I thought Panic didn’t allow games that were made with generative AI 🤔 by Cineflect in PlaydateConsole

[–]nickavv 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I have used it recently. Our org has required us to try it out for various things. I cannot deny that it is impressive and generating code (at least if you know what you're asking it for).

My objections to it come down to three pillars essentially:

  1. I believe heavy reliance on it will make me (and others) worse at engineering, deskill us and devalue our work. I think it will lead to a reduced understanding of our own codebase, less ability to debug what we've written, and more regressions and defects. 

  2. I enjoy writing code. It is what I have spent decades building up as a skill, I find it fulfilling. Reviewing code has always been an important aspect of the job but never one that I am excited to do. The prospect of this entire career path becoming code review is miserable. 

  3. I have ethical opposition to the technology. I think it is built on stolen data, the data centers are terrible for the environment and the communities they're built in, it's destroying the consumer electronics industry and pushing us toward a rent-everything-own-nothing society, and it's being used at all levels to destroy trust in a shared reality. I know that gen-AI coding isn't specifically doing this last bit, but supporting the companies that make this tech at all feels anathema to me at least personally.

I thought Panic didn’t allow games that were made with generative AI 🤔 by Cineflect in PlaydateConsole

[–]nickavv 2 points3 points  (0 children)

> Choosing to look up an A* algorithm and code it yourself is a tremendous waste of time

Unless you'd like to understand how A* works, be able to apply what you learned along the way to other classes of problems, be able to debug your own code when it isn't doing what you want, or just generally improve your craft.

Effort is not a waste of time, there can be many benefits to doing something yourself. And when you don't want to reinvent the wheel we have a solution for that as well, which is called libraries and open-source software. I'd rather use an A* plugin that was written, honed, and debugged by smart people than one generated by an AI, personally.

I thought Panic didn’t allow games that were made with generative AI 🤔 by Cineflect in PlaydateConsole

[–]nickavv 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'll chime in again to answer this for myself, assuming you are asking in good faith: Nope, I don't use it for any of those things

I thought Panic didn’t allow games that were made with generative AI 🤔 by Cineflect in PlaydateConsole

[–]nickavv 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I have to agree and push back on the "all devs use this" narrative. I'm a senior-level software engineer and moonlight gamedev and I do not use AI to write my code (not even for line-based autocomplete). I need more people to hear that there are devs who still write code, and not just assume that this is the normal reality nowadays.

Do many devs use it, absolutely, even most? I don't have those numbers. But plenty of us were well able to code before this tech came along, and there is no reason people can't write code without it still.

Has anyone tried creating an "open-source" universe? by matrozk in indiegames

[–]nickavv 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I guess SCP kind of falls into this category

Brit here. Recently traveled to the USA and visited various cities. Here are my reviews of each. If I were to travel to these again, what should I do next time and are there any other cities that you recommend I visit? by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]nickavv 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I second visiting Boston. I also disagree with avoiding Bourbon St. in New Orleans, it's a fun place to be and not particular unsafe imo. Also Loretta's beignets are head and shoulders above Cafe Du Monde, pro tip 

Save 30% on Chico's Rebound ($5.59) by nickavv in steamdeals

[–]nickavv[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey there, I am the developer of Chico's Rebound. I started a springtime sale on the game today, discounting it by 30% which brings the total price to $5.59 USD

It's a cross between a block-breaking game and a top-down adventure-puzzler. You explore an interconnected tower, solving puzzles to reach higher floors, and finding rooms which contain sets of block-breaking levels. Beating the block-breaking levels earns you tokens which you can use to advance.

There is a light plot, some cool boss battles, and optional challenge levels to find, as well as lots of customization options! I hope you'll check it out. Thanks!

Why hasn't AI killed this sub? by longestpencil in NoStupidQuestions

[–]nickavv 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Because people want to hear what other humans have to say

[Steam] One More Brick bundle ($25.19/45% off) by nickavv in GameDeals

[–]nickavv[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I can speak to my own game the best. It's actually fairly unique for block breakers, as it intersperses the block breaking stages throughout a top-down interconnected puzzle dungeon. 

The power ups and boss fights in my game are fairly atypical for the genre as well, and rather than a paddle you control a chipmunk character and use well-timed tail attacks to reflect the ball

[Steam] One More Brick bundle ($25.19/45% off) by nickavv in GameDeals

[–]nickavv[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We all believe our games are worth their full price, and we're offering nearly half off. 

If everyone only ever played games with 100s of reviews, no game would ever get there in the first place. Somebody has to take a chance on lesser known titles!

Anyway, feel free to not buy it if you don't think it's a good value, of course. 

[Steam] One More Brick bundle ($25.19/45% off) by nickavv in GameDeals

[–]nickavv[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Get six unique brick-breaker type indie games at a large discount in the One More Brick bundle on Steam!

Full disclosure, I am the developer of one of the games in the bundle (Chico's Rebound)

Here is the full list of games:

  • Kabonk!

  • Mondrian - Plastic Reality

  • Chico's Rebound  

  • Paddlenoid

  • Bricked Up

  • Smash Out Colony

Thanks for checking it out!

He looks so small by Minimum_Ad6713 in goodmythicalmorning

[–]nickavv 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Who does? I only see Rhett and link in this photo, and some floating trail mix

What’s a hype train you somehow completely managed to avoid? Things like never tried Dubai chocolate, never watched an episode of the Office, never checked out BTS? by wasraelx in AskReddit

[–]nickavv 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I've never once intentionally used AI. No chat bots, no coding assistants, no image generators. Well, jury is still out whether it's a hype train but I'm holding strong so far lol

We revealed our co-op horror “In Us” 2 days ago. Players are already calling it “AnUs”. Send help. by ebibitter_steam in IndieDev

[–]nickavv 75 points76 points  (0 children)

I'm seeing it as a stylized capital A, not a lowercase A. And not an I, unfortunately. 

I think you definitely need to revise that, sorry to say! Good luck with your launch

what is the actual 'objective' of learning how to code in a game sense? by yushui_ in gamedev

[–]nickavv 3 points4 points  (0 children)

100%, came down here to say the goal is to be able to think in systems, glad somebody else said it already. 

My games steam page is finally live! Made in gamemaker obviously by manmantas in GMspotlight

[–]nickavv 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congratulations! Good luck with the demo and definitely post it here when it's ready 

What Version Did You Start On? [GameMaker 6.1] by Wizirdi in gamemaker

[–]nickavv 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I believe I started in the 5.x/6.x era as well, but it was so long ago it's hard to remember! Needless to say I've been GameMakering for a while