There are obviously super strong opinions around the use of AI in game development and so I want to be transparent about how and for what I have used AI during the development of Annhexation. I also wanted to speak a bit to the Stop Killing Games initiative because thats something I’m super supportive of.
So AI and Annhexation. Its pretty simple really: I’ve used AI for two very specific things.
- Claude Code as a coding aid (my own background is in coding)
- Midjourney to generate the leader portraits
Everything else in the game is handcrafted either by me or by others under Creative Commons or commercial licences. Graphics are a mix of things I’ve created, some commercial kits (actually hardly used - I think the hex base model and the trees is all), and Creative Commons works. Quite a lot of graphics are procedural. Sounds are predominantly things I’ve purchased under a commercial license and a handful of Creative Commons licensed works.
The game contains a credit screen with attribution (whether required by license or not).
If people enjoy the game and it starts to generate me a small amount of revenue then my intention is to commision someone to create leader portraits specifically for the game. I’m a solo designer and developer and I searched high and low for something that would fit into my budget and failed. Once, and if, budget allows… well I’d prefer something handcrafted and in general I’d rather pay solo / small creative for their work than a megacorp.
Ok. Now turning to Stop Killing Games and the end of life of games. There is a server component to the game which, if I turn the infrastructure off, could kill three features of the game:
- Free online single player
- Multiplayer
- Online scoreboards / histograms
If I do turn the infrastructure off then the commitment I want to make around this is twofold:
- I will ensure the local single player game continues to work and release a final update to the various stores / distribution channels that mean it is unimpaired by, for example, online scoreboards no longer being available. It may receive no further updates or patches but will remain playable in that final state.
- I will release the complete source code under an open source license. Probably MIT - thats what nearly all my stuff is under. I will have to remove the commercial graphics (I think simple to replace as I suggested above) and commercial sound effects. Depending on whats going on for me at the time I’ll either just delete the files or replace them with placeholders / something I’ve created or found under an appropriate license.
The free online single player will disappear along with the infrastructure… but their will be nothing stopping someone from standing up this again should they so choose.