March 20, 2024

Abrie, Rosebud Beta Tester: “AI errors are a good source of ideas”

For Abrie, playing is part of his nature: “Like, rhythmically flipping the electronic locks on a car door makes interesting beats. Or when walking at night, it's fun to watch your shadow disappear and reappear, where does it go?, maybe it's gone to fight on your behalf!”.

In his introduction message in our Discord, he said: “I learned programming in order to create games, and AI is a tool I'm still wrapping my mind around. It is a much better way than digging through documentation”.

From that moment until now, Abrie has created 7 games using the Rosebud Game Maker Platform, all of them with a quite unique touch and different from each other.

His creative thoughtfulness is evident not just in his games but also in his relationship with AI, which has been fundamental in helping him prototype a lot of projects.

Actually, he has developed a special prompting technique to talk to Rosie AI. Want to learn it? Keep reading this article to know more about this AI game dev.

Stonewarp: The Making of an AI Game

One of Abrie’s creations is Stonewarp, a 2D game with procedural generation where you collect coins inside a cave that changes randomly every 30 seconds.

However, the idea for this game didn't emerge in a linear way, but rather it was more of a constant process of discovery.

“I heard the term ‘Roguelike’. What's that? Googled it. Oh, they have procedural generation. Googled that. There's an algorithm involving cellular automata. Communicate it to Rosie. Rosie draws a cave. The cave is different every time. ‘What if there was a player in there and the map suddenly changed’ and that's Stonewarp”, he tells us.

Although Abrie finds that creative processes are difficult to isolate, he believes that there are techniques to facilitate them.

As he explains: “You could start with an elemental thing, something physical like bouncing balls or projectile trajectories. Simulate them and play with them. They follow fixed rules, but with play you discover edges where you'll feel a sense of expectation, and then move forward from there”.

The Art of AI-Assisted Game Development

Abrie also considers that some of the initial spark for his games comes from Rosebud: “With Rosebud, you can quickly start getting ideas for what you want to do.”

His interactions with our AI are not just prompts with explicit orders but have also taken on a conversational style.

With prompts like: "Rosie, tell me about this game we are making", "Rosie, what should I do next?", or “Rosie, I want to do X, what are some options?”, Abrie has created a development style with many possibilities to explore: “I love the way AI enables rapid iteration, it's the ultimate boilerplate. Also, the errors/misinterpretations are a good source of ideas!”.

According to him, this style “developed as I became comfortable with the assistant. My first interaction with Rosie was like talking to a compiler, but it became apparent that the view she develops of the project might diverge from my vision; and that could be regarded as a form of play”.

In fact, his most recent game, Tiny Jet, emerged from conversations with Rosie about aerodynamic lift equations. After the prompt "Rosie, what makes a plane fly?", the AI “described the mathematics correctly but implemented it incorrectly – which led to interesting game mechanics.”

Games made by Abrie on Rosebud AI

Among the games developed by Abrie using Rosebud AI you can find:

Toaster Taunt

Toaster Taunt, AI Game

A survival game where you control a piece of bread. You have to do flips over the toaster to get points and collect stars. But be careful of the toasters and their crumbs; there is no way to defeat them.

Lab Fire

Lab Fire, AI game

Use the mouse to control the trampoline and bounce the junk tossed from the building. If you bounce it into the truck, it increases the tally for that item. An Atari classic reimagined with Rosebud.

Legend of Questext

legend of questext, ai game

A dry, super minimalist AI text-based adventure game. You wake up in a mysterious place and have to explore to know what is going on.

Hammer Cannon

Hammer cannon, AI Game

A Space Invaders type of game where you use a hammer and limited ammo. You have three projectiles that fragment after shooting, and a hammer to crash the jellyfishes after they fall. You need two fast hands for this game.

Stonewarp

stonewarp, ai game dev

You have 30 seconds to explore this cave before it changes. If you are not in the safe zone you might be embedded in rock, or you might get lucky and avoid a crushing death!

Tiny Jet

Tiny Jet, AI game

Find your balance between stall and lift in this reminiscence of Flappy Bird, but with a plane. There are two runways you can use for take offs and landings, and watch out for volcanoes and terrain.

Abrie’s Plans for Expanding Game Narratives with AI

In addition to working on his projects, Abrie continues to be one of the most active members of our Discord, finding inspiration both in the games of other Beta Testers and in the team behind Rosebud.

“The Rosebud Team is exceptionally supportive and responsive”, he adds. “Lots of authentic likes and encouragement doled out to everyone. It sets a positive tone for the community and provides a psychological ‘push’ that impresses me. It’s amazing”.

When asked about his future projections, Abrie mentions his desire to expand simple games with narrative arcs.

He gives as examples: “The building in Lab Fire transforms into a robot that chases the truck full of rescued equipment. The bread in Toaster Taunt uses stars to acquire an anti-toasting suit, then leaps into the toaster to explore its interior. Legend of Questext merges with Jiggy’s Remake, featuring puzzle pieces hidden in the text world.”

As Abrie's ideas continue to evolve, so does Rosebud AI. To dive into this world of AI game development and to stay updated with our latest breakthroughs, join our Discord server. Here, you can share your creations and emerge as one of the most outstanding game developers in our community.