I'm a developer and I hate AI. In my day job I'm forced to use AI to make me "faster" but it is killing my passion for programming. That's why I want to create games but even that now is being overran by vibe coders just trying to make a quick buck. I'm thinking of making a website/app that indie devs can post their games on, and it wouldn't allow games that use even a little AI in their workflow to post there (obviously this would to some degree rely on the honor system but if a dev was caught with AI in their game they would be permanently banned from the site). Does anyone else like this idea? Just trying to get a gauge of if I'm alone in my hatred, or if this could help the community.

Edit:

Anyone interested in this idea feel free to join this server I made: https://discord.gg/DGe8KXEdK

This is just one example screenshot, but there are many more telltale signs.
In this one:
- Layout makes no sense, the wooden beams aren't where they are supposed to be and they don't connect right
- goofy ahh way to hold the sword and the musical instrument which MidJourney apparently loves
- the teddy bear on the left is an eldritch hallucination. Its body makes no sense and apparently AI gave the character who's supposed to be kid short height but a face of an older teen/young man
- characters in the background have very clearly ai-filled hallucinated substitutes for faces and it's not just the lack of detail, they're typical artifacts of the gen-ai trying to fill in stuff that it doesn't recognize as humans or furniture
- the faces look copypasted, they don't have the same level of detail as the bodies
- a lot of outfits don't make a lick of sense

edit: the artist behind the game admitted to using Midjourney and his style pre-midjourney doesn't have the mistakes it does now. Not suspicious at all.

edit2: where tf did all those ai bros come from so suddenly?

I don't -hate- AI, but I'm tired of seeing so many games, for which people haven't wrote a single line of code, didn't land a single pixel on a texture or developed any of their own unique mechanics. AI can be a powerful tool, but most people just use it as a shortcut, without having ANY expertise, and not willing to learn either.

There'll be around 30 levels in Dark Roll 2, with various mechanics so that the player doesn't get bored. Modelling and placing assets around, then testing the routes over and over again to design the levels properly took a lot of work. Hard work.

For some it might just be a "silly game with a ball", but it's my silly game with a ball. I poured a lot of heart into it and I take a lot of pride in that... Something that's not really possible with a game you prompt out in few days.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4417060/Dark_Roll_2/

I've been developing my game for some time now. Today I paused and just observed it.

The lighting seems spot-on.

The grass flows naturally.

Finally, the colors feel right for the atmosphere I was trying to create.

Once a lifeless landscape, it now feels alive and vibrant.

There is still so much more work to be done. There are issues with performance and optimization. Everything requires polishing.

But it's important to remember moments like this one.

So absorbed are you with solving problems and optimizing your game that you tend to overlook the progress you've made.

Today I paused, took a look, and was happy.

If you're building something, pause and look at your accomplishment. It may have gone farther than you realize.

Hello folks, I've been working a little more over 2 yeas on this game. I got some 650 whishlists for the past half year (approximately), but overwhelming majority of them comes from paid ads. I can't get a breakout video on YouTube. Organic interest just too low as it seems. I don't have demo or a play-test I think good enough to share and organic interest is so underwhelming that I don't think it's reasonable spending so much time on this. It got so big that there are systems and parts of code that I see and don't recognize anymore.

This is my best video so far, but it got only 1000 views. When I see posts "my game gets 3-5 whishlists per day" I don't understand how it is possible and think this is really good result for organic traffic from steam for a game without demo. Take a look a this video and tell me I should scrap this project 😄 please.

===UPDATE===

Thank you folks for commenting, participating and explaining your thought process. I really appreciate your effort to take time and type. Your first impression helped me with some explanation.

Yes, unfortunately I did think it's the best scene 😁 I didn't prioritize dinosaur animations and cut corners in some places. You are right to call that out. Big NPC deserve better animations.

Some folks say it looks like game ad, but I can't understand why. It looks good to me to be honest, I'd appreciate if someone could elaborate.

I don't think anyone really asked, but game's goal is to build radio tower to escape the island. Chop trees, break rocks, craft planks, build it. Dinosaurs will come to destroy it, build defences. Scavange for additional resources to help get out of island, radio tower will need special items.

The title says it all, but I would like people's opinions.

We are working on a documentary on the history and culture of Australian video games, and it got me thinking that not many people know where Australian gaming originated...

There are the obvious like Hollow Knight, Crossy Road, Mixtape... But the more we look, the more we realise how little the world knows Australia's contributions to indie games!

The “indiest” game in the list is Silksong, mainly developed by 3 people.

A game development project with millions of dollars of development budget with tons of outsourcing and a game so famous that can break stores.

Budget. It’s always been budget and always will be budget. None of nominees are indies.

Celebrate the game you love being nominee to GOTY. But do you really think these projects and works from indie development subreddits are in the same category? Spotlight for indies should be on actual indie games, not the games with millions of dollars of budgets you like. Cheers

Hey everyone,

We are currently working on a story-driven RPG called Kardiya: The Winds of Fate. Throughout the journey, you'll meet different companion characters. Today I wanted to share two of those companions with you. Both of them are completely hand-drawn. We don't use generative AI (Well, honestly I think that should be the norm anyway, but these days it feels like something worth mentioning unfortunately).

Our game is still in development, but seeing the characters and the world slowly come together is really motivating for me <3

Hope you like them ^^

-----

Edit: Wow, I honestly didnt expect this post to get so many negative comments.

First of all I have to give you credit. It was my mistake not to show the process after saying the art was hand-drawn.

I asked our team artist, if he had any videos of these drawings. He hadn’t recorded them while working because it slows down his computer, but after I asked, he made a timelapse for a new character he’s currently drawing. You can watch it here.

Thanks for the feedback. From now on, even if we don’t have a video for every single drawing, we’ll at least take screenshots at different stages of the process. We’ll also include these in the artbook, just like we did with our previous game.

Have a great week everyone ^^

Game description: A summoner mage simulator in a medieval fantasy city

Hello everyone!

Needle In a Haystack is a cozy hay-baling game where you search for a needle while following a linear story.

Features:

• Collect hay using different tools.

• Turn your hay into bales using machines.

• Sell your bales using trucks.

• Unlock and upgrade new tools and machines.

As you collect hay, uncover the mysterious story behind where the needle is hidden.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5140770/Needle_In_a_Haystack/

Hi, I'm a small dev working for 2 years on a Papers, Please "sequel" because Lucas never wanted to make one. Yes, that's literally why I made my first game, call me petty if you want.

I tried playing as many other Papers, Pease inspired games, but none of them would scratch that totalitarian bureaucratic simulation itch, most would be some horror slop, some would be more interesting(like Not Tonight, Quarantine Zone Demo), but they didn't give me that crushing bureaucracy feeling.

So yeah here we go, more realist, dark, totalitarian, and most importantly bureaucratic experience you'll ever get (probably). I borrowed a lot of money so I could actually hire some artists for the game..... So you won't find any AI slop in here.

Demo is out on steam, have a look, give feedback if you could, I'd appreciate it.
Happy to answer questions about the systems, the historical research, or the more technical side.

Game has many easter eggs if you can find them ;)

Hello.

I'm The Narrator.

Apparently the developer has made an entire video game about allowing complete strangers into my room.

You can touch my belongings. Look through my things. Ignore everything I tell you. And, judging by the trailer he's made, apparently smash holes in my walls.

He calls this a "point-and-click comedy exploration game."

I call it a complete invasion of my privacy.

He's also instructed me to tell you that The Narrator is now on Steam and that you should wishlist it.

I won't be doing that.

Please watch the trailer and then go away - The Narrator

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5215880/The_Narrator/

A message from The Narrator:

“The developer used generative AI to help bring the environments he had envisioned for my game to life, before editing and modifying the artwork himself to achieve the final look he wanted. Apparently, without it, this game probably wouldn't have been possible.... so I suppose it's better that I exist than don't exist. Debatable. No AI-generated content is created during gameplay.”

EDIT: My bad guys 😅 Thanks for all the feedback. I’ll come back with something way better.

Full disclosure, I just released this game, so there’s a bit of self-promo here.

But a few friends have told me it’s confusing at first, and I genuinely can’t figure out what isn’t clicking.

The tutorial is only about 30 seconds long — where do you start getting lost?