Hi everyone! It's been 20 days since I've opened this account, so thanks for sticking around. I'm going to be talking about the game's technical and release details today, while trying to avoid spoiling the awesome story we've got going.

Engine

As previously stated, this game is being made in GameMaker Professional, which cost me a hefty £90. This allows me to easily support Windows, MacOS and Linux, while leaving the door open for iOS, Android, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch versions in the future (albeit the last 3 are not available in my license).

GameMaker operates very differently to the engine of my previous game, "Dhilly Game 6 Remake", which ran on GB Studio 4. The key differences between the two can be put down to three points:

•  GameMaker focuses on events happening every frame, while GB Studio is focused on scripts that run *once*
• GameMaker is more advanced, requiring me to handle things like movement myself, but also giving me the freedom to do it my own way.
• GameMaker is PC-first, while GB Studio is focused on Game Boy Color games (with the "web export" option being merely an emulator)

These changes have been a lot to get used to, given GB Studio has been at the core of my game development since the first Dhilly Game in 2021. I do believe, however, the change was necessary to make something that wasn't just *another* Dhilly Game. Dhilly Game 6 Remake is already pushing boundaries within GB Studio, and frankly isn't nearly as cool as The Glass Sea.

Also worth noting about the engine is my use of a beta version of GameMaker. Sheesh, sounds dangerous right? Well, yeah, it probably wasn't the best idea, but I'm using Git to make sure everything is safe and backed up in case of issues. My main reason for using the Beta is its compatibility with Linux. To further put your mind at ease, Dhilly Games 1 through 5 were made in Beta releases of GB Studio.

Funding

The game received a £500 grant, with another £500 on the way for marketing. In other words, we've got a grand to make this game. You may be wondering, where am I even gonna spend all that money? The truth is, I've already spent a third of it on the Steam submission fee and GameMaker Professional Licence alone. That's fine I guess, since those are prerequisites to making The Glass Sea a "serious" game release, and they're not just letting me spend that money on anything.

However, as you can imagine, there's a certain pain in receiving a brand new bank card with £500, only to blow a third of it immediately. So, we're probably going to take back our promise on making this a "name your price" game. Azi and myself will decide on a price at a later date.

Mobile versions

This is a PC first game, but I know many of y'all don't have PCs. I don't see why the game couldn't run on a phone. For Android, I just need to slap some mobile controls in, pay Google £20 and it'll be on the Play Store before you know it. For iOS, I believe Apple's developer licence is £100 / year, as well as app specific payments and the requirement for a Mac. You'd have to pay me to put up with my old laptop (which is the only Mac I have) for longer than I have to. However, like most things in life if you throw enough money at it, it'll work out. Basically, with enough funding I could definitely support iOS if y'all want that.

Progress

Progress has been steady, I only have like 4 functional rooms, but I also have a handmade and robust engine for text, movement, etc. Azi has also made a wonderful soundtrack and some new sprites for Dreamer.

That's the end of my The Glass Sea yapfest, thanks for reading and please await the Steam store link in a few days, where you'll be able to wishlist the game.

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