[Pc Games] The deflating realization that a neat little game was AI all along

[-_-Moltres-_-]

 

Yesterday, a coworker shared a link to a little browser game that looked right up PC Gamer's alley: Doomscroll, a top-down shooter played entirely with a scroll wheel. You move your little Doom-guy facsimile down a hall, automatically shooting forward while dodging flanking sprites. Occasionally, you pass by plaques etched with actual New York Times headlines from the current day, completing the doomscrolling wordplay. It was kinda fun: I played a few runs, unlocked some upgrades, and experienced brief whiplash after locking eyes with two headlines about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. After, I clicked over to a newsletter the developer wrote about making the game. Doomscroll is a side project of filmmaker and writer David Friedman, who describes in detail how he generated the entire game using ChatGPT. "As readers know, I’m not a coder, but I enjoy how vibe coding lets me turn an idea into something real. So naturally, I turned to vibe coding for this," Friedman wrote.Friedman goes on to describe his process of telling the chatbot to make reverse Galaga with automatic shooting, basic upgrades, some obstacles on the path, and a wall fire that kills you if you move too slow. Ah, that familiar feeling of deflation as the charming qualities of a thing vanish before your eyes. If there's anything the rise of generative AI has taught me, it's that I've taken the gift of human authorship for granted. Until recently, I've had the privilege of knowing that any game I play began as nothing, and became something through choices, collaboration, creative problem solving, and picking up a (digital) paintbrush.Friedman goes on to describe his process of telling the chatbot to make reverse Galaga with automatic shooting, basic upgrades, some obstacles on the path, and a wall fire that kills you if you move too slow. Ah, that familiar feeling of deflation as the charming qualities of a thing vanish before your eyes. If there's anything the rise of generative AI has taught me, it's that I've taken the gift of human authorship for granted. Until recently, I've had the privilege of knowing that any game I play began as nothing, and became something through choices, collaboration, creative problem solving, and picking up a (digital) paintbrush.

https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/the-deflating-realization-that-a-neat-little-game-was-ai-all-along/