Updates & Roadmap

Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions about the future of Seashine.

Please read through this page before reaching out. As a disabled solo indie developer, my time and energy are very limited. Every hour spent answering questions already covered here is time taken away from developing new content.

The Next Update

What will the next update contain?

• Architectural overhaul: Core gameplay and structural rewrites, including a new tension director to improve game pacing, overhauled wildlife interactions and animations, and refined ability behaviors.
• Zen Mode: A long-awaited mode featuring its own distinct cave system, two Zen-exclusive jellyfish, and a spectator mode.
• A richer encyclopedia: Revamped with new illustrations, clearer categories, and deeper biological details and lore.
• A refreshed user interface: Modernized while staying true to the iconic rocky aesthetic.
• Refreshed 3D models: Complete visual upgrades for existing wildlife and rock formations.
• Brand-new visual effects: Enhanced effects for abilities, creature interactions, and environmental atmosphere.
• New wildlife: A selection of brand-new abyssal species to discover.
• New playable jellyfish: Additional variants beyond the Zen Mode exclusives.
• Full localization: All text translated into 37 languages.
• Performance & stability: Optimizations to support vastly more content and interactions, along with major gameplay fixes and bug resolutions.

When will the next update be released?

The release date will be announced alongside a dedicated trailer (pinned) across all official channels. If you do not see a trailer posted, there is no need to ask for a release date—it simply has not been announced yet. All you have to do is wait.

Can the update be released sooner?

No. I already work every day without holidays. Pushing harder is simply not sustainable. Chronic burnout nearly led me to abandon game development in 2023, and I must protect my declining health. I am tackling this colossal task alone, with severely limited use of my hands and arms due to muscular dystrophy.

The only way development can accelerate is through sufficient support on Ko-fi, which would allow me to hire a 3D artist to assist with production.

If financial support is not an option for you, words of encouragement are always deeply appreciated. Developing this solo is a demanding marathon, and kind community messages make a huge difference in keeping morale high.

Why is this update taking so long?

This release rebuilds the technical foundations of the entire game. Upgrading a live project built around 2015-era mobile constraints and visuals requires rewriting major portions of the codebase, as well as spending countless months in Blender upgrading older assets.

Back in 2014–2015, I didn’t have the programming and 3D modeling experience I have today, which led to a substantial accumulation of technical debt. Since the original launch, I continued stacking new features on top of shaky foundations built by an inexperienced developer who relied heavily on guesswork.

This update establishes sound, stable foundations—both for the major changes included in this release and for everything planned in the updates that follow.

Will all the new animals previewed over the years be included?

Yes, but distributed across multiple updates. Many upcoming species require their corresponding new habitats to be implemented first.

While these models were built in advance when this was planned as a single massive release, the overhaul is now split into phases. This current update delivers the foundations—the most complex and time-intensive stage. Habitat-specific updates and their native wildlife will follow.

The Visual Refresh

Why do the refreshed creatures look smoother?

This aesthetic change stems from a key optimization strategy. Legacy models relied on image textures, which take up substantial storage space on mobile devices. Adding dozens of new species using textures would dramatically inflate the app’s file size.

The updated models use vertex color instead of texture maps, and 3D mesh details instead of normal maps.

Rather than applying an image onto the 3D surface, color data is stored directly in the vertices (the individual points forming the 3D mesh)—conceptually similar to vector art in this context. This drastically cuts storage requirements while allowing smoother gradients and lighting.

The level of detail is now bound to the vertex count of a 3D model. Because the game needs to run well on low-end mobile devices, I’m limited by the number of vertices. A texture would have allowed me to paint individual scales on a fish, but that level of surface detail is no longer viable. Modeling every single scale in 3D would result in an unusable model due to high polygon counts. Instead, I place details very deliberately on new models to keep them visually striking without impacting performance.

The smoother look is a technical constraint that the art direction now embraces, allowing waves of new content with a small storage footprint.

Can I keep the old models or choose which ones to update?

No. Supporting multiple asset pipelines would defeat the performance and storage gains achieved by eliminating texture files. The legacy models also no longer align with the game’s updated art direction, performance targets, or technical standards.

If you prefer the original visuals, you can disable automatic updates for Seashine in your device’s app store settings. You will stay on the legacy version of the game. Nobody forces you to update.

Suggestions & Feature Requests

Can I submit feature or gameplay ideas?

I maintain an extensive backlog of personal ideas and mechanics accumulated over the past decade that already far exceed my current time and budget.

Because most suggestions tend to focus on common requests (such as multiplayer), unsolicited feature proposals are not actively sought and will likely not receive a reply. However, if you have unique concepts or wish to discuss ideas with other players, feel free to share them on the Seashine Subreddit—just make sure your post follows the rules of both Reddit and the community.

Can I suggest specific marine species to add?

Please refrain from submitting species requests. Over the past ten years, I have logged many documented deep-sea creature into an internal development list.

If a particular animal is not present in the game, it is either already slated for a future habitat update or was intentionally excluded due to gameplay, lore, or technical constraints.

Will you add more extinct species?

Maybe. It depends on the success of the next two updates. If added, they would be part of a separate ecosystem / timeline.

Will multiplayer or co-op ever be added?

A co-op loop has been designed on paper, but whether it becomes reality depends on technical testing. Seashine relies on precise 2D physics that demand low latency, which is historically difficult to stabilize across varied mobile network conditions. While I am prototyping it, a co-op mode cannot be confirmed at this stage.

Will there be a Story Mode?

Not in the traditional sense. Seashine will always remain an endless survival for narrative and lore reasons. However, future updates will introduce richer environmental storytelling, deeper lore fragments, and environmental puzzles.

Other Platforms

Will Seashine come to PC / Mac / Linux (Steam, Mac App Store)?

A desktop release will only be considered if co-op proves viable and the touch controls translate cleanly to gamepad and mouse support.

Will Seashine come to consoles?

No. There are currently no plans for console releases.