Airplanes + Turrets + Rockets + Nice Assets

Challenge:

Can good assets transform this from squares moving around into something that actually feels like a game?

Attempt 1:

Found free game assets for rockets and airplanes. Used Grok to generate a game scene background after 5-10 attempts.

Outcome:

• Assets and visuals make a massive difference to immersion
• Good background assets can be generated with enough iterations
• BUT: Still can't get airplane to fly straight despite repeated prompts
• Collision detection between rockets and airplane is buggy
• Rockets aren't homing yet

Lessons learned:

• Good assets change everything about how a game feels
• AI-generated backgrounds work with enough iterations
• Still struggling with basic mechanics even with proven algorithms

Next:

Continue with airplane game. Still need to:

• Fix airplane flight path (not flying straight despite repeated prompts)
• Implement proper homing missile behavior
• Fix collision detection between rockets and airplane
• This could be a much more fun game within 1-2 days

OR: Start posting progress and move on to explore other mechanics

Ingredients

• AI Assistant: Grok (X.ai) - 5-10 attempts for background generation
• AI Assistant: Claude Sonnet - Game mechanics debugging
• Free Assets: Airplane and rocket sprites from free game asset sites
• Asset Sources: Free game development asset repositories
• Background Generation: AI-generated game scene (multiple iterations)
• Previous Work: Day 9's proven turret tracking algorithms
• Key Discovery: Good assets transform engagement completely
• Time Investment: 4-5 hours on asset sourcing and integration
• Cost: ~$4-6 in AI credits (Grok iterations + Claude debugging)
• Ongoing Issues: Basic mechanics still unreliable despite visual polish