How to utilize GitHub for Renpy VNs
I am back and ready to yap.
GitHub is an EXTREMELY useful tool for devs, especially if you're working with others. Whether its just a longterm project woith a team, or you guys are hard at work during a jam, it helps with lot of time saving.
I want to preface this before i go any further and say: My way of doing this isn't necessarily the right way to do it, nor is your way the wrong way. There's multiple different ways to set up a project on github, but this is the way I do mine!
Why should I use GitHub?
Honestly, it overall just makes the proicess a LOT easier for game jams and other big projects. Especially if you have multiple people doing anything (even something small) with the code.
Our first jam, we ended up having to ZIP, Upload to google drive, download, unzip, etc before we could see what changes the others made, and in some of these jams every second is precious.
But it's also a more streamlined way to see who made what changes where and when
Getting Started
To get started, I'm gonna assume you already have Renpy downloaded and you've already touched your code.
So to actually start, head over to github and sign up or log in! Easy part done
After that, I really suggest using the GitHub desktop app for accessbility to newer users. If you arent' super code savvy, or are a new dev, anything like that, it's a bit easier of a process and faster IMO.
You can download the desktop app from: https://desktop.github.com/download/
Simple collaboration from your desktop
Changing your Projects Directory
One thing I do that I've found that helps, is hosting all of my projects in my computers GitHub folder, even if they aren't going to be hosted on github. This allows me to see all my projects still in Renpy without going back and forth.
How do you do that?
Super short and simple actually! Open up the Renpy Launcher, and then just go to preferences!
The Projects Directory will be the first thing you see:
Click on the file path, and it'll open up a mini file browser, so you can navigate to your github folder.
NOTE: If you already have projects that aren;t on github, but you want to still access easily. you can just drop their root/parent folder into the github folder. Like the screenshot example below:
I only really have lytelove, Convention Crush, and To Eat A Canary on github, the rest are just there because it's still a folder.
Okay but how do I get MY project on github?
Again, a few ways you can do it. But what I like to do is start by making a renpy project (if you havent already) and then opening the github desktop app.
Click File in the top left:
New Repository, there you can put a name, a description and then navigate to the correct parent folder! (Your github folder)
Then Create repository
Now Publish!
Youre done.
That's it.
JK there's more I wanna show you guys about this!
notice how you have two folders now (this is just because I'm doing this in the stupidest way possible, THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT, ITS JUST HOW I DO IT)
The top of these two folders is the one that actually gets backed up to github, vs the second is the one I made for renpy.
What I usually do is just take all the folders and files from the renpy project folder and unceremoniously dump them into the github folder.
It's mostly just gonna be your game folder (root folder) and a log file or two.
After you do that, or make changes to your code, you're gonna have to get those published to the repository as well. Make sure you save the changes in your code editor, and then navigate back to your github app.
Yours could look like anything, but here's what mine looks like right now.
A WHOLE lot of added files.
In the bottom left, give a summary/title or something to the changes that you just made and then hit Commit to main.
Once that portion is done, you should see this:
Publish repository!
If you were smart and publioshed earlier, then technically you should have a button that says "Push to origin"
All this does is push those files to your github.
HOW DO I WORK WITH OTHER PEOPLE?
If you made the github project, navigate to that directory on the website.
Go to settings, and then click on Collaborators!
Input your password if prompted, and then click that "Add people" button!
You can add them by their name, username, or email! I tend to do by username or email just because it's easier for me.
After that your friend or fellow dev can save a copy of the project to their github desktop and push and pull changes just the same as you.
(Mini tut here for how I do that.)
On the main repository page, click the code drop down and then clikc "Open with GitHub Desktop)
From there it will ask you if you want to clone it, and you clone it. Bam thats done.
If your fellow collaborators make a change and push it, you can pull origin the same way you pushed it earlier to get those changes on your machine.
This whole process because SUPER handy during short game jams (Velox Fabula, I'm looking at you), especially if you need to hand off the code to someone because you'll be busy at the time of submitting.
