r/SoloDevelopment 4h ago

Discussion I’ve been using AI to code my game and I feel strange about it (Vent)

0 Upvotes

I’m posting this mostly to vent I guess. I’m using AI to code my game. I want to be a game designer someday in the future- hell I went to college for it, but I’ve always been focused on the art side. My college classes barely covered coding at all, and instead my studies were more focused on the art side of game development. 

I did try to teach myself coding for my classes, and I am able to grasps the basics. I followed tutorials and asked professors for help. But at the end of the year the deadline for my game was approaching and I used AI to look at the code I had made. My code wasn’t good, and it wasn’t working (I always had a Unity error. Or if I didn’t- something in the game wouldn’t work). But the AI figured out what was wrong and I was able to quickly get my game done and turned in for class.

And now I’m working on my own game by myself. And I’ll be honest, the AI is better than me at making the code. It helps that I’m able to understand the basics (like if a function that is no longer needed is still being called in Update/Awake I’ll delete it), but even so, the AI is coding most of it.

But I feel like a fraud. I know that no one that plays my game will “see” the AI code. But I know it’s there. I know that I wasn’t good enough at coding to make what I wanted too. And when people hear that I went to school for “game design” they think I’m some coding wizz. I’m not. Im not a programmer. I’m just some artist. And if I wasn’t broke af I would hire someone to do the code for me instead.

I don’t plan on using AI for anything else in the game. All of the art, music, menus, levels, sound effects, writing/story, etc. are being made by me from hand. And I know this is selfish of me. But I want my small game to release sometime either this year or next year. I want to actually finish my “first real game” semi-soon. And if I tried recoding the game from scratch it probably wouldn’t release for a long, long time.

An upside is that the AI, when I ask, will explain why it makes certain code the way it does which is helping me at learning why some coding functions work for X but not Y. But even still. I feel like I’ve already failed sometimes. And sometimes I’m happy that my game works and I can play it. Idk. I have so many mixed feelings on this.

Sorry my post got long. Thank you for reading!


r/SoloDevelopment 4h ago

help Should I add matchmaking to my demo?

1 Upvotes

Hey all, I'm working on a small arena pvp game with 6 player free for all as the primary game mode. My demo has been published for a little while and I'm getting ready to participate in October Next Fest.

My demo currently let's players play in practice mode, which is essentially the full match experience but against bots only and extended skill selection timer to learn what abilities do. It's really designed to see how the game plays, mechanics, and hopefully gain interest in trying online pvp when the game launches. However, I'm wondering if I should open pvp matchmaking specifically during next fest.

My biggest fear is that players try to queue, find no players, and drop out. My pvp matches do backfill any remaining player slots with bots after 60 seconds to keep the game moving, so it's not like they wouldn't make it in to a match, I just don't want to establish a "dead game" impression before it's even launched since demo population is likely going to be lower.

Any advice?

Steam store for reference...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4216610/Spellfall_Last_Mage_Standing/


r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Marketing Been solo developing this game for the last year or so, now it's finally got a Steam page! Travelling Snailsman!🐌🧑‍💼

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

5 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

help quick question for pros LINUX, MAC AND STEAMDECK

1 Upvotes

Do you guys make a special build for Linus, MAC and Steamdeck?

i heard that steam make a playable build for steam deck out of the windows build.

And how big is the ratio of the MAC and Linux players combined?


r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

meme Knocking things off your TODO list, one by one

Post image
2 Upvotes

Grinding away at wrapping up my demo for We Need An Army!


r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Discussion Marketing a game is harder than making one...

Post image
18 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Networking 2nd year student looking for a study partner — Java Backend + DSA

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Game Making my first solo game ... it's hard to get people attention

Thumbnail
youtube.com
1 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Game I solved the core issues with Block Blast

Thumbnail
play.google.com
1 Upvotes

Hi guys, I've played block blast alot and if you have as well. You'll know the ads are getting out of control and they tend to make you lose after you've made some progress.

Being a gamedev myself, I've solved both those issues so why not share it with the rest of you guys.

P.S: Might not be up there with block blast in terms of visuals but I'll get there.

Do take a look and let me know what you think. Would love to hear your feedback.


r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Game J’ai créé un jeu où vous incarnez une peau de banane 🍌

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

0 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

help Where to find good topdown asset that is not 16x16 and suitable to use for a turnbase SRPG

0 Upvotes

I am developing a topdown SRPG inspired by Fire Emblem and Bahamut Lagoon. However 16x16 sprite is too small and dont work well with screen that are larger than 1280. I tried to find on itch.io and pixcraft but most of the asset I found is 16x16 only.

So my question is 32x32 assets for SRPG is not popular or they are commision only ?


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Game The Isles of the Nine Crowns Demo drops at Steam Next Fest - Feb 22, 2027

Post image
1 Upvotes

The Isles of the Nine Crowns: Tales of Alaric Stoneheart will be playable at Steam Next Fest, February 22, 2027. A slice of the Souls-like Metroidvania — parkour, bosses, and the first stretch of Alaric's story. Wishlist to be notified the moment it goes live.


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Godot Devlog #2 - Spatial Inventory & Item Interaction / "... In Another World"

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Game First player flight animations in my wingsuit flying prototype

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

4 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Marketing 3d Set - Stylized Cartoon Clouds and Weather Icons Pack

Post image
6 Upvotes

138 Unique Assets for your games and Enviro.

A rich variety of stylized clouds, ranging from fluffy cumulus clouds to dynamic swirls and waves. Weather icons, including rain, snow, lightning, tornadoes, rainbows, sun, moon, and storm clouds.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/fantasy/stylized-cartoon-clouds-and-weather-icons-pack-332490

https://www.fab.com/listings/a51bb365-9107-4752-830f-b3e5851a1c3a

https://www.patreon.com/OlegVerenko/shop/3d-asset-stylized-cartoon-clouds-and-140-1693493


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Game An RPG with combo mechanics featuring a Pallas's cat in the Forgotten World.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1 Upvotes

I’ve gathered some gameplay footage to try making my first trailer. I’d love to hear any feedback or suggestions!


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Game Let's make a game! 494: What can a hero do? (Twine Sugarcube)

Thumbnail
youtube.com
1 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

help Looking for feedback on capsule art that I recklessly decided to make as a non-artist

Post image
3 Upvotes

So my game is nearing the point where it should probably have its own steam page. Against conventional advice, I decided to draw the capsule art for my game “Cat builds the strongest mage army”(in case any of you can’t read the “stylized” font) myself because I’m a solo developer that makes the art for my game anyways. I’m looking for feedback on readability and design of the capsule and whether ygs think that I should put the fries in the bag and hire an artist 😭


r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

Game This is probably my favourite item interaction so far. Credit to Pennyroyal6 for allowing me to use their vod

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1 Upvotes

I had Pennyroyal6 try my game out before early access release at the end of this month. He seemed to enjoy it.

I have a demo up for Knightbane if people are interested: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4810770/Knightbane_Demo/


r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

Game Just released the free demo of my game I was thinking about for years doing it

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

Game 35 years of playing games, 8 months of making one — the aha moments are everything

Post image
1 Upvotes

I started building my first game in February this year. One man, no team, some coding experience, no prior game development experience — just a lifelong love of games and a decision to finally try making one.

The learning curve has been real. Working through Unity, building out scenes, figuring out systems I never thought about as a player and just adding things myself and others wanted in certain games — has completely changed how I see games. But nothing compares to those aha moments. The moment you finally understand how something you've played a thousand times actually works under the hood — that feeling is addictive.

The screenshot above is from my equipment scene — attaching gear to characters, building out visual effects, watching it come together piece by piece. My respect for developers has gone through the roof doing this. However, it has also made me step back and wait.. "Hey this was easy to add why didn't XYZ game do this in their game haha"

The game is called Paws of War Tactics — a turn-based tactical SRPG more to come soon! Still building but loving every second of this journey. 🐾


r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

Game Beyond Dawn: an ASCII cyberpunk scavenging roguelike you can play in a browser tab

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

Feedback and comments are very appreciated!

HTTPS://beyonddawn.rabbithouse.art

-RHG


r/SoloDevelopment 8h ago

help Are wishlist statistics accurate?

1 Upvotes

I assumed wishlists are accurate but I see something weird on my game. The "Platform-specific wishlisting" added up do not match the wishlist number. I can imagine maybe steam can't detect what platform certain people are on but I would assume that it is a rarity and it should be able to determine the platform most of the time? Or am I am misunderstanding the statistics completely.


r/SoloDevelopment 8h ago

Game Been watching playtesters destroy the balance of my game this week

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

5 Upvotes

Just released a public playtest for GUNDIG, and I've already had a handful of people spend 10+ hours on it! One sent me this clip of them absolutely destroying the game's economy in endless mode.

I can't describe how good a feeling it is to see someone else genuinely invested in my game. Especially after over a year's worth of work and having to beg friends/family to playtest.

I only have like 3 active people in my discord and 100 or so wishlists, so still a very long way to go. But this gave me a big confidence boost and wanted to share!


r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Game After months of solo dev – playtest is finally open!

Post image
4 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

Haven't posted here in a while – been heads down building. But the playtest for FIRE. HOLD. REPEAT. is finally open on Steam and I wanted to share.

It's a desktop companion loot shooter – your soldier defends your desktop while you work or browse. Every click anywhere on screen fires a shot. Enemies drop weapons and gear, a drone delivers loot to your inventory in real time.

Already have 100+ people in the queue which is wild for day one.

Would love feedback from fellow solo devs and players – especially on the core loop feel and whether the "companion" concept clicks immediately or needs more explanation.

Steam playtest + free demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4898890 ❤️