Making games is hard, but maybe using ChatGPT can make it much easier? I've had a go at it and the results are mixed, to put it best.
Alongside writing articles about ChatGPT, coming to terms with AI chatbot has been a major mission of mine for the past year. I've found it useful for coming up with recipe ideas from a list of ingredients, writing fun alternate history ideas, and answering board game rules clarifications. But I wanted to see if it could do something more impressive: teach me how to make a game. The first hurdle I've wanted to make a game for a while now. I programmed a bunch of basic Flash games when I was a kid — if you can find my Newgrounds profile, you can have a good laugh at them — but I've had a few ideas ticking in my mind that have calcified into thoughts that will not shift. I need to make them someday and maybe someday is now. Recommended Videos But knowing how to start making a game isn't easy. I didn't really know what kind of game I was trying to make, or what engine I should use, or how you actually start making a game. Until recently, I just hadn't done it. I'd downloaded Unity once, became intimidated, and uninstalled it. So, the first step in my game-making journey was to talk to ChatGPT about it. No fancy custom GPT, no plug-ins, just me and my pal — who I'd asked to respond in an encouraging and understanding way — like it was teaching a child. It talked me through the main game engines, and after explaining my idea for a game, it had some suggestions. It ultimately suggested I could make it in 2D and that although the big engines would be great too, I might be better off with something like Godot or Game Maker Studio. I did some external research and ultimately settled on Game Maker. It seemed like the most straightforward. ChatGPT was excited for me when I said I'd settled on an engine, and then we got to work on outlining my project. Now what? So, how do I actually make a game? ChatGPT suggested I learn the engine, which makes a lot of sense. But how do I do that? There were a few approaches it said could work, including doing a tutorial. That made…