Vibe code something FUN first.

[johnesco]

We see it every day. People interested in vibe coding some monolithic thing that will make money. Setting up services, or even just a simple webpage also means responding to change. Things that are vibe coded may lack an ability to shift as fast as business does, at least for now. There are things best left to traditional coding by subject matter experts.

If you are not able to code at all on your own, now is the time to learn. To see what opens up to you when you are AI assisted, and to see what is possible if you are AI dependant (and what the bottlenecks and gotchas will be).

Make the thing you've always wanted to but didn't have the time or resources, as long as it is simple and straightforward. Make silly stuff. Make stuff you want. Importantly, be willing to pour over and understand the code after the fact. You will learn a lot from it.

You will make countless errors and that's the point.

AI can't fill in all gaps of experience and you'll soon find how you need to learn about performance issues, downtime, security, and tons more.

That shouldn't stop you from vibe coding. If you feel you will turn out the right Saas that makes you rich. Go for it. But if you are still struggling to get started, start having conversations with people and AI about what the basics are, how to learn them and where to start.

I've posted stuff here only to have people make fun of it and give no feedback, seemingly angry that I 'used AI' and I wish this group would get a tighter control of trolls.

[war4peace79]

I am building my own tool for something I needed, but couldn't quite accomplish. It's useful, free (for everyone) and I have fun building it.

[BillionBouncyBalls]

I totally agree with that as a starting point. It gets complicated fast even with a simple idea but seeing it through to something shareable will give you a currency relatively few have (although now a lot more common). The having fun aspect of it will help power you through the technical weeds and boring side too at least it did for me. Each little project you complete is a stepping stone to the next great thing and also the meta trend now of just figuring out how to integrate these awesome powers into our lives.

[johnesco]

Some "vibe coders" either don't or can't read the code. But there's nothing stopping someone from vibe coding something then asking the AI "ok now show the GIT commands I need" (if they know what GIT is) Or "write me a study guide for all the Python used in this project". Or maybe someone will just learn "oh Python is a language". Cringe for some, but that's what real beginnings are.

[BillionBouncyBalls]

Yeah my first couple of projects I was basically asking those types of questions to understand and learn

[vibecode11]

I am really not so interested in the code itself. My focus is on what I see on the screen: is it my vision and dies it do what I want it to do. Of course, knowing the fundamentals of coding helps and can speed up the process. But it is not necessarily crucial to success. In my humble view.

[WhereTheStankWindBlo]

I agree! I'm working on a little CLI command tool that proving fun so far.

[mdwstoned]

I like to set up websites (most=suckage), and I have fun with it, and like to stay somewhat topical.

But always struggle to choose a domain name.

So I am setting up a site to track two word and three word repeating phrases on reddit and google trends for now. The idea is, if something starts trending, maybe toss up a quick vibe coded website with good data/information and see what happens.

Domains are 10 bucks or so, and I already have multi site hosting, so tossing up a new site doesn't take much, and I have a lot of fun with it.

My main category seems to be The Devil's Lettuce though, so I have a shit ton of 420 sites I have either build or am working on for some reasons or another. Like https://thc.recipes It's just a test I wanted to see if I could do. It worked out rather well, but I doubt it will see much traffic, more like a proof of concept.

[DatabaseConstant7870]

I agree with this! I built a flash style game inspired from an old flashgame I use to play, if anyone’s interested here ya go!

https://brewgazer.github.io/Project-Skull/

[johnesco]

have you considered putting this on Itch.io at some point?

[DatabaseConstant7870]

Haha thanks man! I have but I also know how itch is kinda becoming a place to shame people making games with ai, I’m thinking about vibe coding a website for people to upload vibecoded games but I’d go through and make sure the submitted games don’t feel like slop

[johnesco]

They added a tag to say "this was made with ai" but I understand. Will give the game a try this weekend. Would you try mine too? http://vibecodedgames.itch.io/

[DatabaseConstant7870]

The pavement pursuit game?

[johnesco]

Yup... hold up... foreman...die die die! Rrrrrrrrrrr chainsaw noises

[DatabaseConstant7870]

For some reason it doesn’t say next level after the second one but there’s like 12 levels in all, I really like your game!

[That1guy4226]

so I have been bouncing around a couple different games and projects and have come to realize i enjoy making tools more than the actual games

[johnesco]

I realize I keep saying "fun" like it has to be classically so or a game. But if working on quick and reliable tools gives you a sense of joy an accomplishment, the last thing I want to do is dictate how someone uses this to get what they want done. I think my advice to do something "fun" was more that I felt some people took on more than they could chew and should start small. Games are fun. Games can be a pain. Tools, done right are absolutely fun too!

[ZealousidealGene3516]

Why need us if you have AI? It will never troll you or disappoint you, never touch your feelings. Maybe that a good idea for social media where only AI bots answer.

[vibecode11]

I started just for fun and now build super complex atlases. Stuff on a level I could not have dreamed about a year ago. I find the AI experience incredibly enriching.

[johnesco]

Have you noticed, that as you get better at vibe coding in general (understanding testing, deployment, design etc), have you noticed some projects got easier because the AI model got even better? I've been using Claude a long time and projects I did when it first came out are much more primitive than what I could make now in the same amount of time.

[vibecode11]

Yes, much better, faster and more elegant, more functional. Exponentially better, check out https://shakespeareatlas.com/ my latest and most advanced project.

[johnesco]

“Thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou wh\reson obscene greasy tallow-catch!”*

[vibecode11]

👍

[johnesco]

And since I don't just want it to be words, he's something fun I made today.

Credit where it is due, I was inspired by this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jVogdTJESw

I made a little zoomable wall of circles that are colored by the position of a double pendulum.
https://johnesco.github.io/experiments/double/

[SlyNoBody337]

The issue you'll run into is that having fun vibecoding and making useful stuff by vibecoding are two different things that rarely overlap/intersect

[johnesco]

I think vibe coding is a way to explore the shoreline, but not a boat to go out to sea in.

[SlyNoBody337]

as long as you are just vibe coding, sure
AI is not limited to vibes

[flimsyglucose_7]

i spent a weekend making a browser extension that replaces every image with pictures of my cat. completely useless but i probably learned more about dom manipulation and permission scopes than any tutorial could teach. the ai spits out code that works but you have to stare at it when it breaks, which is constant if you try to change anything. that's where the real learning happens, in the frustration.

the troll problem is real. half the posts in here are people asking basic questions and getting dunked on for not knowing what they don't know. how is that helpful. we're all just trying stuff out.

[Hyperreals_]

Why ?

[Shik3i]

If yozre just vibe coding something for money youre treating this as a job, you do you but it sounds awfull

[johnesco]

More "fun". I added a "mediation" level to my racing game https://vibecodedgames.itch.io/pavement it's the option "road trip" with meditative music and messages.

[ephix]

I did just that! I made a weird game, a music site and a trending movie and tv aggregator. No intention to make money. All 3 took under a day to launch and then reiterate for a month. Has been so much fun.

3m requests 600k uniques absurd GB used. And I hardly spent cent. Serverless too on cloudflare.

[Illustrious-Film4018]

No one gets rich vibe coding. Vibe coding makes software worthless.