Where to go from here...

[Shaltif]

[GENERAL]
Happy 4th for those in the USA!

[SILL]
I've come to a point in Sill's development that I'm not entirely sure where I want to go from here.  Sill, in itself, is virtually done (some aspects are not fully tested, but this will iron out over time).  It's a bit rough when it comes to using it (mainly how objects/events are handled), but if you know what your doing and don't mind some of the minor quirks, it works and works well.  I've been itching to actually start serious work on my games/projects using Sill, but I keep getting this nagging feeling that since Sill is not officially 'done', any changes I make to Sill (such as trying to make it easier to use) may adversely break any project I am working on (this happened almost regularly when working on Nill a few weeks back).

There are two potential Sill projects going on in my head right now:

1.  Re-write the help documentation in a simple to use/update/offline manual.
2.  Make using objects/events easier for a more casual programmer.
..and/or..
Make a GUI program that does all this hard work for the everyday user.

The manual bit is simple and somewhat underway.  I'm essentially going to store everything in an INI (or XML, if I add that support to Sill) type file structures and develop a program which can read this data and display it in an easy to use manner.  Advantages to this setup is a generic program I can use for any API I make in the future (not just Sill related) and it's extremely easy to update/maintain.  I could even release the program for others to gain the same advantage.  (and being built using Sill, would potentially have cross-platform support)

Making Sill easier to use, on the other hand, is a bit more challenging (and has always been from the start).  For the longest time, I have been considering making a GUI application similar to Game Maker.  This option would give me flexibility in how I present Sill to the end user (thus I can make it appear as simple as I desire).  Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of never really teaching the end user how to use Sill directly, only how to use the GUI (Game Maker users may note a comparison to D&D users vs. GML users and the transition/tension between them).  This would essentially mean that using Sill via the GUI and Sill with raw C/C++ are two different projects, each requiring their own tailored manuals and support...something which I think is actually a step backward from what I'm trying to achieve (make Sill easier).

Thing is, without doing some serious C/C++ trickery or going the GUI approach, there really is no way to make object/events easier to use.  Which is why I'm essentially calling Sill 'done', because if I don't make any more changes to that, it is essentially complete at this point.

So I'm at a cross-roads.  I can either spend more time trying to make Sill easier, thus delaying everything.  Or I can leave it at is, finish up the documentation and use it at the cost of potentially scaring away anyone who may use it.

~Brandon