Creating a Visual Working Environment with and For Revolution

[Greg Smith]

Richard Gaskin and Janis:

There seems to be enough interest in creating a tool that allows people 
to create serious, engaging and funny software products that are 
primarily visual in nature, yet require the user to solve problems.  It 
is the hope of many that this tool would be also visual in nature, not 
requiring the user to engage in any large quantity of coding. Nearly 
every product that has been created to provide a visual solution always 
seems to have, as an alterior motive, the intention of dragging the user 
back into the realm of learning to code using some traditional 
programming language.  Why not create a very powerful tool that can 
really produce real software, focused on the type that is visual in 
nature - interactive graphical applications and games - that does not 
have, as part of its goal, teaching the user how to program with 
traditional languages?  A specialized and fun tool, yet not frivolous 
and childish in design.

When developers go about the task of producing products like this, they 
usually resort to one analogy and not several - like only flowchart 
logic design, or purely drag and drop iconic systems.  I think the whole 
problem can be addressed by making a "construction system" that 
parallels what a person would use if trying to create the same system in 
the real world.

I recently visited several sites where folks are completely obsessed and 
spending lots of money and time building extremely complex and 
interactive physical systems, on a par with any high tech factory, all 
out of lego parts.  If you push this switch, this set of behaviors 
ensues - if this object touches that object, this whole circuit of 
activity takes place, and so on.  These physical demonstrations show 
cause and effect reactions, random behavior, physics, timed behavior and 
loops - all the things that make up most entertaining games. What this 
also demonstrated to me was that very complex systems, that are 
interactive, can be made of many smaller, non-complex parts - simple parts.

If the problem of developing a visual programming tool were addressed in 
a way that it would specifically parallel a physical construction 
system, capable of creating incredibly complex interactions and 
environments - all in 3D - yet,  any person of any skill level could 
begin to build with such a system, and new subsystems could be built on 
these elementary building skills, until, finally a complex system would 
emerge from the sum of the parts - we would have a really winning 
creation tool.  It would be conceivable to create things like robots 
demonstrating A.I., as well as gaming systems with characters that 
demonstrated A.I., and environments that react intelligently with 
encounters, therein.  Such a graphical development system would have the 
added advantage of having a set of capabilities and functions that are 
not easily reproduceable in the real world, parallel system.  And, the 
parts would not have to be as restrictive as a lego set, but could take 
many shapes, suitable for creating nearly any graphical, interactive 
situation.  And the best part about all of it is that it would be fun - 
the process of making things would be fun and the process of "playing" 
the completed project would also be fun.  Fun for the whole family!

If the underlying constructs of the whole system were based in a 
language like Revolution, which is, at least approachable to most 
people, modifications and extensions could then be accessible to 
everyone with programming skills.  I'm sure that not everything can be 
made to specifically resemble a "part" in the parallel real world 
system, and that is where some other form of logic connectivity would 
need to enter in.  But, I think, even that could take the form of 
"electric wires" or "logic rays", that network everything together.  
Think of it . . . , a living, moving, interactive development 
environment that makes sense  - All  In Glorious 3D!

But, I'm afraid it would be up to guys like Richard Gaskin, etc. to lay 
the initial framework for such a thing, at least.  I'd be happy to 
assist, as I'm sure others would be,  with any kind of 3D or 2D graphic 
and animation work, and to test any new "inventions" that are part of 
the development process.  A project like this might even help a great 
many people, like me, to come to grips with Transcript in a tangible 
way.  Then we would have the best of all possible worlds.

What do you guys think?

Greg Smith