I totally get where calinb is coming from.
I would try to stick with it - it is worth it. I promise.
My thoughts on the issue (sorry about the book) -
Getting the silly stuff out of the way first - I am the lead Tech Support operative for rigid.ink. As such, I deal with quite a few slicer-specific issues.
I am really good with Simplyfy3D, Good with Cura and a few others, but KISSlicer (along with a few lesser-known) has driven me nuts when I was asked to answer questions on it.
I think part of the issue is that some of the terms used in the slicer do not readily match up with other slicers, add to that it having "KISS" - "Keep It Simple Stupid" - in the name serves to frustrate a lot of folks, I hold my hands up and say I was one of them.
HOWEVER, for an ongoing rigid.ink project, I was asked to check out the Premium version as we wanted to use the Surface Texture Mapping that KSPrem provides. In short, I have been forced to learn how to use KS.
One thing that has struck me over and over again is that the Expert levels are anything-but-simple. The other is that - OMG, what have I been missing?!!
The work that has gone into the slicer (am using the v2 Alpha), really shows!
Damn, I'm impressed.
Apart from the almost-DOS-looking environment (I understand why), I think that the main letdown for KS is the same one that Simplfy3D is still suffering with to some extent - THE MANUAL - or rather a lack of it.
I'm not going on about the Alpha, as that is to be expected, but v1.6 needs an updated manual.
If you want folks to pay for the extras, you need to make it a no-brainer, At the moment, I suspect a lot of people give up before they even consider parting with cash. Which is a shame as I think they are losing out.
When you go through all the information available for KS, you get a good feel for what is going on, but because a lot of it is out of date and so scattered, it is not the easiest of tasks.
Remember, I had to learn this slicer as part of my job, and got paid for doing so - not everyone is so lucky.
An up to date comprehensive indexed manual is desperately needed.
That said, major props to lonesock for this amazing slicer; can't wait to see what happens next. You sir deserve the beer tokens I paid.
Cheers,
Susi