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The Biggest Challenge
When exploring the use of AI in this game jam, the theme "Argon" was completely new to me, so I started by researching it and brainstorming ideas. While I didn't end up using the inert gas aspect directly, it was great to be able to incorporate the element "Ar" into the game.
The biggest challenge was dealing with tiny visual glitches and stray lines that appeared when placing conveyor panels, which took a lot of effort to fix through AI instructions. Although they were small UI details, they are quite noticeable to human eyes, so I persevered. To overcome this, I improvised by using GIFs and screenshots with edited images to clearly communicate the issues. Eventually, by asking the AI to make it "clean" just like the already working straight conveyor panels, the root cause became clear, and I managed to get it fixed.
Another takeaway from this challenge was regarding the title screen. Initially, I thought I didn't need to make one early on, but once I gave instructions, creating game elements (like making a conveyor-style logo for this project) was surprisingly easy. It made me realize that it is a totally viable approach to build the core game first and then create the title screen afterwards.
AI Tools Used
I used Codex to build it. Some parts might have used Opus, but since the token limit ran out quickly, I used Codex for almost the entire project.
Areas Where AI Was Used
I used AI for the images, sound effects (SFX), and coding. I only used royalty-free materials for the main BGM.
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Comments
I really liked this. It's so elegant conceptually, and mechanics are really simple. It's a shame there isn't more :(
But I think it suffers from lack of depth. By adding some high-order recipes that would have required four or more reactors, you could have forced some factory optimization on the player.
Thanks so much for playing. I really appreciate your feedback! You're totally right—it's a bit simple and lacks depth right now. If I design it with long-term replayability in mind, adding more advanced mechanics like having four or more reactors would be a great direction. I hadn't really anticipated that scope, so your insights are incredibly helpful. Thanks again for the great suggestions!
This idea is really cool. The instructions really need to be clearer though. I get the concept but trying to figure out how things work in the game is difficult, especially with how reactors and such work. I figured out how to do H2 gas and saw that i needed H2 gas and 1 oxygen to make water, but it seems to be blocked. maybe if reactors ignored things that don't fit in the recipe to allow it to pass to the next reactor? I think if you did an onboarding pass to help new players learn how to play better, this could be a really fun game! Great work!
Thanks so much for playing. I really appreciate it!
It sounds like the reactors were confusing and you weren't sure what to do. That totally makes sense. I thought keeping the explanations simple would be fine, so that was my mistake.
If you can gather H to make H2, just follow that same logic and try placing an H2O reactor. The O should be unlocked, so please take a look at the screenshot I attached for reference.
Once you do that, H2O is produced, so you send it to the core. I'm guessing that combining reactors like this might have been a bit hard to figure out.
You've probably already done step 1, so I'd be really happy if you could give step 2 a try.
Also, if you place argon gas, H and O will recover (by about half), so it might be good to make use of that as well.
As for the reactors being locked, they unlock sequentially as you clear the current stages, so you shouldn't get stuck where you can't clear it. But it definitely is a bit hard to understand, that's for sure.
That screenshot is very helpful, maybe you can use it as a hint or part of a mini tutorial for mixing atoms with reactors!
I like the idea, but there needs to be better instructions. I keep running out of resources before I figure out what I am supposed to be doing next.
The economy feels too strict. I used up all of the hydrogen my first playthrough before I realized that I needed to make H2. Since then, I've been too strict about only extracting exactly what I need for the next thing to be unlocked. Then I barely have enough P to collect the next thing.
Update: I did eventually finish!
Awesome, thanks for the reply!
That totally makes sense. Giving players a bit more breathing room and freedom will definitely make the core mechanics shine even more! Also, streamlining the tutorial or onboarding so players can naturally understand the controls and goals would be amazing.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how the update turns out. Keep up the great work!
Do you have to keep only collecting hydrogen until they are depleted before you can collect other things? I got bored not being able to do anything else.
Thank you for playing!
You're completely right—the low freedom does make it easy to get bored.
I ran out of time during development, so I decided to call it finished for now once I got the mining and resource-gathering mechanics in place.
Hope you can look forward to future updates!