Text To Game AI UI

8 months ago we started thinking about whether we can enable everyone to make games instantly? If yes, what should it look like?

We had an interesting journey with a bunch of iterations and we're still figuring it out but let us articulate our experience and thinking thus far. 

The user: 

There are two kinds of users who want to make a game with a platform like Chaotix. First the motivate game designers who are intimidated by the complex challenges of creating and distributing games. Second, the storytellers who see games not as a product but an interactive experience. They want to bring something they love to life. This something can go from their avatars, their loved ones to an issue, a memory or an idea.

Their first attempt: 

“How to make a game?” this is typically the first search that they do. The results are a set of complicated products or tutorials or courses. The promise is… “If you stick with us, in 2-3 weeks, you will be able to make a basic game”. They try one or two of them. Feel bogged down and then eventually, sigh and leave. 

Their game ideas:

We asked them what they wanted to make. And we got clear ideas from a bunch of them: 

1. I want to make subway surfer set in Delhi

2. I want to document my life as a game with increasing difficulty and new level adding

3. I want to make a game where my boyfriend is part of the star wars universe

What do they want from a simple game engine? 

In short– first draft. They don’t want the tutorials but a simple first draft of their ideas brought to life. Once they’re at a decent jumping off point, they decide whether or not, they want to spend more time or energy building that further. But that first game, first draft, needs to happen in a short amount of time. And that is what we enable with Chaotix. The experience part is still being figured out.  

Is the Text-To-Game UI actually okay? 

So, we were not initially the biggest fans of Text To Anything as the format. It lacks the hands on feeling of doing the things that come with creating that media. Like going out to take a picture, planning a shot before recording a video and the whole process of creating a game. This steps do give a sense of joy and add pleasure to the creative pursuits. So, that part is still exciting. But the Text-To-Game serves the purpose of taking somebody’s ideas and giving them a great first draft. A jumping off point. Or just something that they can enjoy instant. There needs to be more modalities and more control and we’re working on it. But whether or not it’s a great start, the verdict is still out on this.