itch.io

Honestly? Do what feels right for you. I feel like I learn a lot about coding from asking ChatGPT to write scripts from me, and then learning from the scripts as I go through them, and I'll probably be able to write my own scripts eventually, which will probably be way better for my project in the long run. But different people have different preferences.

Then you also have lots of strong opinions about AI, from people who insist anything AI-related is the devil to people who seemingly want to use it for everything.

Sure, the games that are just low-effort spam should be banned, I don't think anyone will disagree with you there.

Yeah, I'm tired of the 'AI slop' thing, too. Sure, some AI stuff is incredibly half-hearted, but a lot of it is definitely not.

Weird argument. Both AI generation and human labour can be labour-intensive, or quick/lazy/half-hearted.

If I make a simple game with a few sketches that I quickly threw together, that's not a game I put a lot of effort into, but it's human-made. I once made a game with RPG Maker for the GMTK game jam over just two days. Human-made, but also just a quick project. 

On the other hand, I can make a project where I spend hours and hours a day writing prompts for images which I keep refining, and writing scripts with the help of ChatGPT, and so on. Trust me, something as simple as a character portrait can take a loooong time to make using AI if you're committed to it actually turning out well.

For whatever it's worth--

Luigi needs to keep refining prompts, selecting parts of images to change, and dismissing images that aren't what they were after. Trust me, I've done both. Both can be time-consuming, but sometimes AI-generation takes way more work than finding the perfect asset for your project. Also, the former is actually creative effort, not just scrolling and searching through stuff that's already been made.

Also:

"People are getting tired of all the generative ai slop being posted. We want human made games. "
If you really believed that, why even petition for a ban? AI-generated content would die out naturally.

Nope. AI used correctly is a wonderful tool for gamedevs. If you're for example a good writer but can't draw, why not use AI art. If you're an artist who can't code, why not let ChatGPT teach you the ropes of Unity and scripting.

Takes jobs? To a degree. But I can't afford to hire artists for my project anyway, so no jobs are lost. If I can get an MVP version out the door and fundraise enough money I'll happily commission actual artwork, but as it is, without AI I wouldn't be able to make my game.

Unoriginal: depends entirely on the creativity that goes into the prompts. If I just say 'generate me a character for my rpg', obviously no human thought goes into that. If I already have a character in mind and tell the AI how to generate her profile picture, and then keep at it until she looks the way  I envision her, that's definitely a creative project.

Power-intensive: Yup, and AI generation should probably require a monthly subscription fee, as should probably a lot more services around the Web. Maybe it should cost money to upload vids to YouTube, too.  I don't see why that's a reason AI content should be banned from Itch.io, though.

Plagiarism: If you don't credit the AI for the part it's done, sure, and by all means, kick the people who get caught using AI without crediting it. 

Not bothering to reply to your more reaching points.

Honestly no idea why this was downvoted. It's as if people believe people with epilepsy don't exist or something. Thanks for bringing it up.

Another milestone: This thread has hit 2000+ views ❤️

SPIRIT Devlog 11: Back in the saddle

Hey, just writing a quick devlog to let you know I'm still very much alive and still working on the game. Since last update I've graduated from uni and been hunting for a job as a planner, and to be honest it did dampen my motivation more than I thought it would to leave university and no longer be around the campus and people that did so much to inspire the game's setting. Also my gaming laptop has been out of commission for a while so I haven't had access to Unity or Articy, and I've felt that I had to prioritize job hunting over getting it fixed and allowing myself to play games and work on hobbies. Going forward I guess I'll prioritize my work (hunting)-life balance more and dedicate more time to leisure, including this passion project, and getting back into it has been wonderful so far.

As for concrete progress, today I sat down and wrote a whole new scene I had lots of fun writing, plus a really tricky and important part that I'd been putting off for a really long time due to lack of inspiration. I can't share every bit of progress here because most of it is this kind of 'grind' that isn't really flashy or exciting or even possible to show people --the scene I loved writing is just an everyday conversation during what might end up being a baking minigame and the other part is a massive endgame spoiler, but I'm going to have another go at making the dialogue system in Unity work, so maybe next time I'll have actual ingame footage to show you.

For what it's worth, though: The dialogue and narration has officially passed the 30 000 word mark (at 30 656 words so far, or about 64 pages. I think I'll celebrate with a donut🍩.

PS: And as you might have gleamed from the screenshot, the game might just be leaving working title stage.

I get their concern, though, I'm kind of in the same situation myself. I just graduated from uni with a degree in geography, and one of my main selling points is that I'll be able to do GIS (basically mapping and analysis software) work. Who knows how many years or months away we are from AI-driven GIS programs. I guess I also get the idea that there's also something inherently 'wrong' about letting AI do creative tasks that were previously reserved for humans. All the same, I'll keep using AI, within reason, of course. It's a wonderful tool when used correctly.

I beg to differ. I'm working on a game and using AI art for both photographic and artistic character portraits has enabled me to make a game I otherwise wouldn't be able to. I'm making everything else myself, except ChatGPT has also been a great help in learning C# and Unity. The ideas are my own, the photos I use for backgrounds are taken by me (I must've taken hundreds by now so I have plenty to choose from), the nearly 30 000 words so far of dialogue and narration were written by me, and all the music and sound effects will all be made by humans. The idea for the game is my own, and I'm the one brainstorming the scenes, characters, and conversations. I'm the one doing research and pouring my own experiences and reflections into the game to hopefully make it feel insightful, make people think and laugh, and cover some important topics. I could go on, but you get the idea.

SPIRIT is my first real big project and if it's ever completed and takes off, no one would be happier than me if I was able to do what the The Roottrees are Dead developer did and hire a human artist to make new portraits, but right now? No chance. No artists are missing out on work because I wouldn't be able to hire them anyway, and I doubt anyone would be willing to make a large number of character portraits for free.

You're free to be as opposed to this new technology as you want, but unfounded, generalizing rants about stupidity and desperation only makes you look dogmatic and uninformed. Also funny how using AI assets is lazy, but no one bats an eye at using free assets from for example Unity, even though this arguably takes considerably less effort and creativity than making assets from scratch with AI.

As others have said, you have to promote yourself. This can be hard work and you'll probably have to use TikTok, Youtube, and/or similar platforms. It's never been easier to make and publish games, but this is of course both a blessing and a curse: It means there's just so many games that you have to work hard to stand out. Also, of course, you have to promote yourself in a way that doesn't just come across as spam. Consistently putting out games and updates for WIP projects (once they're far enough along) helps too, of course.

I absolutely loved this one. 

Dude, let it go, you misunderstood what the OP meant and you got corrected, no need to get that worked up, even with a huge image of your pfp for some reason.

Probably not the right thread, but could you possibly skip NSFW content in two -- content that happens to be 'mature', like a slice of life game that happens to tackle sexual assault in its story, or a game that discusses suicide as a topic, and outright porn content? The two are really different and it's really irritating to have them both lumped together

This is the most creative idea I've seen so far, brilliant work! I wish Mark had featured this.

Genius

Love this

Really neat, congrats on being featured in Marks' vid. Great job.

I see why this was featured by Mark. So much fun.

Clever idea.

Fantastic game, didn't think I've love this as much as I did but I had sooo much fun. Excellent job!

Different product. This doesn't contain the MP or leaderboards. Oh, and it's three dollars.

Thanks all for playing! 60% rated it 1-2 and 40% rated it 3-4 and I consider that pretty good for my first Unity upload. Will definitely keep working on this and turn it into a full, if small, game. If anyone's interested, also feel free to check out the devlogs. Thanks for the jam!

Random suggestion, make it so that devlog threads are displayed with the newest post first. Makes it so users don't have to scroll down to read the newest devlog.

I also didn't know it was a one-person project. Great job. Also love how AI makes it possible to make prototypes like this.

Post-jam roadmap

Okay, so here's a quick post on how I intend for this game to evolve now that the jam is over. I know writing a post like this is risky, because I'm promising another update and for all I know I'll lose interest or suddenly not have the spare time, but I wanted to get down on paper what I plan for this game. Maybe this will help me commit to keep working on the game.

Changes I've already made:

• You now earn additional credits from destroying enemy ships, added to the fixed sum you're allotted every time you reach the shop
• Added left mouse button as additional hotkey for firing cannons and missiles, and the Control keys as additional keys for firing cannons
• Locked camera to player ship. This did a lot for the feel of the game
• Tweaked zoom level
• Started tweaking numbers like shop credits and enemy health (this will be a continuous process)

Here are the things I want to work on in the short term:

• Sound effects and music
• More content --upgrades, weapons, enemy types, things to fly past other than just asteroids, and so on
• A proper level, not one that's cobbled together last minute for a game jam
  • Sections of the level with randomized asteroid fields, to keep the player on their toes every run!
• Bug fixing. Sooo much bug fixing.

I would love it if I can release a kind of 1.0 version with all these features, and perhaps even a 1.1 with general polish, fixes, and changes based on whatever feedback I might receive.

Thanks for the jam, and a big thanks to all who played and commented on my game, it means the world!

Superb job.

Played it now and loved it to death. Succeeded at Act 1 on my first try, just wished the end of Act 1 was a checkpoint so I wouldn't have to do the whole thing again, lol. Maybe you could add that in a patch? Either way, really creative take on the theme, one of my absolute fave games of the jam so far.

Oh, and if I was going to be pedantic I'd say that the fact that it stops when you make a big enough mistake kinda contradicts the name of the game 😜

Have to check this out now. I went to contemporary circus school once and watching Mark play this reminded me of our gruelling rehearsals and having to remember what to do and when, lol. Will definitely check this out!

Wait, this is free on Itch.io?

Was the level procedurally generated? I couldn't seem to get back to the tree once I'd gone too far down. Really enjoyed, though. Creative, cool to play as a hungry snake, and the horror element with the monstrous spider-thing appearing at night.

Either way, really great take on the theme, love it when people have unique ideas like this. Great job!

Okay, I've seen a good deal of games this year with 'draw a loop around an enemy to destroy them' as the gameplay mechanic, but most of them have been about drawing circles or moving about in circles. Having a cute koala throw a boomerang is such a nice take and also the game looked super good and had a great atmosphere while also being sort of challenging. Great work!

Really cosy game, really enjoyed playing. Maybe there could be an option to increase window size, my eyes aren't what they used to be, lol. Other than that, really good work!

Really similar to the idea behind my game, except you pulled it off way better :p. Also mine was a shoot-em-up, so still a different take. Really liked this, found myself wanting to just play it again and again. Great work!

I'd never have thought of shoe laces as a game idea, so really creative take. Not really my type of game tho. Really liked the artwork though!

Really clever idea! And congrats on being featured by Mark! Gotta play this now, looks really chill!