saved
Fuck it, make it anyway
Hraness cites a source capture. The source author remains the source.
gist
Joel Auterson crashes out over generative AI devaluing creative craft—especially programming, where capable code assistants make his proud little tools feel obsolete overnight—then uses a talk with Uncamera maker Shad to reframe the choice. He will not enjoy AI-assisted work and cannot stop making, so the remaining path is to keep building the hard way, including his own C++ game engine, for learning and joy rather than competitive speed.
ideas
- Peer praise was part of the craft’s payoff. Everyday doodads that once earned colleague head pats can now be ordered from a prompt, which empties the social reward of shipping them.
- Three paths; only one keeps the joy. Adopt assistants and lose ownership of the work; quit making (not really an option); or keep self-chosen hard methods because he wants to.
- Hard mode was already the point. Building a C++ engine and faux-3D renderer was never about beating Unity or Godot on speed, so AI throughput does not rewrite his reasons.
- Peers who keep shipping without AI model the stance. Shad continues Uncamera without generative AI for the same fulfillment reasons, which pulls Auterson out of wallowing.
- Code and games share the same turbulence. A Zach Gage thread comparing game making to music devastates him because years of hard-won skill suddenly feel possibly wasted.
quotes
“It isn’t fun for me, the output doesn’t feel like mine, and I take no pride in what it produces.”
“Now anyone can just order that tool or anything like it off a prompt.”
“I do things the way I do because I enjoy doing it that way and because I learn a lot through doing it.”
“That’s why we make games. That’s why we make anything.”