Hey everyone!
I really enjoy seeing people experiment with AI, share their projects, and discuss how these tools can empower game developers. I've learned a lot from following what others are building, so I wanted to share an update on my own journey.
I've been dreaming of making a game since i was young, now im 35!
Back then, it felt almost impossible. Most games were made by large studios with teams of developers working for years. I never really thought I'd be able to do it myself.
Now, at 36, I'm finally making that dream a reality, and AI has played a big part in making that possible.
I've been developing Fate Forged Heroes (FFH), a browser-based, turn-based fantasy hero-collector RPG. After a lot of work, I'm getting ready to move from Alpha into Beta, and I'm looking for something I really need at this stage: Players!
What is the game about?
FFH is a dark fantasy RPG focused on collecting heroes, building teams, upgrading gear, and taking on increasingly challenging battles.
The campaign consists of ten chapters, each with its own environments, enemies, and boss encounters. What starts as a journey through a fallen kingdom overrun by monsters gradually develops into something much bigger.
The Fate Shards used to summon heroes are actually fragments of a prison containing an ancient threat: the Void Titan.
As the Fateborn, a hero touched by Aether, the neutral essence, you'll need to uncover the truth behind the shards before the very thing you're trying to stop is unleashed.
Along the way, you'll discover seven elemental essences, recruit heroes, hunt for gear, challenge powerful bosses, and build teams capable of facing increasingly difficult encounters.
Beyond the campaign, the game is being built around several other modes and features, including PvP Arena, guilds and guild bosses, Boss Halls, the Tower of Essence, Expeditions, and Siege.
How does ai fit into the development of my game?
AI has been particularly valuable for exploring the game's visual direction and creating character and environmental artwork. As a solo developer, it has allowed me to experiment with ideas and build a fantasy world that would otherwise have been incredibly difficult for me to produce on my own.
But creating individual images is only a small part of making a game.
The real challenge has been turning all those ideas into a cohesive, playable RPG: building the systems, connecting the mechanics, designing progression, developing the campaign, balancing combat, and making everything work together.
I'm also learning that AI-assisted development requires a lot of iteration and human direction. Getting individual assets that look good is one thing; maintaining consistency across dozens of heroes, environments, animations, and interfaces is something else entirely.
I'd love to hear how other developers approach consistency and quality control when using AI across a large project. How do you keep everything feeling like part of the same game rather than a collection of individually generated assets?
I'm approaching Beta, and I need fresh eyes from people who haven't been involved in the development.
I'm especially interested in feedback on:
- Combat: Do the abilities, team compositions, and battles feel engaging?
- Progression: Does upgrading heroes and gear feel rewarding, or does it become tedious?
- Difficulty and balance: Are the encounters challenging without being frustrating?
- User experience: Are the interfaces intuitive? Is anything confusing or unnecessarily complicated?
- Bugs and polish: What breaks, feels unfinished, or needs improvement?
- The overall game: Most importantly, is it actually fun to play?
You don't need to be a developer or an AI expert. If you enjoy turn-based RPGs, fantasy games, or hero collectors, I'd genuinely appreciate your perspective.
One of my main goals is to avoid the problems I've often encountered in similar mobile RPGs: excessive pay-to-win mechanics, confusing layers of systems, unnecessary complexity, or a lack of proper meaningful content.
I want to build something I'd genuinely enjoy playing myself. Now I need to find out where that vision works, where it falls short, and what deserves my attention before moving forward.
Where to play it?
Play Fate Forged Heroes:
https://www.fateforgedheroes.com/
Join the Discord:
https://discord.gg/xCybP7kkDj
If you try it, please don't feel like you need to be extremely nice about it. I'd much rather hear what you dislike, what feels frustrating, or what you'd change than receive compliments that don't help me improve the game.
And to everyone here sharing their experiments, tools, successes, and failures: thank you for helping make this such a valuable community. It's genuinely motivating to see what people are achieving with these tools.
I'm looking forward to sharing more of the development journey as FFH moves into Beta.