Save Project As...

I'm revising my project rapidly now, changing scripts around, trying new things, and I need a better way to back it up as I work.

Since there is no "Save Project As" button, I can't simply save with a new project name and move on, reverting to the old project when I need to. What I'm doing now is quitting unity, copying everything in my project folder to a new folder, and opening that new folder up in Unity. It's cumbersome, and the files are glitchy after I copy them for some reason, so I'm not sure what I should do to backup often so I can start fresh when things go awry.

Any ideas on the best way to store versions of a project?

:?

Thanks in advance.

 

Well, you could just export ALL your project assets, including scenes, as Unity package, then create a new project and import said package. As far as i tested this, it works, except for the fact that your new project wont retain any project settings (input, quality etc).

 

That sounds like it should work. Alternately, I could export each asset as I build it, creating a library to draw from. I'll look into it. Hopefully I can export a prefab and it will include everything with it, including scripts, colliders, meshes, animations, and textures.

Thanks.

I'm still a little surprised there isn't an easier way.

 

That's not so good, as I'm getting into it.

Any given project has a lot of presets. There's a lot to set up starting with a "New" Project, even if you can import what you had from your last project.

I'm confused. Backing up and Version control are part of any workflow. "Save Project As" would do it, but that's not available.

Can anyone explain to me how to do it? How to save a project so I can try developing it in two different directions, so that the original work is preserved?

It just shouldn't be complicated.

 

What I do when I want to do this, is just duplicate the project in my Finder.

 

Daniel,

What's the difference between an archive and a duplicate?

 

This is a real problem.

When I copy my entire project folder, all files, no modifications or changes, the whole thing verbatim, and open that project in Unity... When I double click on an item in the debug window (usually opens the script editor) Unity freezes. Unresponsive. Dead.

At this point, I have NO WAY of backing up files so that they can be used later.

I really need some help here. What do other people do? Is duplicating the whole project file the only way to back up? and does any one else have a problem with that method?

 

I duplicate project folders all the time for local functionality tests. What OS are you using?

 

Windows XP 32 bit home. Could file paths be the problem? When you duplicate the whole project folder, does Unity update old versions of scripts, etc, because it's using the old file paths?

Matthew, thanks for your work with Flashbang. We're using your messenger script system.

 

bump? I have the same problem here.. any solutions? ty.

 

Better discussion on this topic here:

http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=245064#245064

 

The problem still actually. I want separate one project as two different.
After coping whole folder to another and open it as new project, the scripts are not linked to objects.



Export-import package lost assignations between scripts and objects too.
How can do it? Anybody know?

==============
Omg! I see. After made copy and open it I lost assignations in original project too.
So terrible.

 

This has also been proving to be a massive thorn in my side...

 

bump, I'm having this problem too. any help?

 

Turn on meta file visibility. But really version control is proper way to do it.

 

Is there really no way of having different versions of your project?
In other programs you can use Save As, so you have regular backups you can revert to, or branch off to try out new ideas. I tried to copy the entire Project folder but it breaks things as mentioned above, and takes up a huge amount of space.

 

Saving another version in another folder no no proper way to handle versions of a project.
Use a version control system. Its the industry standard for code projects and its works just fine.

That is the way to go.

 

What I do (which probably is not the official way) is compressing the whole project into a .zip file. Then I put the zip file into a folder which has as name the version number.
If things turn wrong as I experiment with my current project, I always can remove the whole thin and uncompress my zip.
Not very orthodox probably, but it works without much fuss.

 

Is there a simple and free example of this you can point me to?

It's utterly ridiculous to me that I can't simply save my current Unity project with a different version name each time I save it, like Game_v1.0.4, Game_v1.0.5. Game_v10.05, and that I'm basically forced into using another external program just to basically do this.

I don't really understand the idea of some version control software, and they often look pretty convoluted just to do something kinda simple like backing up your project, but I do understand how to save something with a different name so I have a separate backup of it in case I change anything and want to go back to an older version.

 

You can just copy and paste the project folder by hand, I suppose. Of course:
* Its storage inefficient, you will be duplicating identical binary files over and over
* Stored on the same computer, so if your computer blows up you lose all your backups
* Requires very careful manual naming of folders, is prone to user errors.
* Difficult to compare changes between versions, difficult to revert changes
* Has no branching support, so for example you can't easily switch from working on a half complete feature to fixing a recently discovered bug and getting a build out

I have not used it before, but Unity Collab is a first party solution built into Unity.

 

What if I am wanting to build a test scene template, with things like a terrain, a unit, and basic camera?

Actually, that is why I dug up this thread.

I dont want to go through, and tinker with all the different settings on my camera, terrain, etc. But I also do not want to re-write my script to have the template settings as default. I want them to be main project default.

Every time I want to do a test script, I have to open a new project, I have to set up a terrain and camera, I have to set up a unit.... I have to go into input settings and define new input parameters.

All of the sudden, my idea to quickly try something out, has turned into 20 minutes setting up a project, before I even get started with the script.

 

So...
to delete a project, simply delete the folder.
So..
To make a new copy of your project

simply copy the folder.
Yup, make a template folder, then copy to your hearts content.

 

Or do it once and export the important pieces out into a .unitypackage which then later can be imported again when you want to test something in any projects.

 

I was searching for the save projects in 2018 LTS version and don't see any. Is there an easy or fast way to save projects under different names without losing any of our work?

 

You don't need Unity to do that. Just copy the entire project folder. Make sure the new folder has a distinctive name. Later you can add it to the Hub so it can be opened just like the original.
Also, since you're using some sort of version control system (I hope you're using some sort of version control system), it ultimately depends on that as well. Make sure, that any kind of meta file pointing to the original is gone if any (you can delete library folder as well, Unity will rebuild it).

 

Thanks for making the effort to reply. I believe I sounded quite demanding and not so friendly in earlier threads. I can only offer an apology although they are past events.

I tried removing the library and my entire project was destroyed. I had to redo as I kept the backup intact. I'm forced to follow unity QA team's advise - just remove the package folder and let it rebuild. It did work.

 

Even now, it's incredible that Unity doesn't have a 'Save Project As' option - like every other piece of software, ever. I duplicated my project in Explorer but the new one is still linked to the old project collab history. Why I can't just save it as a new project with a new name I don't know.

 

It is unreasonable to ask Unity for the save as functionality considering that programmers deal with this issue by using version control systems. They use this instead of copying files because copying files is a very poor solution. Not to mention that for a quick and easy backup the copy files method does work. For those that feel like it does not, read about branching/versioning.

 

This is an insane bug. Is there still no "save project as" functionality in Unity? I looked into git version control, but that seems like a complicated task, and it's really not what I'm trying to do. Git is really not made for diffing non-text files, and I'm not trying to set up version control, I'm trying to CLONE a project. I don't care about disk space. I have PLENTY of disk space, that is my worry, not yours. I just want to "save my project with a new name". So I have "Project 1" and a new project, called "Project 2" when I open up Unity hub? Help???

 

Then rename the project folder, add to Hub again and then unlink the project in the services tab.

It would be great to have a standard Save As option though, really.