Hey so I see under "Content" on the description page "No generative AI was used," but then in the comments you say "3-5% of this game was AI assisted" and that you used gen-AI assets and coding. Can you explain?
Of course. Thanks for asking.
So I used AI-generated backgrounds initially to get the project off the ground. Once I saw the game had potential, I commissioned an artist to create real art and I also created others myself. All art in the game is now not AI.
For the coding stuff, I sometimes chat with ChatGPT to brainstorm approaches on how to start tackling a difficult problem that I might have been stuck on for days, such as special-case pathfinding, very specific to my game. I'd look at the approach to understand the approach, and write my own version because rarely can you directly copy and paste it in. This is in stark contrast to games that are generated with vibe coding, where nearly the whole game code is AI-generated.
If you turn on the "AI was used" setting, then your game automatically gets classified as "AI-Generated" in the search, which is unfair and a total misrepresentation. I only realized this after flipping the setting on and there's no way to remove the disclosure, so selecting the opposite choice was my only option. For context, I've worked very hard on this game for many years even before AI was made available: design, art, music, code, and all. It should not be generalized in with "AI-Generated" games.
Thanks for your detailed reply! While I'm morally opposed to any use of gen-AI, I do agree it wouldn't be fair to categorize the game as "AI Generated" if there are no longer any AI-generated assets in it. It sounds like not being able to remove the setting is an issue on itch.io's part, since it forces you into a "full yes" or "full no" situation when neither option is really accurate.
I had fun playing it so I'm glad to hear the AI use was in the past, and I hope you won't use AI in the future! Best of luck with your game!