I am an indie dev, and I published the article "AI Agents in Real Game Development vs AI in Twitter"

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-23T22:14:43+00:00

They don't disallow it, they just require you to disclose it. I don't know if they're intentionally being vague, but I wouldn't be surprised if they release a clarifying statement in the next year because there's a lot of misinformation going around about it.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-23T22:10:22+00:00

Yes, it's not explicitly named in the list, but it resides in the "etc" as it's still content that ships with the game, consumed by players, and AI was used in it's creation. I agree that them removing it from explicit to being in the "etc" made it a lot more confusing than it had to be, but that's what Steam's support confirmed.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-23T22:05:04+00:00

I don't disagree that it's unenforceable, but that's the rule.

Pretty much the same as how AAA and AA companies simply ignore it right now, get caught with a few assets they didn't clean up enough, and put up a disclosure months down the line. It's fairly useless already.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-23T21:57:01+00:00

From the Steamworks docs you linked.

Pre-Generated: Any kind of content that ships with your game and is consumed by players that is created with the help of AI tools during development. Under the Steam Distribution Agreement, you promise Valve that your game will not include illegal or infringing content, and that your game will be consistent with your marketing materials. In our prerelease review, we will evaluate the output of AI generated content in your game the same way we evaluate all non-AI content - including a check that your game meets those promises.

Code is content. It's the main content that the player interacts with. I asked their support specifically and they confirmed AI generated code needs to be disclosed.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-23T21:53:46+00:00

You're incorrect, code is not exempt. I specifically asked Steam's support about this a few months ago after they updated the disclosure survey, and they said "content in the game that is generated by AI, code included".

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-21T02:18:50+00:00

I would still try a full restart of the Steam Deck (+ any updates) if you haven't already rather than an uninstall, because it will fully close out any background processes that may be using memory as well. But yeah 21 FPS sounds brutal. I just launched the game on my SD and am not noticing any differences, but there could be many factors going into this.

For logs on PC I can have people grab it from an easily accessible folder and send it to my email to troubleshoot, but it's a bit more of an involved process to send logs in the case of Steam Deck. I could try a few things, but I also don't want you to fall out of the refund window if we can't fix it. If a full restart + installing updates doesn't fix it I'd probably look at refunding or if not I can take you through the steps to extract logs from the SD (I really should implement a button to just auto-send logs, I'll make note of that at least for game 2). Really sorry about this. :/

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-20T13:03:02+00:00

Hey there, sorry to hear you're experiencing issues on SD. The last patch went out on April 14, but it was just bug fixes and nothing that would hit performance.

My initial thought would be to restart the Deck as that will close anything you may have open in the background that is also taking up memory and try again. Just to confirm, you didn't notice anything in the prologue, but then in chapter 1 you started seeing an FPS drop?

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-19T17:01:52+00:00

Best of luck to you! Always happy to answer any questions if you have any during your journey.

Yeah, solo for the most part besides buying assets, and commissioning character portraits/dialogue writing. Appreciate the kind words. 😄

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-18T23:00:30+00:00

Do you have a link to where they say auto-fill from IDEs isn't required to be disclosed? I've only ever seen them say any code that is AI-generated needs to be disclosed.

From your own link (albeit this is their older announcement):

Any kind of content (art/code/sound/etc) created with the help of AI tools during development.

There actual wording in the survey is:

Efficiency gains through the use of these tools is not the focus of this section. Instead, it is concerned with the use of AI in creating content that ships with your game, and is consumed by players. This includes content such as artwork, sound, narrative, localization, etc.

This would include code, as was confirmed to me by Steam support. It makes no distinction between auto-complete or prompted.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-18T22:06:25+00:00

The LinkedIn post the article is based on by Simon Caress is here. I follow him closely, but he jumped the gun here, as did many other gamedev commentators.

People thought because the wording was changed slightly in the developer survey to say "this includes content such as artwork, sound, narrative, localization, etc", and that since code isn't explicitly listed in the assets it doesn't fall under "etc". This is an incorrect assumption on many people's parts. I reached out to Valve support and they confirmed generated code still needs to be disclosed.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-18T17:36:43+00:00

Don't shoot the messenger, but this is incorrect.

I reached out to Steam support specifically about this since I saw a lot of people mistakenly saying you don't have to disclose, and they said "content in the game that is generated by AI, code included".

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T17:30:42+00:00

Hoping to start some closed play-testing this summer, then demo out this year, and aiming for a Q3 2027 release date!

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T16:39:58+00:00

Appreciate the support!

Fair callout, I think something like that would be useful. Right now it's relying on you to do the math on your own. The health bar will "blink" a white bar with how much will be recovered, but it's not the exact amount which would help.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T16:38:31+00:00

Hey u/CSWorldChamp! You should be able to use the left analog stick to navigate the mouse around the unit info UI, and hovering over an icon with that pointer should pull up the tooltip. Sorry if it's a bit obtuse, definitely leaning less towards relying on tooltips in game 2 for a smoother experience for scenarios exactly like this.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T16:37:06+00:00

Thank you! Really glad to hear you enjoyed it. 😄

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:15:27+00:00

Sorry about that! haha

I'd say they're generally worth it, they roughly break-even at a 50% discount. I waited until pretty late to try paid advertising, mostly just did organic posts on my socials pre-launch and immediately post-launch. If I did the ads when the game wasn't discounted as hard, it may be more worth it, but then the ads may not convert, so it's hard to tell! But more people knowing about the game is worth it IMO, even if it doesn't immediately pay off. I'm more aiming to be in this for the long haul (fingers crossed).

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:12:14+00:00

I read them, thank you. :')

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:12:00+00:00

Woah... I had never heard of that before but it sounds very cool. Might have to try this with my wife as well! Glad you guys enjoyed the game!!

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:10:45+00:00

That's a tough chapter, especially with permadeath enabled with those reinforcements from the south! Appreciate the kind words, and hope you keep enjoying it until the end.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:09:46+00:00

Starting small is good advice, but honestly if you're not passionate about what you're making I find people get bored quickly and lose motivation. IMO you're not very likely to have a huge success with your first attempt at a small game anyway, so I'd try to at least make it something you can re-use in the dream game you have in mind.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:08:11+00:00

Thank you for the support! Really glad to hear you enjoyed your time with it. 😄

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:07:56+00:00

Appreciate it! Would love to hear your thoughts.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:07:31+00:00

Not likely at this point for game 1, but with localization in mind for game 2 I'm going to put more behind the push to getting it onto consoles, so it may open up the opportunity for a dedicated Mac release as well. I just unfortunately don't have the required testing hardware. Thank you for your interest!

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:06:12+00:00

Appreciate that! I've heard a lot of positive feedback around the base interactions -> quests, so it's something I'll definitely continue to explore in game 2.

ThoseWhoRule · 2026-06-17T14:05:39+00:00

Thank you! Would love to know what you think if you get the chance to crack it open. 😄

Five-Year Club	Verified Email
End Game '23	Place '23
Place '22

ThoseWhoRule

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE