Which Script Editor to use?
by Simon Foster · in Torque Game Engine · 09/27/2006 (1:39 am) · 44 replies
I was just wondering if people have any preferences/comments about what they use to edit scripts. Torsion and Torquedev seem capable, and Ultra Edit could be good with the keywords supported. Are there any others? Any thoughts anyone?
#22
I have found Torsion to work the best for me. I use it as my main tool for paid TGE/TSE contracting work, and even in its Alpha stage it doesn't let me down. It has superb debugging features, with the addition of the mouseover highlights of variable values making debugging that much easier. The debugging is so easy to use, one button push and you are there. This is the main reason I use Torsion.
The text editor is also rock solid (sounds like a no brainer, but no matter how many extra features an IDE has, you want the text editing to be easy to use)
09/29/2006 (5:53 am)
There are a bunch of different editors out there, and different things work for different people, you might want to try a few more and see what works for you.I have found Torsion to work the best for me. I use it as my main tool for paid TGE/TSE contracting work, and even in its Alpha stage it doesn't let me down. It has superb debugging features, with the addition of the mouseover highlights of variable values making debugging that much easier. The debugging is so easy to use, one button push and you are there. This is the main reason I use Torsion.
The text editor is also rock solid (sounds like a no brainer, but no matter how many extra features an IDE has, you want the text editing to be easy to use)
#23
I've also used Jedit + TIDE and it worked fine. Jedit is a good overall text editor, but setup/install can be a little confusing and it doesn't look half as good as torsion. I still use it for general editing.
09/30/2006 (7:20 am)
I have to agree with so many others. Torsion is a beautifully designed editor. Clear and clean interface, good debugging tools and the video tutorials are easy to follow. I was up and running with it in less than an hour - and that includes watching the tutorials.I've also used Jedit + TIDE and it worked fine. Jedit is a good overall text editor, but setup/install can be a little confusing and it doesn't look half as good as torsion. I still use it for general editing.
#24
09/30/2006 (7:36 am)
OK Tom, you win! I've been using Torsion since others have been recommending it & it does the job beautifully. 
#25
09/30/2006 (7:50 am)
My editors of choice are Tribal IDE, and Torsion. For now, I am using Tribal IDE until Torsion hits final so I can buy it rather than having to uninstall/install it all the time after time has expired, which (for some reason) screws up my Windows file associations. 
#26
@Stefan - What sort of associations issues? At one point i was stupidly stomping associations for .cs, but i put in some detailed logic for setting it up properly since then.
09/30/2006 (8:38 am)
@Simon - When you use Torsion, your the winner! ... ok i'm gonna go puke now after saying that.@Stefan - What sort of associations issues? At one point i was stupidly stomping associations for .cs, but i put in some detailed logic for setting it up properly since then.
#27
It probably is something funky with Windows, though. Let me know if you will consider "preorders" ;)
09/30/2006 (8:43 am)
I stopped using Tribal IDE. After a while, my Torsion copy expired so I downloaded a new one. After installing the new version, my file associations for .cs and .gui went back to Tribal IDE (which I still had not touched) and I could not set it back to Torsion.It probably is something funky with Windows, though. Let me know if you will consider "preorders" ;)
#28
09/30/2006 (9:05 am)
I don't know about "preorders"... but i'll have a great Torsion announcement in a week or so. ;)
#29
Yay! Torsion for the Mac!!
Oh, that's not what you meant?
09/30/2006 (9:10 am)
Quote:but i'll have a great Torsion announcement in a week or so
Yay! Torsion for the Mac!!
Oh, that's not what you meant?
#30
09/30/2006 (9:15 am)
Tsssss, always teasing. Looking forward to it!
#31
10/01/2006 (3:16 pm)
I'm liking Torsion more and more. But after less than a week of learning TGB I think my first wish for something extra would be to have a script editor that could be intgrated within the level builder so that I don't have to keep on quitting and reloading every time I make a change to the code. Is there anything like that now or in the works?
#32
On a side note, the GGs guys did try to convince me to build Torsion as a Torque app like ShowToolPro is. My main reason not to was the game centeric nature of the codebase... eats all the CPU, requires a 3D card... very stupid for an editor, no key repeat, non-negativeness feel, etc. Mind you the TGB team fixed some of these issues when they developed TGB LevelBuilder, but that didn't exist at the time. Still even then i didn't want to hear the support emails...
Another issue was that Torsion would then be fighting your game engine for CPU, memory, and video card resources for rendering. Torsion already has has a lot of background processing and storage for ScriptSense... didn't want to add any more to it.
So it was all considered... but i didn't see the logic when you could have an app with a small footprint (Torsion normally sits under 30MB) which normally sits at 0% CPU usage and works elegantly with your running app (Edit and Continue will be finished soon).
10/01/2006 (4:14 pm)
@Simon - You don't have to quit and reload actually ... TGB will re-exec your scripts whenever you play the level.On a side note, the GGs guys did try to convince me to build Torsion as a Torque app like ShowToolPro is. My main reason not to was the game centeric nature of the codebase... eats all the CPU, requires a 3D card... very stupid for an editor, no key repeat, non-negativeness feel, etc. Mind you the TGB team fixed some of these issues when they developed TGB LevelBuilder, but that didn't exist at the time. Still even then i didn't want to hear the support emails...
Quote:User: Torsion crashes on startup.It seems really stupid to me.
Me: Have you updated your video card drivers?
Another issue was that Torsion would then be fighting your game engine for CPU, memory, and video card resources for rendering. Torsion already has has a lot of background processing and storage for ScriptSense... didn't want to add any more to it.
So it was all considered... but i didn't see the logic when you could have an app with a small footprint (Torsion normally sits under 30MB) which normally sits at 0% CPU usage and works elegantly with your running app (Edit and Continue will be finished soon).
#33
I'm just waiting for:
1) being able to buy it
2) a Linux version to complement the Windows version
10/01/2006 (8:08 pm)
I think writing an IDE in a regular application framework is The Right Thing To do.I'm just waiting for:
1) being able to buy it
2) a Linux version to complement the Windows version
#34
10/01/2006 (9:13 pm)
I plan on being able to remedy at least one of those very soon. ;)
#35
10/02/2006 (12:27 am)
@Tom - Good news about not having to quit & reload, & very sensible reasons for not integrating it. 
#36
10/02/2006 (1:44 am)
I'm really hoping for a Mac version. I use it on the Windows side and it works well...but most of my development is on the Mac...
#37
10/02/2006 (2:28 am)
While you're here Tom I don't know how viable it would be to have auto-completion and/or syntax highlighting on Torque's built in methods. One thing I'm finding difficult while I'm starting to learn from tutorials is that I don't know if the method I'm typing out is a built in method (e.g. setLinearVelocityX() or one I'm supposed to be defining later. The 2 requested features would also help me to see that I'd typed in something right. But maybe there is provision for this or it's not advisable for good reasons. But hey! I'm well aware that what I'm saying may just be 'look how little I know what I'm talking about'.
#38
10/02/2006 (9:10 am)
@Simon - Torsion syntax highlights the engine exported functions and objects. By default they are highlighted in a dark blue... you can change that in the 'Exported Color' option in the Tools->Preferences. If your still not seeing it then maybe you have 'Build Exports' disabled in the project configuration.
#39
10/02/2006 (1:28 pm)
@Tom - thanks, I'll check it out.
#40
10/23/2006 (10:55 am)
I am using Codeweaver at the moment... its been good and stable for me.. 
Torque 3D Owner Max