10 ms·

I've read 'Blood, Sweat and Pixels' and it seems that game dev is grinding for 10 hours days, 7 days a week for months to meet stupid deadlines and then having

by cpill 1mo ago

I've read 'Blood, Sweat and Pixels' and it seems that game dev is grinding for 10 hours days, 7 days a week for months to meet stupid deadlines and then having zero job security or profit share. Does that about sum it up? LLMs are going to make meeting deadlines more obtainable (or just move the goal post on deadlines so you still have to do more while working the same hours). This stuff is going to hit for indie devs, one or two man shows, working part time with no budget. The first one to get a smash hit, which will be because of the game play dynamic not the content, with 100% AI coding and be the proof of concept that will change the whole game. Its great for indie devs. No so great for AAA who will actually have to start having original ideas, not just "What if we make another FPS that copies X and Y" After those indie devs start to make some cash they will spend it on original art. Not for moral reasons, but as you say, for originality, which even for humans is difficult these days. AI doomers are looking at this wrong. Its the democratization of the game industry from the AAA monopolies. Platforms like Steam have made this possible.

forestrywat 1mo ago
No, game dev is not 70 hour weeks most of the time. When it is it's called crunch, and it's increasingly uncommon. Not as rare as it should be, but still, getting less. Agree, there should be profit share and should be ownership and job security. Thats true in all jobs, tbh. Good things for a union to fight for. LLMs won't change the ability to hit deadlines because the problem is that deadlines are being set without consulting the teams. And a lot of game dev is finding the fun - experimenting, basically. Am LLM cannot tell you if a game is fun, only playing it can. You need time to do that. And indie devs don't need it. Balatro, Meccha Chameleon, Peak, Silksong, Megabonk, Yap Yap, etc. There's so many incredible indie games coming out and making waves, building the games their studios can build with the funds they have. They are making art, not slop. And people love them for it. You think Vampire Survivors is technically or artistically difficult when it came out? The bottleneck isn't making the game. Indie devs with no skills but good ideas can already make their games with great tools and little effort these days. Games are already democratized.
- cpill 27d ago
  Yeah, but a LLM can help you bang out 10 variations on a dynamic and figure out if its fun before committing to production code. You can iterate faster and your not tempted to get attached to the code. If there is something smaller than indie, then LLM will allow them to get off the ground with a smaller/no team. There is no practical argument against something that makes every aspect of a job easier. The honest truth is that ppl are scared all their years of blood and sweat are for nought, but that just isn't true. The only way they will find that out is if they just give it a go and embrace it.

by cpill 1mo ago

forestrywat 1mo ago

No, game dev is not 70 hour weeks most of the time. When it is it's called crunch, and it's increasingly uncommon. Not as rare as it should be, but still, getting less. Agree, there should be profit share and should be ownership and job security. Thats true in all jobs, tbh. Good things for a union to fight for. LLMs won't change the ability to hit deadlines because the problem is that deadlines are being set without consulting the teams. And a lot of game dev is finding the fun - experimenting, basically. Am LLM cannot tell you if a game is fun, only playing it can. You need time to do that. And indie devs don't need it. Balatro, Meccha Chameleon, Peak, Silksong, Megabonk, Yap Yap, etc. There's so many incredible indie games coming out and making waves, building the games their studios can build with the funds they have. They are making art, not slop. And people love them for it. You think Vampire Survivors is technically or artistically difficult when it came out? The bottleneck isn't making the game. Indie devs with no skills but good ideas can already make their games with great tools and little effort these days. Games are already democratized.

cpill 27d ago
Yeah, but a LLM can help you bang out 10 variations on a dynamic and figure out if its fun before committing to production code. You can iterate faster and your not tempted to get attached to the code. If there is something smaller than indie, then LLM will allow them to get off the ground with a smaller/no team. There is no practical argument against something that makes every aspect of a job easier. The honest truth is that ppl are scared all their years of blood and sweat are for nought, but that just isn't true. The only way they will find that out is if they just give it a go and embrace it.