Hi everybody!
I've recently started work on a Wintermute IDE. (That stands for Integrated Development Environment for those of you who have not done programming before!)
What this IDE does is integrate everything you want to do with Wintermute into one application. For example, I can now modify the game and have a syntax checking (and highlighting) script editor, along with a Scene and Sprite editor all under one roof. Wintermute will still need to compile your game, so it's not a complete replacement, but it should make creating games a lot easier.
You can modify scripts which adjusting sprites and fonts at the same time. (You can have multiple documents open at the same time. For those more tech-savvy, that's called MDI) The IDE can also play specified audio files within your game, display and modify graphics properties, etc. I think you get the general idea. (It does everything)
There is auto code completion, syntax highlighting, debugging facilities, property managers, and you can do all the normal stuff you'd expect from an application like this. (You can of course do things like undo, cut, paste, etc) The auto code completion facility can be easily translated into any language given time and patience.
Anyway, here's a small screenshot, but if you'd like to see it in fullscreen, click here :
http://www.lloydcameron.com/images/wide/AlphaTest1_Large.pngThe reason I'm making this application is I'm a student doing course in programming at the moment and I'm trying to challenge myself. (I've already run into a few problems but overcome them, and I like a challenge!). I also realise that an IDE is redundant because Wintermute's Project Manager coupled with a good editor (I'm looking at you, Mac!) are sufficient to get the job done. This is just more of a hobby thing than anything else.
Of course I'd like to hand out what I've done so far, but I'm not going to because :
- The IDE is still buggy. I don't want to be responsible for stuffing up your game.
- Some of the options are hardwired into the IDE at the moment. (For example, the IDE defaults to a directory that you may not have on your computer, but I have on mine. I will of course be changing that for the release version)
If there are any other creative ideas people can think of to put in this IDE, please let me know. Otherwise there should be a beta release in about three to four weeks, assuming other commitments don't get in the way of my programming.
Any other feedback or comments are appreciated.
And finally thanks go to Mnemonic for answering my emails so quickly regarding the development of this application.