The Challenge

I asked ChatGPT to challenge me: I want to learn the Panda3D engine and develop some simple games in the process.

I asked for 12 project ideas of increasing difficulty, each of which could be executed in less than a month, to stretch my game dev knowledge and create a portfolio of simple but complete titles.

Over the course of 2024, I will take on this challenge and upload the results here. See the links below for the end result of each month!

The Games:

• Month 1: wRongball
  • Compete against the CPU opponent to see who scores 11 goals first!
• Month 2: The Garden Walls
  • Break the bricks of the garden walls to collect seeds and reveal original pixel art scenes. Try to uncover them all!
• Month 3: X-Squids
  • Fight your way through 7 waves of alien invaders who'd love nothing more than to overtake your Moon base mining facility!
• Month 4 (In active development; possible release Fall 2024)
  •  The Misadventure of Grogbeard the Pirate
  • Delayed temporarily
• Month 5: Argon Waves
  • A rhythmic flyer and music visualizer
• Month 6: To be announced! 

Terms of the challenge:

• I will not limit myself to developing or releasing each game only within a single month. Rather, I will take on these prompts one at a time and post them one at a time, with the end goal of producing all twelve by the end of 2024.
• Each game will be posted when it is complete in binary form (no source code necessarily provided)
• Each game will be a "finished product" in the sense that care was taken to provide a full experience, rather than a just a technical demo or proof of concept of some aspect of the game.
• I will follow the suggested prompts as given. Some liberties may be taken to make each idea my own, and there may be "extras" included that were not required.
• Code and assets from each game may get reused in later ones, but each game will stand alone as a separate download.

The Prompts

These are the prompts as generated by ChatGPT:

1. Pong Clone (Month 1): Build a simple Pong game to grasp the basics of game loops, input handling, and collision detection.
2. Breakout Game (Month 2): Expand on Pong by creating a Breakout game. This introduces more complex game mechanics, such as handling multiple game objects and power-ups.
3. Space Invaders (Month 3): Move on to a classic Space Invaders game to learn about enemy movement patterns, shooting mechanics, and basic enemy AI.
4. Platformer (Month 4): Develop a basic 2D platformer. This will introduce character movement, jumping physics, and level design.
5. Endless Runner (Month 5): Expand on platforming by creating an endless runner game. This introduces scrolling backgrounds, procedural level generation, and high-score mechanics.
6. Puzzle Game (Month 6): Design a puzzle game involving logic or pattern recognition. This will enhance your problem-solving skills in game development.
7. Top-down Shooter (Month 7): Create a top-down shooter game. This adds complexity with aiming mechanics, enemy variety, and perhaps power-ups.
8. RPG Battle System (Month 8): Develop a simple RPG battle system. This involves turn-based mechanics, character stats, and basic enemy AI.
9. 2D Racing Game (Month 9): Dive into racing games by building a 2D racing game. Learn about handling player input, acceleration, and track design.
10. Simple Simulation (Month 10): Create a basic simulation game, like a simple economy or ecology simulation. This introduces more complex systems and interactions.
11. Physics-based Game (Month 11): Experiment with physics-based gameplay. This could involve ragdoll physics, realistic object interactions, or other dynamic elements.
12. Strategy Game (Month 12): Finish with a strategy game. This could be a turn-based strategy or real-time strategy game, incorporating all the skills you've acquired throughout the year.

Each game builds on the concepts of the previous one, providing a structured and progressively challenging learning path.