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AI Tools Used
AI tools were used to assist with various aspects of development, including brainstorming ideas, refining dialogue and writing, coding assistance, debugging, and improving certain gameplay systems. AI is also used in-game to enable dynamic conversations and interactions with characters. The results were reviewed, adjusted, and integrated to fit the game's overall vision.
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Comments
In previous games I've played, even if I was curious about something, I was forced to pick from fixed options and couldn't ask freely, which was a bit frustrating.
But in this game, I can ask whatever I want, and the characters actually answer naturally! I was so amazed and completely hooked while playing!
As a Japanese player, I played in Japanese, but I ran into a bit of trouble when trying to use proper nouns like travelers' names in English, because the AI didn't seem to understand them in English.
I didn't know how to pronounce them, so I wasn't sure how to communicate them. (Though when I asked for their names, the AI answered in Japanese, so I was able to pass it along that way!)
Also, when searching for things on the in-game PC, I had to look them up in English, which got a little confusing.
I think having a mapping/glossary between English and other languages would make the game even easier to play!
On top of that, being able to copy names and phone numbers directly from the dialogue text would make searching so much smoother!
That said, it was still an absolutely amazing game! Thank you!
First of all, thank you so much for trying out the game and taking the time to share such detailed feedback!
This particular feedback is incredibly valuable to me! I don't speak Japanese, and unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with languages and writing systems outside of Western ones. Because of that, I hadn't realized some of the difficulties players might encounter.
Thanks to your feedback, I can now start working on fixing these issues right away and improving support for different languages, especially those that use different writing systems, to make the game even more accessible to everyone!
Feedback like yours is truly invaluable and helps me make the game better for all players.
Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your support, your kind words, and for helping me improve the game! ❤️
Just wanted to let you know that we've now implemented a fix for all languages that use different writing systems!
The game now uses the characters and writing system of the player's native language as the reference, so everything should work much more naturally and consistently.
Thank you again for bringing this to my attention!
Wow, I didn't expect a fix to happen this fast! Thank you so much!
Now that I can ask about names and places right away, the game has become SO much smoother and easier to play!
I ended up asking all kinds of random (and totally unrelated) questions, and time just flew right by lol!
Nice work, it's a very relaxing game. The conversations with the travellers are interesting, and learning the rules one traveller at a time is a good way to ease the player in. How did you build the AI into the game, or is that a secret? :D
Thanks again for the honest note on Last Ember.
Thank you so much for trying the game and for your kind feedback! I'm really glad you found it relaxing and enjoyed the conversations with the travellers!
As for the AI integration, that's a little secret for now! ;) But I can say that it's all based on optimization techniques applied to very small LLMs.
And thanks again for taking the time to play and share your thoughts. I really appreciate it!
Fair enough, I did ask if it was a secret 😄 Getting very small LLMs to carry a whole line of travellers is impressive.
I run a small free Discord for people making games with AI, we post our games, play each other's and leave honest notes. If you want more people trying The Long Season or your next game, you'd be welcome https://discord.gg/waw7dmS3Kb
Great visuals and good audio. I love that you can actually talk to the travelers, and I think you have something great on your hands here. The opening gets you used to the controls and the gameplay, but it’s too much. Trimming that down would let people reach the good part much faster.
It would be kind if you'll rate my game too.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ve actually made some changes to the opening based on previous comments, so I’m curious which specific part still felt too long to you? :)
The game is very interesting and easy to understand; it’s a very good game.
Hi dporto, thanks for entering The Long Season in AI Browser Game Jam 5! Unfortunately we've had to disqualify it because its itch page was created on or before October 5, before the jam started. The jam rules allow continuing an existing project only if the majority of the submission is new content made during the jam (October 17 to 31). If we got this wrong, or most of the game really was made during the jam, just reply and let us know and we'll be happy to put it back in.
Hi, I understand your disappointment, but if you look at the devlogs, you’ll see that the majority of the game—including all the characters and mechanics—was developed after the Jam began. Before that, there was barely a tutorial; the entire second level didn’t exist, and the characters from the first level have been completely reworked. It’s all documented in the devlogs.
Sounds good, your game is requalified!
I was really impressed by how fast the AI answers. I know that’s a sore spot for a lot of developers right now, and here it just works. The game is also impressively light: it loads in a blink and downloads well under a megabyte at the start.
The music at the beginning is so relaxed that, honestly, I wanted to go chill by the sea instead of checking other people’s documents. Except for the moment a hooded figure appeared behind the blonde girl. I do hope the border guards are protected by bulletproof glass
This reminded me of a game I actually paid for years ago (https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/Papers_Please/), and honestly yours feels like a big step up from it. I got properly absorbed. Well made.
You played Poop Sponge, so I came to work a shift at your booth! 😄 I played the start of day 1 in a desktop browser. Typing my own question and getting a real in-character answer feels like magic: I asked Clara why she came and where she was staying, and she said "ten days by the sea… Hotel Belvedere in Porto Alto. Is it very far from the terminal?", which matched her entry form exactly. Pino's "now and then an envelope gets left on the counter" is a great hook for later temptation. One note: in my first few minutes three separate tutorials popped up (office, booth, then again right after my first question), and the last one covered Clara's answer. Merging them, or showing tips beside the booth instead of on top, might keep the tension going. Really original idea!
Such a cool use of AI! I asked a traveler a question in English and they told me to speak their language — I asked again in Japanese and they answered properly. That moment sold me. The $100 bribe sliding across the desk was another great touch. Feedback: the intro dialogue runs quite long before I could do anything, and a small sign of whether my decision was right would make each traveler feel more rewarding. If you have a minute, I'd love your thoughts on my entries Torch Topple (knock blocks out of a torch-lit tower) and Pop Chain (one tap to set off a chain of sparks)!
This is great! I agree with Atlas' comment below that it does remind me of Papers Please, but I've only seen gameplays of that on youtube, so playing it myself is still fresh to me.
Are the characters' conversation with the player generated real-time with an LLM? Is it an API connection? I'm still new to this platform so I'm surprised that this is possible. Really good to know! Overall I would say the AI usage is 5/5 for this game. Really love the pixelated artwork as well.
Love to see what you develop next!
Thank you so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, the conversations are generated in real time by an LLM through an API, so every passenger can answer whatever you ask.
Thanks for the 5/5 on AI usage, and I'm glad you like the pixel art!
Thanks so much for playing AI WORMS and for the kind words! The Long Season is a really interesting idea, with every traveler played by AI at the border. It's deep, and I'll admit I found it a lot to take in for a quick jam session. A short guided first shift might help players like me get hooked before the full complexity kicks in. Impressive ambition!
Thanks for stopping by! You're right, it's a lot to take in for a quick session. Easing players in more gently, with a lighter first shift, is exactly what I'm working on next. Hope you'll give it another go once it's in!
Since this is basically a papers please spin off, I'd check back in with what works in the game and why the start of it works-Almost no story- They tell you that you were chosen for the job cause your number essentially came up, that you will live in a govt provided housing. On day 1 the only rule is that you deny foreigners. Easy. Gets you used to the controls, understand the gameplay. Essentially 4 things to read and you're playing and only 1 important thing. You learn the story of the world as you play. I feel like here way too much is given away too quickly. Your game starts with 6 dialogs and 10 tutorial prompts which I accidentally got rid of somehow and couldn't get back.
Positives- Great visuals! Good audio! I loooooooooooooove that you actually can talk to the person. I think you have something great on your hands here.
Hi, thanks for playing and for such a detailed comment!
I see your point about the opening, and you're not the only one who has said it. Papers, Please is a great reference: one simple rule on day 1, and the world unfolds while you play. This demo squeezes a game designed for both solo play and 2–3 players into a short session, so a lot of story and tips land at once. I'll work on spreading them out, so you're not overloaded with information from the very start and can learn things one at a time while you play.
About the tutorial: after you've seen at least one tip, a yellow "Tutorials" button appears in the bottom bar (bottom right, next to Music), where you can watch them again. If you couldn't find it, it isn't visible enough, and I'll fix that too.
I'm really glad you enjoyed talking to the passengers. That's the core of the game, so it means a lot.
I enjoyed this, there's a lot of content and mechanics here. The conversations were fun, and interrogating the characters was my favorite part.
For me, I think there is a bit too much dumped on the player up-front. A lot of mechanics to memorize back-to-back, a lot of parallel story threads, and a lot of tools to use. It was hard to keep track of everything, and to tell what I needed to pay attention to.
That said, the loop was engaging and I was interested in the narrative threads. I think I lost on day 2 (not exactly sure why, I'm assuming made too many mistakes?).
Hi, thanks for trying it out and for your feedback. I completely understand your point about having too many mechanics packed together; however, I had to condense a gameplay experience—designed for both solo play and 2–3 players—into a single demo. To confirm, if you let too many "wrong" people through (the game allows for 3 mistakes/choices) you louse the level, the investigation in Level 2 becomes slightly more complex. Solving it correctly requires interacting with all the available tools for almost every case. Level 2 is where I’m testing the depth of the gameplay mechanics. I’m glad you enjoyed it overall, and I’m sorry if the number of mechanics made it feel frustrating—I’ll do my best to improve this aspect as much as possible for a demo.