Making a Repository + Moving Forwards

[StinkerSquad01]

>>> EDIT: See this thread for more info: http://www.pcpuzzle.com/forum/viewtopic ... 2&p=366050

Hi everyone. I'm enjoying seeing all the mods and improvements people are making to WA and all that. After looking through the source code myself, I realize that it's not incredibly conductive to modding because of how tightly coupled it is. That is to say, functionality is deeply woven between many aspects of the game. With everyone working on their own versions of the source, it's going to get incredibly difficult to keep track of modifications and detailed history of versions, as well as any possible incompatibilities and collisions between our mods. To remedy this, I propose we create a repository with version control (I suggest we use GitHub). The pros to this are as follows:

• the ability to see past versions of the code easily
• the ability to compare between different versions
• strong organization to help prevent/be aware of conflicts
• a shared spot for us to work/collaborate on modding, any useful features we have created can be easily shared with everyone
• changes made by anyone are downloaded/uploaded into the code itself, no need to copy and paste manually
• the ability to create separate, isolated branches if people want to work on their own personal versions that are based off our shared version
• I can make private repositories (normally they are public) so we can keep it on our community

I think if we want to get serious about modding, we'll need something like this. I was probably going to make a private one for myself and perhaps some other people, but I think it's only fair that I mention it here too. I think it'd be very beneficial if we all had a cleaned up version of the source that we can all base our new modifications off of. Let me know if you're interested, and I can start settings things up.

If you have any questions or want to talk further, you can DM me, @minimus#2048 on Discord.

[cloudrac3r]

I agree with everything mentioned above. We really, really need shared version control.

[Lazy Loof]

Yep, I too agree with that.

However Patrick already mentioned that we cannot create repositories in GitHub, GitLab etc. For private repositories, I think we have to take permission from him.

[StinkerSquad01]

Right! It's been a few weeks, so this is me asking.

[HumanGamer]

I certainly would like to be able to put the code on GitHub/GitLab.

[Midnight Synergy]

Sorry for long absence to this discussion - I'll try to reply to messages over the next few days.

As someone who hasn't used GitHub, can you tell me what would be involved, if/how it could be set to only stay within the community to deal with my previously mentioned concerns?

[Muzozavr]

As far as I know, GitHub allows private repositories that can only be accessed by the people invited into the repository.

If your username isn't on the list of the people invited, you can't access the repository.

Is this how it works, GitHub users?

[ALEXALEX976]

Yes GitHub/Gitlab allow private repositories as far as I know and a private repository would be very helpful.

[StinkerSquad01]

Sorry for long absence to this discussion - I'll try to reply to messages over the next few days.

As someone who hasn't used GitHub, can you tell me what would be involved, if/how it could be set to only stay within the community to deal with my previously mentioned concerns?

GitHub lets you create private repositories with unlimited contributors if you have a pro account as others have mentioned. A pro account requires a paid subscription, but I have a student account so I have this feature for free. You can manage a list of contributors who have access to view and modify the codebase. I think ideally you, MS, should own the repository, but I could create it now just for the sake of having the private-ness from the get-go and a repo created quickly. "What?" you say, "Why should I trust this punk with such raw, unlimited power?" Well, you don't have to, I could transfer the repository at any time. I would understand if you didn't want it in the hands of some rando. I was just gonna have interested people submit a form with their forum name and GitHub username and I'd add them to the contributor list. In the end, it's your decision.

[cloudrac3r]

Adding to this, GitHub would not require you to upload the game assets. In fact, you can add the list of game assets to a file named ".gitignore" which means that it's impossible to commit and upload them by accident.

[Lazy Loof]

We can also use GitLab...

GitLab is also like GitHub, although with differences. Main thing is that unlike GitHub, you can have unlimited private repositories and collaborators for free.

[Midnight Synergy]

Alright, so let's give this a try.

I'm perfectly happy with either option, as long as it's private and access only comes from within the community. Occasionally results (e.g. major updated version) should be posted on the community as well so that "regular" members (i.e. those that are interested in trying out the results, but not necessarily in coding themselves) would be able to stay involved.

I certainly trust the community to take this over, so e.g. if you guys decide to go with Stinkersquads private account, that's fine by me. I think by now you've understood the spirit of the "license" under which I published this and I trust you to roughly follow that.

As for GitLab or GitHub - I don't have an opinion and I leave that decision to you, the folks who will actually be using it. I have never used either (as you can tell, I'm a very very very old school coder).

Keep me updated on what you decide (e.g. via this thread), and good luck and have fun!

[StinkerSquad01]

Gnarly, thanks MS.

In the end, I opted for GitLab because of the unlimited private collaborators. GitHub offers this for me but I dunno what'd happen if my student perks expire, so better to be on the safe side I guess.

The link is here: https://gitlab.com/minimuss01/open-wa
Can't access it? Well, sign up here and I'll add you: https://forms.gle/Eyw1HrzyhBVghfJy9