popular engines, visual merges for artists, and no lock-in. It also provides file locking and dedicated Unity/Unreal plugins. Participants receive a two-month free trial, and winners get a one-year team plan. It has been proven effective in jams like Druid Mechanics, where teams seamlessly built RPGs like Soul Blast.
Game jams are a great place to push creativity and team play. Since they are a team sport, sharing files via a version control solution should be as smooth as possible. There is no time to configure servers and teach others how to send files.
GitHub and other Git-based cloud solutions have always proven themselves, not only in game jams but also in game development in general. Git is open source, easily accessible, and favored in the programming world. However, Git is hard to get started with for artists and other non-coders.
Anchorpoint solves this problem by being a Git client for non-coders that is optimized for game development. In this document, we want to emphasize how it can be used in game jams, starting with an example.
Soul Blast is an RPG developed during the first Druid Mechanics - Game Jam by a team of 3 developers, Boris, RitzyTritzy, and y4ku. During the game, the player takes continuous damage while battling enemy waves. Saved souls restore the angel's health when reaching an altar and ascending.
The game was developed using Unreal Engine while using Azure DevOps as the Git server and Anchorpoint as the Git client.
As aspiring game developers, our primary focus during the Game Jam was to learn and have fun. While planning the event, we quickly realized that command line Git was too cumbersome and merge conflicts were too time consuming. Using Anchorpoint allowed us to collaboratively iterate on changes with ease, even for our artist who was new to Git. We actually had to revert changes several times due to bugs, but Anchorpoint made it easy.
Boris
The team did not struggle with Git, as Anchorpoint helped them with a clear and simple interface. This was especially helpful for participants who are not experienced game developers.
Take a look at Soul Blast on itch.io. We also want to congratulate the team for winning the jam by getting most of the votes.
Anchorpoint is a Git compatible-client made for non-coders and optimized for use with engines like Unity, Unreal, or Godot.
Setting up a Git repository in Anchorpoint that connects to GitHub or Azure DevOps is done with a few clicks. LFS and a proper .gitignore are automatically configured.
Teaching Git to artists takes a lot of time. Anchorpoint simplifies Git by exposing only the basic operations that an artist needs. It also shows things like merges in a visual way.
Files are still on GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, or any other Git cloud solution. There is no lock-in like in other version control systems.
We have a set of videos that are dedicated to version control with Unity and Unreal Engine, short and sweet.
Version Control for Game Jams effortlessly integrates Git clients, such as Anchorpoint, which is optimized for non-coders and game engines, including Unity, Unreal, and Godot. This integration enables rapid team collaboration, merge-free workflows, and quick setup during 48-hour events, eliminating the need for servers or command-line hassles.
Anchorpoint is ideal for version control during game jams because of its simple setup (one click for a repository, LFS, and .gitignore), user-friendly basics and visual merges, no lock-in (files stay on GitHub, etc.), dedicated Unity and Unreal videos, and event support (two-month trials and one-year/five-seat plans for winners).
We support Game Jam events in two ways. Further support can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
While the normal Anchorpoint trial period of 14 days is fully enough to complete the jam, some participants would like to tweak their game even after the jam. For that, we offer Anchorpoint for 2 months free of charge for every participant.
The winning team can use Anchorpoint on other game projects they are developing during the year.
Are you a Game Jam participant or are you hosting a Game Jam and want to let your participants know about Anchorpoint? Write us a short email with the link to your Itch.io event. We will send you a coupon to activate Anchorpoint.
During intense 48-hour game jams, every minute counts. Nothing derails momentum like overwritten files or merge conflicts from simultaneous edits. Version control tools like Anchorpoint lock files during edits and visually display changes in a timeline. This allows teams to instantly revert buggy updates. This allows artists, programmers, and designers to iterate fearlessly and turn potential disasters into seamless collaboration.
Git is designed for software development. Game development involves a lot of binary files (3D models, textures, audio). Git LFS is an extension to Git that handles all those binary files. An application like Anchorpoint handles Git LFS automatically, so the artist is not aware of it and does not need to configure anything.
If you do not upgrade to a paid plan, you will revert to Anchorpoint's free plan. You will always have access to your files because they are stored on both your local computer and a cloud storage service such as GitHub. If you are on Anchorpoint's free plan, you will no longer be able to sync files to the cloud.
Yes, one person on your team can use Anchorpoint and another person can use GitHub Desktop, Sourcetree, or similar. The only thing that won't work is additional features like file locking that require the whole team to use Anchorpoint.
Send an email with the Itch.io link (if available) to receive coupons for participants. Anchorpoint offers trials and plans for game jams.
