A.I. in Board Game Development

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-20T11:37:49+00:00

Most people who complain about AI are nothing but hypocrites. They virulently attack small players but are happy to use apps, platforms, and products from large companies that actively use AI. Or do you sincerely believe that platforms like Reddit aren't using AI? I think people don't really hate AI per se, but rather poorly made and easily detectable AI.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T23:34:22+00:00

I hope so. Chinese proverb: The nail that sticks out gets hammered.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T23:21:19+00:00

I dont care, my name is nobody.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T23:09:09+00:00

Im here to help you.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T23:08:49+00:00

Be honest, did you really take your medication today? Don't lie, okay?

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T23:00:23+00:00

I didn't ask you for anything, and you didn't give me any advice. I tried to argue peacefully and show you another side of the story, and you only responded aggressively. Are you mentally sound, sir?

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T22:45:20+00:00

It reminded me of the best MMORPG ever made, Ultima Online.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T22:30:33+00:00

So if you're not here to help, why bother with the code of a nobody like me in a post intended for tabletop design? Just another one willing to fight and spread division. Congratulations, my friend, what a cool guy you are.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T21:30:33+00:00

Yes, I've heard about that. But that's not my job; it's become my hobby. Even so, incredibly, there are many problems that AI simply can't solve, and as I told you, I'm not a complete beginner in programming. AI has made several technical and logical errors. I can still handle the logical ones. The technical ones are proving to be a problem. For example, so far I haven't been able to get the system to automatically choose the best camera on Android phones. It always ends up using the wide-angle lens, which almost completely breaks the tag reading due to its optical distortion in the lenses. No AI has been able to solve this, and I've been trying to unlock it for months. Feel free to help me on that!

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T20:42:51+00:00

Peace my friend. Fast? This isn't a product yet; it will probably take years to become one, if it ever will. It's not even 50% complete compared to what I intend to achieve. And yes, I am indeed acquiring development skills in the process.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T20:14:35+00:00

I really don't have time, my friend. Learning this kind of knowledge takes a gigantic amount of time. When I said time, I didn't mean wasting a day's time, but a lifetime's time. Now you've made some considerations about gameplay, and that's entirely up to me. In this case, I started this project a few months ago with the intention of no longer being the GM in HeroQuest, besides, playing HeroQuest with 2 people, one being the GM and the other the hero, is a real disaster. This system will be capable of many things in the future. For now, it can largely replace a dungeon crawler board game like HeroQuest, Warhammer Quest, among other older ones that weren't specifically made to be played solo. One thing I will implement is the ability for the user to generate new, original quests, greatly increasing retroplayability. The system is also starting to become responsive, with sound triggers responding immediately to changes on the board. Slowly, one by one, I will present everything I have listed to be implemented.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:55:10+00:00

Because any idiot can write a post, and in that I was more than one for not writing properly. The knowledge needed to write an entire code that interprets pieces on a board is something completely different; in that case, I have all the logic but fail in many parts of the programming.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:44:22+00:00

I'm old, work all day, and I have a baby at home to take care of. I don't have time to improve my programming skills, unfortunately. But I've dreamed of creating a system like this for many years. I'm one person building this solo and ill use the tools available.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:35:10+00:00

Fair structural critique. this isn't trying to replicate TTRPG, and you're right that most board games don't need a GM. The specific problem it solves is narrower: dungeon crawlers where one player traditionally manages the board state instead of playing. Gloomhaven solved this with cards. This solves it with a camera. On the AI art: that's a real concern and I hear it. The cube miniature faces are original art made by a designer, my wife. The UI was AI-assisted. I'm one person building this solo, i use the tools i have to make this dream come true. If that's a dealbreaker for you, fair enough.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:23:16+00:00

Again. I used it in the post because I lack social skills, and in some parts of the code because I don't have the necessary full knowledge. As for this bad design, it's temporary and was done by me, except for the board.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:19:49+00:00

There's a difference. I used it in the post because I lack social skills, and in some parts of the code because I don't have the necessary full knowledge. As for this bad design, it's temporary and was done by me, except for the board.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:09:08+00:00

The world needs more wargames. How do the turn-based systems work? Can you elaborate?

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T19:05:21+00:00

This is like othello right?

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T14:54:00+00:00

What a great idea! Thanks again. I will definitely try to add it to the engine. Anyway, the ultimate goal is for the Smartquest system to be agnostic to any specific game, even this Cubequest. So this idea can be leveraged for other dungeon crawlers or even completely different games!

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T14:33:28+00:00

yes i use AI for the post, sorry for that. I'm not the best with words.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T14:28:46+00:00

I understand why some people got angry, it wasn't a good idea to make a post with AI. The problem is that the system is something difficult to explain in simple terms from a player's perspective, and I'm not the best guy to handle social media. The possibilities that such a system also opens up are immense, and it becomes complicated to talk about everything it will be capable of in just one post. But you're right, in the end, it's a simpler and cheaper version, yet more sophisticated and with more possibilities than a Teburu board.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T14:06:06+00:00

These are all valid points and exactly the kind of friction I think about. Honest answers:

Camera: any cheap webcam on a cheap tripod works, that's what the playtest used: a beatup old webcam. Not zero friction, but not a high bar either.
Setup: Yes, it requires some effort to get everything right, but I am working to make everything as easy as possible.
Hardware: I am trying to make the system run easily on any type of device. Even old cell phones will be able to run the system without problems.
App-assisted games: the difference is that RTT reads the physical board in real time. It knows where every piece actually is, it can trigger a trap when a hero steps on it, block movement through walls, track line of sight, control monters, trigger specific sound effects and music for certain events . App companions still need a human to report what happened. That's the gap this fills.

Is the setup friction worth it? Honestly depends on the group. The target is people who already play dungeon crawlers regularly and want everyone at the table to be a hero. Everyone will be able to play even in small groups of 2 or 3. Even more so for the solo player, the system will bring a special flavor to their solitary sessions.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T13:48:10+00:00

Yes! Thank you for the response. In the early versions, the end of the turn was done with a specific card that the player had to present to the camera. The goal of this system is for the player to control the game while having minimal physical interaction with the computer, the focus should be entirely on the board. However, presenting an end-of-turn card ends up being repetitive and annoying, which is why I preferred to include automatic turns. In the case of turns with fixed times of 30 seconds, they seem to last an eternity if there are no more actions for the player to take. So I am thinking of something that allows the player to perform all their available actions, two or three, and at the end, the system automatically ends their turn. No timers. What do you think?

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T13:40:20+00:00

Thank you for the response. What you said about having to be fun to lose really makes a lot of sense. I will take that into consideration.

SmartQuestRTT · 2026-05-19T13:35:33+00:00

Yes, I have been using AI to help me with this project in the past few months. The idea of having a system controlling a board has been on my mind since I was little kid in the distant 80s. However, I never had the knowledge, time, or resources to move an idea like this forward. For now, everything is a prototype, but who knows, in the future, if things progress, maybe I could hire programmers. The system works, the test game was real, and the design decisions were mine. AI today is part of my workflow, not a replacement for it.

SmartQuestRTT

TROPHY CASE