CMake and Git

This week the Intensity Engine has undergone a minor 'reboot': I moved it from SCons to CMake, and from bazaar+Launchpad to git+GitHub. The reasons are as follows.

SCons is a really cool tool, especially for Python lovers like me, but CMake's ability to produce 'native' project files and makefiles is quite important. Basically, on Windows it is easier to make proper builds and installers if you use a Visual C++ project file, as opposed to SCons. I wasn't fully aware of this when I started the Intensity Engine a year and a half ago (being a Linux guy). Also, this will help on OS X, as CMake can produce Xcode project files. So, it made sense to move to CMake.

Moving from bazaar to git was for related reasons. While bazaar works well in my experience, on both Linux and Windows, more than one person has told me it is very problematic for them on OS X. So, since working on OS X is very important to us, and also since in general people seem to prefer git, the switch was done. Basically, I prefer bazaar, but my personal preference isn't enough of a reason to stick with it. Anyhow, after finishing the move, I admit it is nice how fast git is, and GitHub has some nice features as well.

So, the overall goal with these changes is to allow more people to more easily use and contribute to the Intensity Engine. The project is growing, in both lines of code and users, and it makes sense to use the best tools for the most people.

For people currently compiling from source, the COMPILE.txt file explains how to get the source using git and compile it using CMake. If you have any trouble, as usual feel free to ask for help on IRC (#syntensity on FreeNode) or on the forum page.