Chatting with AI - regular blog

 I think this is kind of weird and kind of funny, you need to take a lot with stride of the AI and its quirks, but if you do, you can gleam some insights.

Explaining your game to AI

to see how much it works,

and trying to ignore the sycophantic nature

    Image Prompt: AI helping me write the game.

The Latest AI is a funny thing, it loves to tell you what a great idea you had, and how it can help you use it. Like any thing in life, you need to control yourself, not get caught up in the nature of the salesman and treat everything like a trap, BUT still enjoy the experience along the way.

I've been explaining my game system to AI and getting it to walk through stress tests and such things. I used to do this with friends every Sunday, but patient can get thin, people have their own desires and push them, and you can get lost in the weeds.

I've explained how one time, we had a 4hour, single combat round, to try to understand HOW this stuff worked. It was the lynchpin that eventually broke up our group, yet it was also a very powerful learning experience that taught me a LOT about roleplaying, gaming, and games mastering that has helped my career as a professional Games Master.

So having a 'robot' to talk through, rationally, (if you can ignore the constant praise) the game rules, its quite nice.

What has it helped me with? blocks of text. that's it.

Each and every time it had an insight? it was just telling me what I already told it, or what I hadn't yet told it.

What it did do, was structure out 12 paragraphs, in a clear and concise way that I had pages of fluff and drivel. 

My 12 archetypes, sure, I had them 'sorted' but clearing up a niggling word or a phrase to match the pattern of the other 11, was very helpful. saved me days.. but only because I knew the topic.

If I didn't know this, I might fall into the trap of letting IT do the work, and oh boy, that would have been a disaster.

So often it has dropped a lifestyle or inserted a new one that didn't exist.

My Skills lists have grown, and shrunk a dozen times from missing or false positives added, or morphed lists. Often the skills don't even match the medieval culture, because AI context only goes back ~100k+ tokens. so the first question gets lost along the way.

As a result, I can't just copy paste its work, I always have to take what it says with a pinch of salt, and I need to double check its lists.

What it DOES do well, is 'create' new stuff that is unimportant. Lists of NPC names, professions, career paths, etc, Its.. the stuff in the background.

Have you noticed, with an AI painting, the first glance everything is right.. then when you inspect it.. things are wrong, things in the background are not quite what you'd expect.. from a distance, without scrutiny, its all ok, just up close that face in the background has a 3rd eye, or is it an ear, that hair colour is not quite natural, that arm, where did that extra arm come from.

As its is with the background noise of NPCs, at a glance, all ok, all useful, then when you need that NPC ist stats don't match its career, its backstory is a little off from the plot of the game. 

Its ok, I can cross out the parts that don't work, mid game, and proceed. It was saving me 'some' time, but I am prepared just in case, as any half decent GM should be.      ;P