Discussion Is exporting your game a good backup solution?

[Gunner]

Hello

I wanna know if exporting your game through file > export or something like that is actually reliable as a backup solution. Can it fail? Corrupted?

Or do I need to zip my project source folder manually?

Also since I'm kinda new, what do you think should be the better way to backup your game in case anything wrong happens.

Thank you.

 

[Dog Slobber]

Nothing wrong with exporting, just make sure you put your copies off site, consider some kind of cloud storage.

having said that, source control is ideal for offsite storage, project sharing, ability to track and rollback changes. Project/file copying simply can't compete with its features.

 

[FrostyCat]

An exported project isn't that different from zipping the project's source directory. Don't believe me? Try opening any .gmz or .yyz file with 7zip.

My preferred solution is source control with online remote repositories (e.g. GitHub or BitBucket). When I do want a local backup on a USB drive or flash card, I add a local remote repository and just push there instead of origin.

 

[Ednei]

Particularly I just do not recommend editing your project inside a cloud folder like onedrive or googledrive, see this topic:

https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.p...roject-source-on-cloud-services-folder.51007/
I usually work with an external hard drive attached to my laptop. I do not usually package the folder in my project when I back up. You can do it manually, or use a program like Iperius Backup to automate your backup. The interesting thing is that this program allows you to upload your project's backup directly to onedrive or google drive accounts.

 

[flykidsblue1]

Please please please try using Bitbucket and git. Trust me, I have had far less issues with saving copies of my projects to BitBucket. It's one of the best ways to save space and also one of the best ways to save your files online. There is an excelent tutorial on youtube that helps you out with setting up git for gamemaker

 

[Guy_Typing]

Echoing what others are saying about git and a repository hub such as github or bitbucket.
Do yourself a favor and take the time to study and practice these.
Not only is this the optimal method to work, it is the de-facto industry standard and the ideal way to work when working with more than one programmer on the project.