I’m currently having an issue with the IDE - I pasted in the code from another source, and at first I was thinking I couldn’t change to “startup” and “choicescript_stats”…but what’s happening is those files are getting overwritten when I switch to them with the “Raw” code view on (without the line numbers).
I’ve tested this on Chrome and Firefox on a Windows 10 machine.
Steps - create startup and stats screens. Make a new different scene. Switch to “raw” text view, switch to startup or choicescript_stats. The code doesn’t change, and the file has been overwritten by the previous scene text.
Hi Hanon, sorry about the trouble. This version of the IDE has been long since replaced by a new version, although it is still only in private testing. I hope to release that one shortly, but won’t be making any further updates to the version you see here. If you like the tool, and feel you can’t wait, feel free to PM me for inclusion in the last stages of testing.
@CJW Thank you for the response! I look forward to seeing updates. At least this did motivate me to learn how to write raw CS and compile the way they intend you to! I’d still love the IDE for coding simplicity because I like to playtest and compile a lot.
Anyways I was wondering if anyone has a completed or is in the process of writing a game using IDE alone, If so I would love to know your experience on using it
I am! I have written 100,000 words (all of Fantasy Foods so far, that’s to say) exclusively on the beta CSIDE, and I can’t imagine anything being more helpful.
@CJW Is it all right if I go into details about why I think it’s fantastic before you release it, or shall I wait?
Wow! You wrote Fantasy Foods in CSIDE! (I love your game btw) I started writing a story in the current CSIDE and I didn’t know if it was as reliable as downloading choicescript or if you could actually submit a game using it. So far I really like CSIDE as it is online and you can compare your un-coded and coded stories side by side.
Being new to coding and all it was perfect to get a feel of how coding works. TY for this @CJW
Ooooh and you are using the soon to be released CSIDE? Coolio!
Absolutely! We’ve nothing to hide, we just want to make sure the program is as bug-free as can be, that’s really the only reason it’s not publicly available.
Some of the reasons I love CSIDE overlap with certain text editors, and some don’t. Here they are, anyhow - all of them I could think of off-hand, in case people who haven’t used it at all give this a read.
Reasons why CSIDE is fantastic:
Multiple projects: I can have a few projects open at once, and all of their scenes, and it’s all listed in a neat little row on the left side so I can just click between scenes as necessary. No clumsy switching of windows.I’ve also used this to duplicate my stats and startup scenes, and then extract a small portion of big scenes and work on that portion individually as a separate ‘game’, so that I can go directly to my current portion when I’m play-testing.
You can colour code scenes on the list of scenes with a little colour blob icon, which has really helped me to stay organised.
It has three columns, one with the scene lists, one with the editing window, and one with the compiled, running game. The scene list and the running game columns collapse, so you can look at whichever ones you prefer. You can also pop out the game and play it in its own window, or you can hit ‘escape’ and the editor window goes full screen. Very flexible.
It indents magically! And dedents!
You can run quicktest and randomtest from the CSIDE - no messing about with Firefox. I’ve taken to running them every day after I’m finished writing, and I’ve had a much easier time debugging.
There’s a step-through function, and you can click the ‘step’ button and watch everything that happens line by line, which is extremely useful for debugging and for sorting out complex sequences.
It has a spellcheck, GB or US, and you can also add your own words. Very helpful, especially for checking unusual names of people or places. It will underline misspelled words, too.
The user interface allows for a light or dark background, or dichromatic, which makes it easy on the eyes, and is generally aesthetically pleasing.
Alternate typographical characters like ö and ę work perfectly (and even characters from other alphabets entirely, at least the left-to-right ones).
The command-help function lets you double-click on a command to see more about the function. That was helpful a few times when I was just getting started with choicescript.
Adding new projects or scenes or renaming them can be done from within the CSIDE.
The syntax highlighter makes it easier to scan through code, or see if you’ve mistyped a command.
CSIDE works directly with your .txt scene files. When you’re ready to compile, you can just copy them into your downloaded choicescript folder, compile, and carry on.
I’ve always felt like CSIDE is intuitive. One of the reasons I’m able to work relatively quickly, when I can put aside time to write, is because it’s pleasant to work with CSIDE. It’s not just a big muddle of text in an editor window - and that made choicescript feel much less intimidating for a first-time coder. CSIDE, the instructions on the website, and the wiki between them have really been invaluable.
Desktop Versions
The code appears stable as far as internal testing goes and has all the core functionality we wanted. So I’m largely just waiting on @dfabulich and @jasonstevanhill to give me the all clear now, once (if?) they do, I have to package the code and write up some basic documentation. A week? A month, maybe? Still, I’ve been plauged with delays since I started this project, so don’t hold me to anything.
Web Version
Requires HTTPS on its hosting, as long as I’m using Dropbox, which I can’t afford to fund.
So the release date on that one is a bit up in the air.
You know me and my hatred of change! And how long it took me to move on to the new version from the old tester. Heh! I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually. I did get to really like the old tester though.
I liked that it was online. I could just click the bookmark and it’d open up.
I liked I didn’t need to save anything.
I liked the colour and layout. And that there was just the two windows, one on the left for code, one on the right for testing it. It all fitted nice in my screen.
I liked being able to open the ide, just paste some forum code into it, create the variables the code referred to, run it and then tweak everything and keep doing that until I worked out what the error was. No saving all the time when I didn’t want to save anything. Very little extraneous clicking.
Bah dropbox!
And how long it took me to move on to the new version from the old tester. Heh! I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually. I did get to really like the old tester though.