global game jam // webinar 2026
GAME JAM LIKE THE PROS
Practical and free uses for Perforce P4
Jase Lindgren
Principal User Advocate, P4 — Perforce Software
contact & everything else →
the talk
All my resources from the talk are on this page. I will keep updating links as I release more.
start here
Official resources from Perforce as well as my own personal tools.
Get P4 free
The same server the big studios run, free for up to 5 users
and 20 workspaces — or with no user and workspace limit at all
while your project holds fewer than 1,000 files.
P4 Beginner's Guide
My YouTube series on using P4 day to day — workspaces,
checking files out, submitting, resolving. Start here if
version control is new to you and you would rather watch
someone do it than read about it.
P4 Admin's Guide
My YouTube series for whoever ends up running the server —
installing it, adding users, setting permissions and
typemaps, keeping backups. On a jam team, that is one of you.
P4 getting started guide
Perforce's own step-by-step: install the server, create a
depot and a stream, set up a workspace, add your files. Start
here if you are standing up your first server.
P4 One
The newer, friendlier P4 client. Free to download, versions a
project on your own machine with no server at all, and
connects to a P4 server when you are ready to work with other
people.
.gitignore → .p4ignore converter
Paste a .gitignore, get a .p4ignore back, in your browser —
handy for starting from GitHub's Godot, Unity or Unreal
templates. Save it as
.p4ignore at your workspace
root and P4 picks it up on its own. (Or just grab my universal typemap below...)
tools & files from the talk
Here are some free resources I've created to help others get started with version control and build automation. These are all my own open-source work and I'd love to get your feedback on them.
P4 Build Machine Lite
A small build machine for jam teams and indie projects: one
stdlib Python file, its own P4 workspace, and build scripts for
Godot, Unity and Unreal. It builds when a P4 trigger fires,
when a P4 Code Review test asks, or when you press the button,
and the page goes red when someone breaks the build.
P4Godotsoon
A Perforce plugin for Godot — check out files, submit, and see
what your teammates have open without leaving the editor. The
repo stays private until final testing and the docs are done,
then it opens up at
github.com/jase-perf/P4Godot.
P4 server in a containersoon
A containerized P4 server, for standing one up in minutes to
test on, learn on, or run a jam on. Also private for now,
landing at
github.com/jase-perf/p4-server-docker.
P4 typemap gist
A ready-made typemap covering Godot, Unity and Unreal projects
plus the common 3D and audio tools. This is the file that marks
art and audio as binary and exclusive-checkout, so two people
cannot both edit the same PNG.
P4IGNORE gist
A P4IGNORE file for Unreal projects and the usual DCC tools, so
build output, caches and editor temp files stay out of the
depot. It keeps growing as people comment on it.
keep learning
- Define filetypes with p4 typemapThe docs for the typemap above, if you want to write your own.
- Exclusive checkout with +lHow to turn on file locking across a whole server.
- P4 command-line referenceEvery command, every flag.
- P4 documentation & supportThe full manuals, and where to ask when you are stuck.
- In DevelopmentMy podcast on the technical side of making games.
- jase.townMy other open-source P4 tools, talks and projects.
other talks
- Unreal Fest Bali 2025Levelling Up: Advanced Perforce Techniques for UE Projects & Teams. Video and resources.
- Unreal Fest Orlando 2025Integrate Art, Sound & Code into Unreal Engine with P4. Video and resources.
- Unreal Fest Seattle 2024Building Custom Tools & Avoiding Common Pitfalls with P4 + Unreal. Video and resources.