Low Magic They Said

AI-Generated Content Disclosure I am a solo developer with no programming background. Before using AI, I spent three months following YouTube tutorials, deleted everything and restarted three times, and typed every line of code myself until the foundation of this game clicked. From there, I used AI — primarily Claude — as a teacher and debugging partner across 7,000+ conversations over 16 months to learn GDScript and build every system in the game. The first line in my prompts is always "Stop being a yes sayer and always be brutal and honest." Here is exactly what AI was and wasn't used for: Code: I spent my first three months writing every line of code by hand. As the project grew, AI became a development partner — drafting code from my descriptions, which I then reviewed, debugged, and integrated. AI taught me programming concepts and helped me solve problems. Every design decision and system architecture is mine. Art: AI-generated with extensive human direction and manual editing. Some pieces required 15 pages of descriptions. I often assemble final art from multiple elements — finding references, combining parts, and making hands-on edits until it matches my vision. Animation: The first 14 enemies and 2 bosses were animated by me personally in DragonBones. For newer content, I'm exploring AI-generated animations and working to make them feel personal and consistent with the game's style — you can see examples with the later bosses. Some of these I'm still not satisfied with and will redo, which is just part of the process. Music: I produced 350+ tracks using AI music tools and curated the best for the game. All creative direction — mood, style, placement — is mine. Writing: All card text, lore, descriptions, and UI text are written by me. AI occasionally helps with polish. Game Design: Every mechanic, card interaction, and balance decision comes from a lifetime of gaming — hundreds of board games, decades of Magic: The Gathering, a career at Blizzard Entertainment, and more consoles than most people can count. AI does not design games. That part is entirely human. EDIT1: I felt the need to mention that I got diagnosed with ADHD last year, at the age of 47. The reason I could never learn coding in a traditional way is my attention span. If I am not interested it is super hard, and if I am interested it is super awesome. I get excited when I can talk and describe how I want my game to feel and function. The AI converts that to code, and together we've created a way for me to follow my dream and make a game that I want to play. I have thought to myself many times during development that I wish I knew how to make this myself, and I wish I was able to just learn and do things like most people. But here we are, and I am starting to consider that this route might have been more punishing on me than the other way could have ever been. I am not sure, but willing to discuss it further if anyone is facing a similar decision. "EDIT2: I updated the Code section to be more precise. I only wrote code entirely by hand for the first three months. After that, AI and I worked together — I designed and described what I needed in detail, AI drafted it, and I reviewed, debugged, and integrated everything."