Development Environments
16nFringe
Just like the Unreal Script IDE, nFringe is a complete IDE that also uses the Visual Studio
shell. Similarly, it offers many of the features that Unreal Script IDE does, but many require
a commercial license of the Unreal Engine, such as Goto Native Definition for native script
functions. For this reason, I prefer to use the former tool.
Pixel Mine is the development team behind this product, which comes in both premium, indie,
and commercial licenses, although it can get a bit costly, as indie licenses start at $350 a
seat. A trial version is available however, so you may want to consider that before taking the
step into the premium pond.
Many professional AAA studios prefer to use this IDE, so focusing your efforts here may not be
a bad idea. Furthermore, nFringe includes an excellent debugger, which can prove invaluable
when trying to troubleshoot critical errors in your programming.
nFringe will not work with Visual Studio 2012 right out of the box. You'll need
to make some changes for it to work properly, as noted in the following site:
http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/874296-debug-
Unreal-Script-error-at-vs2011Getting ready
Head over to http://pixelminegames.com/nfringe/ to pick up a copy for yourself.
It's one small download and a pretty straightforward installation process.
How to do it...
Just as Unreal Script IDE used a Visual Studio shell, nFringe does too, but it is based on the
2008 version. Even if you don't own Visual Studio, you're still in the clear as you can run
it through the shell. For those of you who do have a copy of Visual Studio, nFringe simply
installs like an extension, and allows you to create new projects from your current installation.
Moreover, you can also use Visual Studio Express, which is the free version of the program.