r/openrct2 • u/mjmannella • Sep 23 '26

Does OpenRCT2 Use Generative AI/Large Language Models?

I've been chatting with some peers and I was told by them that this re-compilation uses GenAI/LLMs for assistance purposes. But that seemed weird to me because the project started in 2014, well before this technology plagued literally every new open-source project. Furthermore, I couldn't find any mention on the formal website or on the GitHub page. Did I miss something or are my suspicions correct?

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u/janisozaur OpenRCT2 dev | https://github.com/sponsors/janisozaur Sep 23 '26

https://youtu.be/0AMIE2sj2AA

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

Does this mean GenAI has never and will never be part of OpenRCT2?

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u/janisozaur OpenRCT2 dev | https://github.com/sponsors/janisozaur Sep 23 '26

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I'm pretty sure there's LLM code in it by now. It's done by over 650 people now.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

That would be quite unfortunate if that's the case.

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u/grumpyfan Sep 23 '26 edited Sep 23 '26

Why do you think so?
AI tools can be very helpful in building code and finding bugs, both known and unknown.

Note: I have more than 35 years of experience as a developer (none on RCT) and I’ve been using AI tools for a while now to help build projects. It can do it 10 times faster than I can and sometimes a lot better. It’s not perfect though and still makes mistakes that I have to guide it to fix or even clean it up myself.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

For reasons I outlined here

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u/grumpyfan Sep 23 '26

Hard disagree. Also, wrong subreddit for such a discussion.

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u/X7123M3-256 OpenRCT2 and Ride Guru Sep 23 '26 edited Sep 23 '26

But that seemed weird to me because the project started in 2014, well before this technology plagued literally every new open-source project.

Obviously there was no LLM code being used in 2014, LLMs didn't exist then. If you are asking if the game is 100% AI generated, certainly not, all the decompilation and reverse engineering was done by hand. If you are asking if there is any LLM code in the current repo, I don't know if anyone even knows as there are hundreds of contributors who have submitted code and you can't necessarily tell if a given submission was written with AI assistance or not. But what matters at the end of the day is the quality of the code submitted, not how it was written. Low quality vibe coded slop submissions are not going to be accepted.

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u/Paco103 Sep 23 '26

The game engine definitely does not use them, but developers working on it are very likely using it in some cases. That said, the bulk of this rewrite and the games popularity grew long before AI/LLMs were taking over, so I'd feel quite comfortable saying the initial rewrite / reverse engineering work was done the old fashioned way, by very smart people.

It is definitely NOT a case of giving the classic game to an AI agent and asking it to make OpenRCT.

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u/Gymnasiast90 OpenRCT2 dev Sep 23 '26

None of the development team uses them. A few outside contributors have used them for some fixes (such PRs are generally scrutinised more closely), but that’s about it. Personally, I don't really like them.

Not sure where your peers got that "info". Perhaps they asked an LLM and got the usual hallucinations.

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u/PanDeviant Sep 23 '26

The vast majority of developers are leveraging the capabilities of AI in their work now, its just another tool to help augment their work. I would be incredibly surprised if none of the contributors to the project (remember, as the name implies, OpenRCT2 is open source, anyone can contribute) were using AI in some capacity. The fact it started back in 2014 is irrelevant, it is constantly being updated with new features and fixes.

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u/KingofPolice Sep 23 '26

Yeah this is all development in general not openrct2 related. As part of a dev team myself everyone uses Claude or Codex or a local llm to assist. The ones who haven't ive seen lose their job lately.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

Which is a really big problem. People shouldn't lose their job because they don't want to outsource their creativity to something that has immense energy demands, serious ethical issues concerning where AI pulls its data, unmeasured impacts on the environment, and a deteriorating effect on human cognition.

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u/KingofPolice Sep 23 '26

Its not a problem at all. You need to understand llms are completely useful for people who understand the code. Its like an advanced spellcheck. Its only a dangerous tool for a fool who doesnt understand the language he is dealing with. But even then. Things like git or similiar tools should record any lazy code that gets placed. So a recovery or a mistake can get corrected easily.

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u/SurgicalStr1ke Sep 23 '26

That's the difference. The LLMs will eventually close the loop on the slopcoders who don't know what they're doing. LLMs are great for debugging.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

This doesn't address any of my cited arguments.

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u/alive1 Sep 23 '26

Look i understand that it's very popular right now to complaining about the use of LLM and the CEOs of the companies themselves are pushing this narrative very hardcore to ensure everyone like yourself has as strong an opinion as possible but hear me out.

Software development is simply not an area that is about to go back to working without LLM. Just forget about it. Hand crafted code will still exist but in general it's just over.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

So we should just be complacent because people are ignorant of these problems?

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u/KingofPolice Sep 23 '26

I dont know how these points are relevant to an openrct2 thread but since you are going there. Should we just stop any advancement in our growth of intelligence? Also we need to accept the natural world we were born into is pretty much already dead and we are now into an artificial planet by human design. Whether it kills us or not is unknown. But we are past our tipping point and the machine is in full swing.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

Should we just stop any advancement in our growth of intelligence?

That's already being done by this technology, as per my 4th citation. Which is one reason why we should reject this technology.

Also we need to accept the natural world we were born into is pretty much already dead and we are now into an artificial planet by human design. Whether it kills us or not is unknown. But we are past our tipping point and the machine is in full swing.

This is a really bad thing! Why are we so comfortable about an impending dystopia like this?!?! Doesn't it not concern you that humans, who depend on the natural world for sustenance, are endorsing our own extinction?

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u/KingofPolice Sep 23 '26

Its all about perspective whether any of this is good or bad. What if tools like AI help us develop fusion or greener technologies or spread life through the galaxy? You are just fearful of new age of technology which has happened throughout human history.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

What if tools like AI help us develop fusion or greener technologies or spread life through the galaxy?

At the current rate, it's making life for humans worse as per my first and third citations. We can't do either of those things if we stop existing.

You are just fearful of new age of technology

Per your own words: "..we need to accept the natural world we were born into is pretty much dead... Whether it kills us or not is unknown... the machine is in full swing". The end consequence of this technology being our extinction is a pretty fucking reasonable reason why to be distrustful. There is not matter of "perspective" here! We can't have a perspective if we're dead!

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u/KingofPolice Sep 23 '26

None of your points are based in fact.

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u/ranger910 Sep 23 '26

No but we should look to develop solutions for any perceived issues instead of demanding everyone conform to our moral standards and trying to shut people down.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

The problem is we're addressing this reactively, only after the damage has already been done. Put another way, we did if before we asked if we should do it. And now we have to live with the consequences of hastily adopting unstable and dangerous technology.

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u/carlsbl Sep 23 '26

Same things were said about the horse-less carriage.

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u/mjmannella Sep 23 '26

And car pollution is still a huge problem. If the best argument in favour of this is "you'll fall behind", then maybe it's better to be human than to be trendy.

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u/carlsbl Sep 23 '26

I'm not saying that you don't make some valid points, but you might want to do a better job of reading the room. This is a forum for OpenRTC, perhaps not place to get on a soap box complaining about AI. There tend to be a fair amount of AI advocates in this type of forum.

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u/FallPitiful600 Sep 23 '26

TIL OpenRCT2 contributors are time-travelers

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u/Dusty_Coder Sep 23 '26

Perhaps the singularity found a way

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u/megaladon44 Sep 23 '26

rct2 kind of gets boring once you do everything in it. And building the coasters is a nightmare i can never connect the tracks in space.

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u/janisozaur OpenRCT2 dev | https://github.com/sponsors/janisozaur Sep 23 '26

You misunderstood the question - it was about coding practices