These topics are becoming unmanageable. Do people really not know the difference between AI game creation and traditional game development? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must be aware that AI is kind of a big deal. It is literally changing the landscape of game development. There are several differences between AI game creation and Traditional game development.
AI game creation:
You describe the game in words, voice, hand-drawn rough sketches, and photos, and AI creators create the game for you. An AI game generator helps you with the:
- Gameplay Logic
- Level
- Rules
- Assets
- Playable builds
Traditional Game development:
You develop the game idea. Create the necessary storyboards, assets, team and timelines. The individuals in your team who create:
- Gameplay logic
- Code
- Level designs
- Assets
- Optimizations
- Playable builds
And everything else.
Differences between AI game creation and traditional game development:
| Point |
AI Game Creator |
Traditional Game Development |
|---|---|---|
|
Time to create a playable prototype |
Minutes to hours |
Weeks to months |
|
Time to create a full game |
Days to weeks |
1 month to 3 years for Indie games. Can go even longer for AAA games(check how long GTA 6 has been in the making) |
|
Cost |
$0- $1k. It’s mostly prompting right to the right models |
Indie games: $10k to $1M AAA can go even higher |
|
Team& |
Solo to a few friends |
Indie: 1-15 people AAA usually 100+ |
|
Skills required |
Prompt engineering, Ideation, Taste |
Programming, Modelling, Animation, Sound design, UI/UX, Ideation, Taste, and much more |
|
Customization and control |
Prompt-based customization. Limited ability to tweak. |
Highly granular control. Custom everything |
|
Output quality |
Simple games. Fun prototypes. It can be buggy initially, but it can be turned into addictive and viral loops. |
Polished. Immersive. Complex. |
|
Platforms |
Best suited for web and mobile playing experience |
Can be for mobile, computer, and consoles |
|
Scalability and Iteration speed |
You can launch multiple ideas fast. Iterate. Pivot. Gather audience via social platforms. |
Slow iterations. High sunk costs. |
With these differences noted, we should determine who should use AI game creation and when, and who should focus solely on traditional game development.
Who should use AI game creators and when?
You should focus on AI game creators if:
- You are a creator, student, teacher, marketer or an indie developer trying to figure out your game in detail
- You want to prototype ideas
- You want to build quick, playable ads
- You want to make social-first games
Who should focus on traditional game development and when?
You should focus on traditional game development if:
- You are building a commercial or AAA-quality game
- You need intense mechanics and optimizations
- You are working with a great team and a long roadmap
- You’re drowning in money 😉
All said and done, it’s not really about AI versus traditional game development. It is a hybrid game development approach. For most people pursuing game development as a profession, AI will augment traditional game development. Already, hundreds of studios are using AI to generate a large amount of code for their games. AI is further helping with scaling assets, styles and design language of games.
To anyone starting off, my recommendation would be to take multiple shots. AI game creation allows you to do that. Try to go through the process of game design and make prototypes of your games fast, bring a set of audience to your game and playtest with them as fast as possible. Take their feedback bravely and boldly implement the right solutions into your AI generated games. And you will see that your skill improve very quickly. If you want to do this Pikoo.ai is great place for you. Start today and reach out to us for help.
All the best.
Leave a Reply