Catmint

Catmint is a simple tool to help develop ink games for the web.

Ink is a really cool little language, designed for writing interactive fiction, but one of the big downsides is that ink files have to be compiled into JSON files before you can use them. And if you're trying to create an ink game for the web, constantly clicking "export for web can get... tiresome.

So that's what Catmint is. An app that lets you load up an HTML file, and test things out like you would in the browser. And then once you spot a typo, or just make a change to your script, Catmint will automatically recompile your ink, so you can simply reload the window and press on with your work.

As an added benefit, Catmint also allows you to bypass CORS, a browser security limitations that would otherwise block loading certain kinds of files.

While Catmint is fully compatible with the native ink web player, it was designed for use in conjunction with Calico. Just place your ink files inside the unzipped Calico template, and load up the HTML, no need to export anything from Inky. Additionally, if you import Calico's autosave patch, you can make changes and reload the window without losing your place in the story.

Installation

To install, simply download the right file for your operating system, and open it up.

If you're on macOS, you might need to look into what Gatekeeper is, if you can't open the app immediately. I've found it sometimes helps to right click the app, and select "Open" through that menu manually.

Since I don't have Linux running on anything, that's been untested, but please let me know if you have any issues!

Acknowledgements

Cover art by Sara Litzenberger, who is really just wonderful.