GlassWorks

A proper way to deliver a product is to wrap it up in a good-looking package so the end user knows what it’s about, and also make a proper first impression. For software products and video games, the package is the installer, and you can easily build one with applications like GlassWorks.

It takes a little while to get it up and running on your PC, but before you go through the setup process, you need to make sure that Java Runtime Environment is installed on your computer, because it’s one of the main requirements.

The main window is where you get to do all the work, with the initial set of options making it pretty shallow. However, this is only if you don’t pay enough attention, because you need to go through several different tabs like main, appearance, license, files and directories, integration, and customization in order to properly build the installer.

General details can be added in the initial pane, such as name, version, author, contact details, default setup directory, installer window size, and whether or not to use pack200 compression, or strip debugging information. All these details can be saved as your own project in case there’s not enough time to finish it, with options to load it later on.

You might end up scratching your head for a while when reaching the appearance section. Although there’s a preview area, it only shows title logo and auxiliary pictures if you decide to load them, but you don’t really get an idea of how the installer looks like until actually building it and taking it for a test run.

Adding files and folders can be a bit of a hassle too. Split into installation groups and files to install, the application only allows you to load one file at a time, so it can be a pain to bundle an entire, complex project. Tokens can be included too, but you need to know directory and statistic method to use.

The integration tab is where GlassWorks lets you configure file associations and additional parameters for the new program to use. Moreover, listener groups, classes, and other components can be added in the customization tab.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that GlassWorks comes with good intentions, but doesn’t quite deliver the building process and set of options you’re expecting to find. Adding files and folders alone is a struggle, while working on the visual design with no preview easily becomes frustrating.