How to get Game Coding Complete's directory structure working in Visual C++ 2012

I like Mr. Mike's directory structure he uses for his Visual C++ projects, but I use a slightly modified structure. Either way can be a pain to set up, so I thought I'd write up some instructions how to get my structure working. I'm using Visual Studio 2012, but it should be the same in 2010 as well. Also, I only use two configurations: Debug and Release. If you ever want to add a Profile configuration you should be able to follow these instructions to configure it similarly.

Be sure to buy Mr. Mike and Rez's book, Game Coding Complete 4th Edition. It's an epic tome of game programming knowledge written by proven veterans of the AAA game industry.

Let's get started..

Here's what the folder structure will look like:

MyGame/       -root folder
  Assets/     -raw image and sound files (files NOT used by the game)
  Docs/       -documentation files
    Internal/ -internal docs
    External/ -external docs
  Game/       -game executables and data (images/soundFX/music/etc)
  Lib/        -game engine library files
  Source/     -code root folder (no files go directly under Source)
    MyGame/   -code files for MyGame project
      MSVC/   -solution/project files for MyGame
  Temp/       -temporary linker/build files

* Open Visual Studio
* File -> New -> Project
* Visual C++ -> Empty Project
* Name your project, click OK
* Create the folder structure above within Windows Explorer

At this point, the solution file is saved in the root folder, but we want it under the Source/MyGame/MSVC/ folder. Select the Solution in Solution Explorer, then click File -> "Save MyGame.sln as...". Save it under the Source/MyGame/MSVC/ folder. This will save the .sln and .suo files without breaking the references.

* Close Visual Studio (save if prompted to save).
* Open the new .sln file under the MSVC folder.
* You may now delete the .sdf, .sln and .suo files in the root folder.
* Right click MyGame project -> Properties

* Select "All Configurations" from the Configuration drop-down at the top.
* Select Configuration Properties -> General on the left.
* Set Output Directory to: $(SolutionDir)..\..\..\Game\
* Set Intermediate Directory to: $(SolutionDir)..\..\..\Temp\$(ProjectName)$(PlatformName)$(Configuration)\

* Select "Debug" from the Configuration drop-down at the top. (Save changes when prompted)
* Set Target Name to: $(ProjectName)_d

* Select "All Configurations" from the Configuration drop-down at the top.
* Select Configuration Properties -> Debugging on the left.
* Make sure Command is set to: $(TargetPath)
* Set Working Directory to: $(OutDir)

* Select C/C++ -> Precompiled Headers on the left.
* Make sure Precompiled Header Output File is set to: $(IntDir)$(TargetName).pch

* Select C/C++ -> Output Files on the left.
* Make sure "ASM List Location", "Object File Name", and "Program Database File Name" are all set to: $(IntDir)

* Select Linker -> Debugging on the left.
* Make sure "Generate Program Database File" is set to: $(OutDir)$(TargetName).pdb
* Set Map File Name to: $(OutDir)$(TargetName).map

Now you can set up your filter folders under the project to mimic our folder structure above.
* Delete Header Files, Resource Files, and Source Files under the MyGame project.
* Right-click MyGame project -> Add -> New Filter. Name it "Assets".
* Keep doing this until you have the same structure, minus the Game and Temp folders, since those are the output/intermediate folders. Basically, you want anything that would belong in Source Control in your project.

Last step is to move the project files the default location of MyGame/MyGame/ to MyGame/Source/MyGame/MSVC/
* Close Visual Studio
* Move all the files under MyGame/MyGame/ to MyGame/Source/MyGame/MSVC/
* Open the .sln file in a text editor. (located at MyGame/Source/MyGame/MSVC/MyGame.sln)
* Change the path to the vcxproj file from "..\..\..\MyGame\MyGame.vcxproj" to "MyGame.vcxproj"
* Save .sln file.
* It's now safe to delete the folder MyGame/MyGame (which should be empty now).
* Done!

------------------------------

References
Game Coding Complete 4th Edition
How to relocate a Visual Studio project Solution (.sln) file

How to pin TortoiseSVN to the Windows 7 Taskbar

I like to be able to open the TortoiseSVN repository browser directly from the Windows taskbar, so I did a quick search to find out how. I quickly found that people want to be able to do the same thing, but the replies were of the lines of

"Why would you want to do that? You should be opening the repo-browser by right clicking a folder in Windows Explorer, so you should never have any reason to pin it to the taskbar."

That's nonsense.

Sometimes I need to open the repo-browser simply to see if a project has already been added to SVN. Why should I have to open Windows Explorer and right click an arbitrary folder to start the repo-browser? Sounds like a silly design decision. And yet, they put a shortcut in your start menu that runs the command ""C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin\TortoiseProc.exe" /command:rtfm" which basically does nothing but display a dialog telling you to "read the manual!". Thanks, dicks.

Anyway, here's how to pin the TortoiseSVN repo-browser to the Windows 7 Taskbar.

Copy the TortoiseSVN shortcut (or create a new shortcut) and change the Target to

"C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin\TortoiseProc.exe" /command:repobrowser

Your path to TortoiseProc.exe may be different.

Now right click the new shortcut then click "Pin to Taskbar".

Now when you click it on the taskbar it will open the window that will allow you to select which url to use.

If you'll always be using the same url, you can use the /path argument like so:

"C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin\TortoiseProc.exe" /command:repobrowser /path:"https://your/svn/url/" /notempfile

When opening from the taskbar, it will open the repo-browser using an additional icon on your taskbar. This is only while it's running and I don't know a way around it.