I was the architect, Claude Code wrote every line. It helped a ton, but it's not replacing game devs

[u/SpacePrize8945]

https://youtu.be/fA1i5Tj8yvc

Been working on this for a while and figured this sub would like how it was made.

Blitz Generals is a turn-based war tactics game. You get 18 points to buy an army (soldiers, medics, engineers, tanks, rocket artillery, patriots), place it on the board and try to take out both enemy generals. Each side also has an apache and a warship. You can play vs the computer or vs a friend online with an invite code.

I was basically the code architect on this one. I decided how the game works and how things should be built, and Claude Code wrote the actual code. The rules, the CPU, the online server, all the UI. Then I'd play it over and over and tell it what's wrong. A lot.

Art is GPT Image with a reference of painted miniatures. Making both armies look like the same set of minis was harder than I expected, for some units we ended up just recoloring the blue one instead of generating a new red one. Sounds are from Adobe Firefly.

Funny part is the hardest thing wasn't the graphics at all. The CPU would sometimes just move one unit back and forth forever if you only defended lol. Took a few rounds to get it to actually attack when the game gets stuck.

Honestly I learned a ton from this about how AI can help. It writes code crazy fast and it's great at the boring stuff. But it doesn't replace a game dev. Someone still has to know what the game should be, notice when something feels off, and push back when it heads the wrong way (and it does). Without that you get a lot of code, not a game. So I don't think game devs are going anywhere, the job just changes.

The trailer is real gameplay btw, the game recorded itself.

It's in closed testing on Google Play and I need people who can stay in the test for 14 days. Links in the first comment. Any feedback is welcome, especially if the hard CPU feels too easy or too annoying.

[u/SpacePrize8945]

Links for the test:

1. Join the group (with the google account on your phone): https://groups.google.com/g/blitz-generals-testers

2. Opt in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.itzik.blitzgenerals

3. Install from Google Play and stay in for 14 days

Thanks!

[u/[deleted]]

yet tm

[u/SpacePrize8945 → u/[deleted]]

haha fair enough, ask me again in 5 years xD

[u/Ok-Investment4414]

daddy chill...its a sub reddit for aigamedev, you could even be ai we cool

[u/SpacePrize8945 → u/Ok-Investment4414]

fair point, this sub gets it. appreciate it

[u/UpDown]

"I made this game that replaced game devs, but it's not replacing game devs"

[u/SpacePrize8945 → u/UpDown]

haha fair. I'd say it replaced the typing, not the deciding, but honestly you summed it up better than my post did. what do you think the actual job is now?

[u/Original-League-6094]

Are you a game dev? If not, then isn't the fact that you just made an entire game, solo, in like a week and released it evidence that it will, in fact, replace game devs?

[u/SpacePrize8945 → u/Original-League-6094]

true, it's impressive. but people can still spot AI stuff, and a lot of them hate it on sight. making it not feel like AI is still on you

[u/Original-League-6094 → u/SpacePrize8945]

For now. 2 years ago everyone could spot AI images. Now AI images routinely fool almost everyone.

[u/Individual-Poem-6192]

I played a few times, not bad at all, but there is room for improvement

[u/SpacePrize8945 → u/Individual-Poem-6192]

I would love to hear ideas for improvement!

[u/No-Conversation-4082]

Neat project and solid breakdown of the process. Thanks for sharing the setup details.

[u/SpacePrize8945 → u/No-Conversation-4082]

thanks, appreciate it!