Good, general answers already here. I'll just add a little Godot-specific information. One of the reasons why there isn't an alternative IDE for Godot (nor indeed is it likely for there to ever be one) is that a LOT (sometimes even most) of the development actually happens inside the custom "TSCN" (Scene) files. These files are not code but more like configuration. It's what tied all the separate pieces of content together into a coherent game. Their editor is the visual editor you have on the screen. Replicating that in another IDE would mean recreating most of Godot itself. There's just no point.

You can however use an external IDE for the code parts that you write for the game, if you choose to use C#. But, just to reiterate - that code will be just a part of your game, and might not even be the biggest part. It will just cover the hyper-specific parts of the game that are not already part of the engine. Most of the generic stuff (graphics, physics, collisions, etc) will be handled by the Godot engine itself, and set up via the TSCN files.

Remember - the point of Godot and other engines is to REDUCE the amount of code you need to write (up to eliminating it entirely in some cases), so they provide a vast set of tools and libraries to take as much work away from you as possible.

And don't forget that they are "frameworks" rather than "libraries". By that I mean:

• A "library" provides a set of useful functions that you may or may not use in your program as you see fit. But you're in control of your own program and its structure.
• A "framework" provides a program structure which you extend at predefined points.

Good, general answers already here. I'll just add a little Godot-specific information. One of the reasons why there isn't an alternative IDE for Godot (nor indeed is it likely for there to ever be one) is that a LOT (sometimes even most) of the development actually happens inside the custom "TSCN" (Scene) files. These files are not code but more like configuration. It's what ties all the separate pieces of content together into a coherent game. Their editor is the visual editor you have on the screen. Replicating that in another IDE would mean recreating most of Godot itself. There's just no point.

You can however use an external IDE for the code parts that you write for the game, if you choose to use C#. But, just to reiterate - that code will be just a part of your game, and might not even be the biggest part. It will just cover the hyper-specific parts of the game that are not already part of the engine. Most of the generic stuff (graphics, physics, collisions, etc) will be handled by the Godot engine itself, and set up via the TSCN files.

Remember - the point of Godot and other engines is to REDUCE the amount of code you need to write (up to eliminating it entirely in some cases), so they provide a vast set of tools and libraries to take as much work away from you as possible.

And don't forget that they are "frameworks" rather than "libraries". By that I mean:

• A "library" provides a set of useful functions that you may or may not use in your program as you see fit. But you're in control of your own program and its structure.
• A "framework" provides a program structure which you extend at predefined points.