Coppersmog

Coppersmog is a game created independently by me, a father, a husband and a video game hobbyist.

I'm proud to say that I designed the game, directed it, and decided what made it fun to play.

I also built it with the help of generative AI.

I wanted to tell you this fact plainly so that my honesty could help bridge your concerns and inform your choice to play this game.

Here is what the AI contribution actually means in this game and with me specifically.

Every decision in this game is mine. The world, the rules, how a room feels, what a blorb is, and what's allowed to happen to one, I set it all.

To be honest, I throw away most of what AI generates because it just doesn't "get it" most of the time.

AI has no taste. It cannot tell when something is right, funny, or profound. It can make an enormous number of things, but it cannot decide which of them belongs in Coppersmog. That judgement is the heart of the job. That judgement is my most important aspect of what I do.

AI gives me is attempts, drafts and options.

It writes code segments, runs thousands of fight simulations, and fixes my grammar and then I cut, change, reject, and try again.

AI is wrong constantly.

Sometimes it builds a second version of something the game already has. Sometimes it forgets a decision we made weeks ago. Sometimes it writes code that looks perfect and never runs. There's a lot of invisible work to keep those pieces pointed in the same direction. Orchestrating it all falls to me.

I know that AI integration is not acceptable to everyone and so I wanted to be honest about how I'm using it to give you a chance to make an informed decision.

If you read all of this and decide that Coppersmog is not for you, that's a completely fair choice. I want you to make choices that are best for you, using the facts in front of you.

One thing that brings me comfort as I wrestle with where I want AI to be in my life is that this is a hobby project that made me smile quite a bit. I'm proud of my little world. Thank you.