Sunday, July 29, 2012

Midsummer Doldrums

It has, once again, been too long since I've posted any kind of an update. I am starting to see signs that some of you are worried that I am dead, or tired of working on Solitaire Till Dawn—that, in short, the project has been abandoned.

This is not so; I'm still here and still working on it. But it is true that progress has been stalled for some time. This has not been a good year for the general health of my family: nothing life-threatening, but there have been a succession of events that have taken up a good deal of our time and attention, and that have prevented me from focussing on software.

Also I have been stuck on a design issue. I was dismayed to find, at this late date, that some lingering bugs weren't just a matter of tracking down a minor problem and making a fix. Instead I have had, once again, to re-think some core matters of Solitaire Till Dawn's architecture. I haven't been posting about it because it's not the sort of thing that can be simplified down into a paragraph or two. I haven't known what to say about it; that, plus the general lack of progress, have left me silent for too long.

I apologize for that silence, and I'll try to do better. I am finally starting to regain the time I need each week to work on this, and I am starting to make progress again on the architectural issue, although it is certainly not done.

I can only plead with you all, once again, for faith and patience.

(Nearly forgot: some have been worried that Solitaire Till Dawn, when it is finally released, might support Lion but not Mountain Lion. I don't think that will be an issue.)