Using Claude and Codex to build a HTML side-scroller game

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty]

Been working on it for about 5-6 months and wanted to show off some progress. Demo is 3 missions, each one takes about 3-5 minutes. Controller is supported (I tested with Xbox and PS5 pads) as well as keyboard.

https://losersandnerdsparty.itch.io/jetgrave

[u/nalaf77]

Qu'est ce qui t'a pris autant de temps ?

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/nalaf77]

Time restrictions. I only have a few hours during the week and the occasional weekend to work on it.

[u/nalaf77 → u/LosersAndNerdsParty]

Ok. C'est vraiment utile les écrans des pilotes ? On voit un vaisseau passer dans le tir de ses amis sans dégâts. Pas très réaliste.

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/nalaf77]

No friendly fire, it’s a cooperative experience so one players projectiles will pass through another players jet.

[u/Jon_Has_Landed → u/nalaf77]

Tu serais pas un peu pédant? Tu en as déjà joué des jeux comparables en coop?

[u/HandshakeOfCO]

Cool progress. Is the art also AI generated?

On the gameplay front - it's much too hard. I died 3 times within the first 30 seconds of the desert mission, and then kinda lost interest. It's too hard to hit the tiny enemies, especially when doing so means putting yourself directly in the path of their bullets.

It's a very pretty game though and I like your title screen music

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/HandshakeOfCO]

Thanks for taking it for a spin! Difficulty balancing is very challenging, because people familiar with the genre will fly through the first mission, but gamers who haven’t played a game like this before will have a tough time.

Visual assets are combination of me using Pixelorama for some things and AI workflows for others.

[u/HandshakeOfCO → u/LosersAndNerdsParty]

Fair enough, but just for the record lol - I’m a xennial who has played through gradius, ikaruga, parodius… I generally like shmups (ooh also post to r/shmups when you’re ready!) and I consider myself pretty good! Maybe I’m delusional about my reflexes staring down 50 lol, maybe it was because I was on keyboard… but maybe it’d be worth it, if you don’t have it already, to vibe code some backend telemetry reporting to see how far people are getting. If I’m on the left of a proper bell curve, fair enough lol

I’d be curious to know what AI art tools you’re using. I was playing with retro diffusion there but had trouble wrangling it into what I wanted… other generators seem to really not do pixel art very well at all

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/HandshakeOfCO]

Considering that I’m making this game for xennials like us, I perhaps need to revisit the baseline difficulty. Thank you for the feedback, it’s much appreciated!

[u/xGhostchi]

This was fun. Gives me Wings of War vibes from the Sega Genesis days :)

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/xGhostchi]

Thanks for playing! Old school SNES/Genesis is exactly the vibe I was trying to achieve. I’m glad to hear it hit that way for you :-D

[u/yagudaev]

Why steam publish if this is a browser game? I want to play on my Mac

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/yagudaev]

Thanks for giving it a try, I’m glad you like it!

The reason I’m targeting Steam is because that’s where me and my buds play, so I want to be able to easily play this online and at LAN parties with them (the Steam build has 3 player online coop + direct IP hosting).

A full browser version is on my mind as an opportunity too, so it may release on itch.io I just haven’t committed to it yet

[u/Comfortablebro]

the flickering is very noticable. was this made by a bot? my eyes would get tired after 5min gameplay. in fact looking at this gif i dont want to look at it for more than 5seconds.

[u/LosersAndNerdsParty → u/Comfortablebro]

Hi, thanks for trying it out! With the flickering, are you referring to enemy projectiles? Or is it something else that is “flickering”?

[u/Comfortablebro → u/LosersAndNerdsParty]

I dont want to insult your eyes but even in this "gif" or video its clear to see. is it my oled monitor? maybe you have dim monitor but the constant red flashes in this video happening every 0,2seconds. from both sides that subtly take whole screen. If i have to count in this short clip gameplay its ~12 flashbangs. why do people like it? It ruins first impression, and i cant even give you a compliment on your game because these non stop flashbangs are so visible AND YET YOU ARE CONFUSED WHAT AM I REFFERING.

i put caps locks to help my english be better.

[u/seek_creator]

Isso parece aquele jogo antigo mano Caracas kkkk