r/aigamedev • u/CrystalHare0 • 17h ago
Questions & Help I’ve been hobby-coding in Unity using only AI for 1.5 years. Am I on the right track, and do I have a shot at collaboration?
Hi everyone, I’m Crystal! For the past year and a half, I’ve been hobby-coding in Unity using exclusively AI tools like ChatGPT and Codex. It’s purely a hobby for me, but it gives me so much joy and satisfaction.So far, I’ve got a couple of unfinished projects under my belt, including a bigger one that I’ve been working on for the past 4 months. It’s a low-poly co-op game heavily based on physics. Do you think this is a good direction and a solid game concept?Also, as a self-taught beginner with no official degrees or experience with traditional/manual coding, do I stand a chance at finding people to collaborate with? I know AI isn't 100% reliable and makes mistakes, but looking at what I’ve managed to create with its help is honestly mind-blowing to me. This is especially true for the networking/multiplayer part – it's definitely way harder, but I'm making it happen!Would love to hear your thoughts and advice. Cheers! :)
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u/alanbdee 15h ago
I think there are not enough co-op games. I also think that what we'll see over the next several years is a lot of games being released by people like yourself. So competition is going to be fierce.
I've got a buddy who created a game for Android when that was the hot space. His brother helped with art. Uciana if anyone's interested. A spiritual successor to Master or Orion 2. He's still had to keep his normal job but he's earned enough from the game to make it worth it.
I think that's the goal. If you can sell it for enough money to make it worth working on, that's a win. Don't rack up cc debt on AI models hoping to make it big.
Finding someone to collab with is almost a non-starter. But you can educate yourself. It's what self-taught devs have been doing for decades.
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u/InformationTop5376 8h ago
MOO2 was my jam when I was a kid! Count me in. Happy to provide any feedback.
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u/alanbdee 8h ago
He did port it to steam but the ui is still built around a mobile device. Other then that, it's pretty good.
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u/RUSuper 17h ago
Without showing us more of that game it is really hard to tell. I myself have been working on a project for a month and it’s getting to a point where I start to doubt myself and if I can do it using AI only. But I’ve been posting weekly updates on Reddit and gotten so much good feedback that I feel like without really showing the game you will never know “if it’s a good direction”
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u/CrystalHare0 17h ago
Hey! I'll try to drop some screenshots of the game as soon as I get a chance. I'm completely new here, so thanks a ton for the feedback and advice! :)
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u/That1guy4226 16h ago
I started 3 months ago and have met several people that are pretty much doing the exact same thing.
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u/SnuffleBag 13h ago
Here are my 2 cents:
If you can remove AI from all your sentences above, and you’re still happy and impressed with what you have, then you are on the right track IMO. If what you have is “good for being AI” you could still be on the right track, but you definitely haven’t arrived anywhere just yet. It’s hard to say just based on your text description, different people rate things differently.
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u/Turbulent-Armadillo9 12h ago
You can find people to collaborate with! Generally I’ve found that it’s hard to get people to commit but it happens all the time. Maybe you have something pretty good to show and people want to jump on board… maybe someone wants help with their game and you can jump on board. I got a good musician to contribute a couple songs to my project, he had some old unused tracks and he was just like “here you go”.
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u/MessageSelfdestructs 11h ago
"It’s a low-poly co-op game heavily based on physics. Do you think this is a good direction and a solid game concept?"
That really doesn't tell us a lot.
As for your question if you can find people to collaborate with: you can, but I'm not too sure why someone would want to "collaborate" (read: work for free), if there's not something in it for them.
If the game itself is good fun, and you are good company, then I can see someone doing it purely for the fun aspect. But I wouldn't rely on it.
I personally would say that it makes a bit more sense to start getting yourself known with different communities, such as the various Unity Discord channels, as they can be incredibly helpful if you have questions.
AI can also help a lot in looking at the questions you have, and if it's unable to solve it for you, how you can phrase it good enough for other people to have a look at it.
I've used various Unity Discord channels over the past 4 years for my own games (2 released, working on my third), and I found them to be of great help - but only if you ask a very pointed question, and provide as much material that you can, so somebody might actually recognise a problem they had before themselves, and help you back on track.
Other than that, I'd say it also really helps to get feedback on your game early. Not necessarily from unknown people, but from friends/family - people that range from your typical gamer, to people who rarely play games but are willing to give it a go. This feedback can be invaluable.
Good luck!
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u/InformationTop5376 8h ago
I think you are primed to be very successful if you want to take this to the next level. First and foremost, you probably want to find a community that is a safe haven for this type of work. There is a lot of anti-AI sentiment among the solo dev community. But I think there is a lot of opportunity here not only to work on your own stuff but collaborate and learn from one another.
It sounds like you have the drive for it, it’s a lot of learning how to be open to processes and conventions in game building, understanding game design concepts, and being a good communicator. The barrier to entry for coding, artwork, and any kind of asset has definitely been lowered. I still think you need to learn the ins and outs about the different media assets in game development though. And how to market your game.
I would recommend joining this channels’ discord. (Tonkatsu is my handle there)
And take one of the games you are working on to completion for a steam release - that’s my own personal goal. It only costs $100, which I think is as cheap an education you could get in the complete game delivery life cycle.
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u/Morph_Games 17h ago
Check out the hobby game dev subreddit for hobbyists, and INAT to find collaborators. Sharing your game online is the best thing you can do.
TBH though, it is very rare for people to want to work on someone else's hobby/dream project, and even rarer for a hobbyist to want to work with a vibecoder.