I asked ChatGPT to provide me with instructions on how to make Flappy Bird and it also wrote all of the code. I didn’t write a single line of code myself, all code was given to me by ChatGPT. Will this usher in an age of video game development in which hobbyist game developers can make a video game without needing to know how to program?
This was done using Chat GPT-4. I asked Chat GPT to make the game in C# using Unity. The results of this experiment are impressive, and there are other examples on the Internet of Chat GPT doing even more impressive things. For game development a lot of the impressive feats I've seen are based on ideas we already know. For example, Flappy Bird has simple game rules, and many tutorials on the Internet exist for it already. This means the Flappy Bird game is particularly well suited for Chat GPT to understand.
So what's next? Future tools are on their way (or already here) – most notably Microsoft Copilot. At a minimum an AI Copilot written explicitly for programming won’t make simple or obvious programming errors. Beyond that, having full knowledge of the game's codebase to help the AI understand how to extend an existing project will be a game-changer. Iteration is a crucial step in game development so true co-development with an AI won’t be possible until this integration happens.
—–
FAQ
How long did it take?
3 hours from start to finish, including art. The actual code was about 1.5 hours. You can see timestamps in the bottom right corner of my screen in the video if you zoom in.
Can I get the source?
Full project source files are available here:
Can I see the conversation?
Imgur album with the full conversation I had with ChatGPT here:
Can ChatGPT make a game that didn't already have tons of references on the internet?
As others have pointed out, the standard implementation is to actually keep the bird stationary and move the pipes to the left. I chose to move the bird and camera right because that was ChatGPT's initial proposal so I wanted to see how it would go AND it shows that ChatGPT is being generative with code that does NOT already exist.
What did you use for the art?
Midjourney
—–
Discuss this video and chat about game development on my discord server
I stream gam jams on twitch
Twitter:
In my day job I serve as Game Director at Blizzard Entertainment. This channel is an independent endeavor and not related to my employer in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
