Inspiration
I wanted to test how far GPT5.6 has come and try to see how far a new user that isn't an AI expert might be able to get in a project with Codex using natural language. Games are universal and enjoyed by everyone. I imagined what a younger version of myself in elementary school or middle school might have been able to build if I had access to something like Codex or GPT5.6 to help me with development. When I was younger I wanted to create games, but there were steep technical hurdles. I didn't have the time or patience required when I was younger to get through the complicated nature of game development by myself at that age. Younger me would have loved having access to Codex and GPT5.6 to assist with more of the technical hurdles while I focused on the actual game.
What it does
Orcs! Orcs! Orcs! is similar to a tower defense game where you place units and buildings to defend your keep. Orcs spawn on the outer perimeter of your town and attack anything on the way to destroy your keep. Orcs spawn in waves at the beginning of a level and there is an intermission phase between each level where the player can build or place units, buildings, or perform actions before the start of the next attack. Balance a defense, economy, and research to repel the invaders!
How we built it
Codex and ChatGPT5.6 using a natural language strategy without using AGENTS.md or SKILLS.md to simulate how a non-technical user might use Codex to just make a game. Godot was used for the game engine and Blender for unit skeletons, meshes, and models. I just talked to Codex like how I would have probably used when I was younger. I found just typing to Codex like I was talking to a friend was enough to get intent across and the results were impressive. I would just tell Codex to build a unit and describe how I want the unit to be built. The first iteration usually wasn't impressive, but it was enough to work with and continue iterating on. The most difficult phase of the project was attempting to do unit animations like a unit animation thrusting with a spear, or an orc swinging a 2 handed axe. I told Codex to research information on anatomy and how people are trained to thrust a spear, or use a sword, and it was scanning medical journals for anatomy to figure out bone structure, and how certain joints were supposed to support rotation in certain ways that made the model animations somewhat more believable. It was very impressive to watch the difference when it sought out the medical journal context, and training information on how to thrust a spear, then reincorporated these concepts into rebuilding the models and animations.
Challenges we ran into
Wasn't initially using git. I got stuck with an unknown fps issue and using git for version control would have helped me not waste a lot of time.
Be more conscious of tokens. I didn't try to optimize tokens and just wanted to see how far it would get testing for capacity for less knowledgeable users. I ran out of tokens but luckily had a usage reset.
Sometimes Codex had trouble trying to build meshes and models using Blender and didn't always build things anatomically correct.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Built a playable game in less than a week that actually has animations and unit models with no prior blender or Godot experience.
What we learned
It's okay to not have a plan going in for what you want. You can have a vague idea of what you want and just have Codex continue to iterate on ideas you like that it executes well and have it remove or change executions you don't like. The main issue is cost and waste, but you can still start the journey without knowing where you're going or how you'll get there, and it can just be a journey where you discover what you want or don't want along the way.
Also, talk with ChatGPT5.6 for ideation first and have it help you translate what you want to say into a prompt Codex can understand better that is also more economical with tokens.
What's next for Orcs! Orcs! Orcs!
Continued ideation, refinement, campaigns, additional units, gameplay improvement overhauls, and more! Ideally I'd like to eventually put this game on Steam.
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