Inform 7 Feature for Eclipse
The Inform 7 Feature for Eclipse is a set of plug-ins which will support cross-platform development of interactive fiction projects in the Inform 7 language. As such it will provide a "third-party" alternative to the default Inform 7 IDE. Why?
- The default IDE has not been ported to Linux yet. (The GNOME Inform 7 project is underway; difficult to install in older Linux distributions, in my experience.)
- Targeting Eclipse means one code base (more or less) for all platforms.
- Eclipse offers built-in features which make sense for IF projects (e.g. version control).
- Inform 7 can be treated as just another programming language.
There is a price to pay, of course, in terms of the user interface "clutter" and perhaps additional conceptual complexity, both of which were consciously avoided by the specialized standalone Inform 7 IDE. Predictably, the Inform 7 Feature will be most attractive to people who already know and love Eclipse.
The current alpha version works under Linux, Windows and OpenSolaris/x86. However, it is not feature complete compared to the default Inform 7 IDE. At present, you should probably install this version if...
- you are a Linux or Solaris user curious about Inform 7
- looking for a nicer environment than the current text-based interface
- would like to become involved in testing/development
Whether and how far this open source project progresses depends on your involvement and feedback, so feel free to ask questions, give your suggestions in the forums, or contribute source code directly.