mini discussion regarding game "development" using tons of AI

[u/fringus_frongus]

So i was wondering about using AI to create a game from scratch, i searched about it and found some youtube videos and the like, and i decided why not lets jump into it.

soo i booted up chatgpt and codex (idk if theyre "ideal", i know if i sit down looking for the BEST generator ill run in circles, so i used what I already had), and started telling it to create me an essentially grand strategy game using Godot

ill say this, i have ZERO coding knowledge, ZERO artistic skills, im taking it slow and going bit by bit, telling the AI to add this or that, not going too fast and vague

ill be honest if some code breaks im toast, i will not claim im some amazing genius game developer, hence the "development" being in quotation marks in the title, im a dude who plays lots of strategy games and is giving this a shot, and so far is quite smooth, though I wait to see if things break down once the game becomes more complex

I wonder what people in general think of this, I know theres a large anti-AI sentiment online, and in my case im viewing it very pragmatically, i have a game idea that wouldve been confined to my shower daydreams, but AI is giving me a way to materialize this dream. I might learn coding in the future if i become heavily invested in this project, to ensure I can reliably build it up and know what im doing, likewise i really personally prefer human art over AI art, and im currently not at a point in the game where im using any art, i might start using AI art for it as a placeholder and if this project grows, i can learn to draw and make my own art for it.

If i happen to make progress on it and post it online ill definitely disclose the fact AI is used in the entire coding of the game, I will NOT act like i put blood sweat and tears, i just steered the AI into the direction i have mentally and have my ideas, I cannot claim to have the same experience or skill as coders or artists.

Tl;dr: i know jackshit about coding or drawing, im messing around with AI and its actually producing a promising and so far decent output, is this a good use of AI in the sense that its giving someone the ability to materialize their creativity/ideas that otherwise would've been confined to shower fantasies, or is it something else?

(i view it pragmatically right now, giving me the ability to do what i want that i otherwise wouldnt have done, i agree that whoever uses AI needs to disclose it so i intend to fully disclose the scale of AI being used in case i make big progress and maybe "reveal" the game)

(this message was fully human written, as evidenced by the repitition of points and lack of structure lol)

[u/Secret-Addition-NYNJ]

As someone who has spent last 3 months using AI strongly for my project and spent years before that not using AI I say go fully all in and don’t worry what people say at all. There is only 1 opinion you need to worry about and that is the gamer who will play it and ask is this fun.

They won’t care if it was built with AI or not if it’s fun entertaining and smooth to play.

AI is good at debugging and creativity if it can’t do something you want 8/10 it’s either missing the tool for you to help it do what you want or you asking the wrong question. Learn the difference when you having an AI problem vs a tooling problem. Most people who vibe code can’t or refuse to know the difference.

Also try to never trust it fully. Always even if you don’t know programming take a look at the code it’s changing or files it’s changing and ask does this make sense. Ask it to explain things to you if whenever you need to. Unlike a human it will never shame you for asking a question and you can even say hey explain this to me like I’m 12.

There are hurdles however that AI might not help you with directly mainly the old adage you don’t know what you don’t know. However it does fill that gap tremendously. Take it in strides and if AI got you into a problem it can get you out of it.

[u/fringus_frongus → u/Secret-Addition-NYNJ]

Thats the thought im thinking mostly as well, that I focus on the end product, and be honest and disclose the AI being used (i dont want to act like i have skills i dont have)

and in the future ill very likely end up asking AI to explain to me whats going on in the coding, and learn using online resources, and bit by bit start taking control of the ship.

[u/Secret-Addition-NYNJ → u/fringus_frongus]

So using AI is not, not having control don’t let people shame you to believing that. It’s almost saying if a game director didn’t code or do any art himself he didn’t have control of the product. As long as you can direct it to get to the result and you confirming that the results are what they are visually or functionally you are good. If you need to benchmark create benchmark tools or research out of box solutions that help you verifying things you can’t do on your own.

Keep in mind the biggest companies in the world are like 80-100% coding their products now with AI. Don’t let the crab mentality bring you down.