Everything's fine on my end! I post regular updates on my Twitter and I'm trying to post more on Patreon as I get things done. I'm just very busy right now with both life and working on Lyre's definitive edition, along with getting everything together for Dryz.
There are plenty of engines you could use. One of the most common ones and the one Lyre uses is Ren'Py. It's the most up to date if I remember correctly. Also, I'm pretty sure I've heard of some people using Unreal Engine.
That honestly shouldn't be happening and I have no explanation for it. If you want to join the discord and explain more about your problems running it in the bugs chat, I'd be happy to try and help, but I honestly can't think of any reason why this would happen.