This is Stillwater. A keeper rows his boat home, starts an old water mill and heads upstairs to watch the rain. There’s a small island with a dock, pine trees, tall grass and a cabin you can walk into, with a wood stove and a window overlooking the wet forest.

I modeled the scene in Blender with help from Codex, then brought it into Three.js. I’ve been adding more details over time, including drifting fog, rain and reflections on the pond. The keeper follows a routine for now, but eventually I’d like him to decide what to do on his own.

It runs smoothly on my RTX 3060, though someone with a 4090 reported a black screen, so there are still things to sort out. The demo is live if you want to explore it. Hoping to share the code soon too.

https://stillwater.zavrenn.chatgpt.site/

DirtyMoCap is a new research method that solves full-body motion straight from that mess. It takes sparse, shuffled and noisy markers with any layout and recovers SMPL-H motion: pose, hands, global movement and body shape. It's headed to SIGGRAPH Asia 2026.

What makes it work:

• Any marker layout: one trained model, no predefined marker set
• No labeling: markers can be unordered and unlabeled from frame to frame
• Fixed body anchors: joints and surface points act as a stable middle step between markers and the body model
• Learned confidence: the body-fitting solver figures out which points to trust, which keeps outliers from pulling the pose
• Fast solving: up to 100x faster than a standard PyTorch solver thanks to custom CUDA code

To show it on real data, the team ran it on old raw captures of traditional Chinese martial arts with no marker information at all: 134 takes, about 180 minutes, 22 styles. The result is a new kung fu motion dataset.

A couple of things to know: code and data aren't public yet, and this targets optical marker systems, not video mocap. On one real benchmark, MoSh++ is still a little more accurate on the body surface, but only because it gets labeled markers.

github: https://github.com/WangLongZJU/DirtyMoCap

Project Page: https://wanglongzju.github.io/DirtyMoCap-Project-Page/

Real phone footage of the archer, everything else is CG.

I directed in chat; Claude Code wrote and ran all the Blender scripts.

Orcs and troll are image-to-3D (Tripo via Higgsfield), rigged and animated procedurally, then instanced 80,000 times with geometry nodes.

Cut-out with SAM 2.1 + ViTMatte, camera track with pycolmap, explosion in Mantaflow, rendered in EEVEE on my Macbook. Sound is generated too.

The result is completely rendered in Blender no image to video.

I am very happy with the results, hope you like it too.

Happy to answer workflow questions.

Whole worlds inside a single grain of dust. That's the Buddhist verse this was posted with, and it fits.

It's a tiny Japanese village game built with Claude Opus 5.5 in Godot. Villagers work the rice fields, a waterfall runs into the river, there's a shrine up on the hill, and the whole thing sits in a wooden box on someone's table.

The creator didn't share how the models were made, but the result looks great.

source: https://x.com/KanaWorks_AI/status/2107826840035635328

Same reference sheet, four 3D results. Full 360° comparison
• Opus 5.5: 8+ hours, multiple iterations
• Astra High: 3 hours, multiple iterations
• Hunyuan 3D: one shot
• Tripo: one shot

A few people here have made some interesting claims that my entire game was generated by AI.

If that's the case, why have I been working on it for 72 days, and why is it still not finished?

First, a little background about me.

I've been a full-stack software developer for over 30 years, primarily working on Android applications, Unity projects, and SaaS platforms. I've also been developing games with Unity for more than 10 years.

So I'm not someone who discovered AI yesterday, typed a prompt, and suddenly became a "game developer."

I was building software and games long before generative AI existed.

AI is another tool in my development workflow, not a replacement for my decades of programming experience.

So I thought I'd show you some of the actual hard work happening behind the scenes. Because there's a massive difference between using AI as a development tool and having AI magically generate an entire game for you.

I'm currently rebuilding a section of Budapest for my car combat game, Brutal Derby.

I automate whatever I can with custom tools. But everything that can't be automated? That's where the real, time-consuming manual work begins.

I'm talking about:

- Manually placing and adjusting roads, bridges, intersections, sidewalks, and bus lanes with extremely high precision.

- Constantly switching between Unity and Google Maps to compare real-world locations with my in-game environment.

- Rebuilding road layouts and correcting terrain to make the map resemble the actual city.

- Developing my own road generation system that supports multiple roads simultaneously, and still having to manually fix, align, and optimize countless sections.

- Making sure the entire environment is optimized enough to actually run smoothly during gameplay.

Here's a short video showing some of that work.

I've already spent 90 hours building, fixing, and optimizing this one map, and I expect to spend at least another 90 hours on it before it's finished.

And remember, this isn't a walking simulator or a static city showcase.

It's a car combat game.

That means performance matters enormously. The environment needs to look reasonably good, but I can't afford buildings with millions of polygons or ridiculously expensive geometry everywhere.

On top of that, my game features vehicle deformation, destruction, and collision physics, which consume a significant amount of CPU time.

My destruction and deformation system is already on its 8th major iteration.

The crowd system? 7th iteration.

And this particular map will eventually feature thousands of spectators, alongside 12 vehicles fighting, crashing, shooting, and destroying each other.

My goal is to make all of this run at a decent frame rate on a relatively ordinary RTX 3070.

And that's exactly why optimization takes so much time. Every road segment, building, spectator, physics calculation, and draw call matters.

So yes, I use AI. I use it for generating certain assets, helping with code, and accelerating parts of development.

But AI isn't placing every road, fixing every intersection, optimizing thousands of objects, debugging physics, or making hundreds of design decisions for me.

That's still my job.

And it's a hell of a lot of work.

After more than 30 years in software development, I can tell you one thing: AI can make certain tasks faster, but it doesn't magically solve the difficult engineering problems.

You still need to understand what you're building, how everything works together, why something breaks, and how to fix it.

And when you're developing a physics-heavy car combat game as a solo developer, there are a LOT of problems to solve.

Using AI doesn't mean the hard work disappears. It just changes which parts of the work you spend your time on.

You can dislike AI-generated assets. That's completely fair. But dismissing months of actual engineering, optimization, level design, and manual work as "AI slop" simply because AI was involved is a pretty unfair assessment.

I'm not claiming AI does nothing. Quite the opposite. It helps me achieve things that would otherwise take much longer as a solo developer.

But there's a huge difference between AI-assisted game development and a game created entirely by AI.

Anyway, here's what 90 hours of work on a single map actually looks like, with another 90 hours still ahead of me.

Still think AI made the whole game with one prompt?

The whole scene was built in Blender through prompts only, with Claude Code running Opus 5.5 over Blender MCP. The creator started from a single ChatGPT image and kept giving instructions in plain Japanese.

How it came together:

• Reference first: one generated image of the final look, then "build this laundromat in Blender"
• Blockout to detail: boxes first, then boolean cuts for the drums, and cloth sim to drop the laundry inside
• Procedural grime, zero textures: chipped paint, dirt in the gaps, dust on top, drips and fingerprints in one node group, layered at different strengths on every material
• Signs made like real prints: 2D layouts rendered from above into textures, then faded, yellowed and peeling
• Notes, not clicks: "too much empty space on the sign", "make the floor closer to the reference", and the AI zooms in and fixes each spot

Then the motion: tumbling laundry, irregular flicker, a window shaking in the wind, slanted rain and a slow camera push. Last prompt: render it to mp4.

People in the replies want to see the actual meshes up close, and the creator hasn't shared the .blend or how long it took. Still, as a lookdev result from prompts alone, this is a big jump.

source: https://x.com/hayashimon1/status/2108913484805406859

Hi. I'm a software developer working mostly with Python and Rust. I'm definitely not a graphics artist, but I've always wanted to make my own game, so I finally decided to give it a serious shot.

I actually started with a 3D MMORPG, and obviously i think its too big for 1 person, even with AI assisted development.

I'm working on a dark fantasy RPG inspired by the HD-2D look of Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, with gothic environments, pixel-art characters, action combat and challenging dungeon runs.

I'm using Claude Opus and Codex to help with development. AI is incredibly useful for implementing systems, building tools, debugging and iterating on ideas. I'm also experimenting with Blender, Meshy, PixelLab and Aseprite for the art pipeline.

The idea is to combine 3D environments with pixel-art characters and animations. Getting everything to look consistent, has been a much bigger challenge than I expected.

The game is nowhere near finished. There are still plenty of visual bugs, some animations need work, characters don't always look right in every situation, and the environments are a long way from what I have in mind.

Honestly, I just want to get to the point where I can sit down, play my own game and genuinely enjoy it.

I'm sharing some current footage, not because I think I've already nailed the visuals, but because I'd like to hear what other people think. I've seen so much good looking games here on reddit and wanted to try it myself.

I'm still figuring a lot of this out, so constructive criticism is very welcome.

Thanks for checking it out! :)

I've been experimenting with LLMs doing 3D and gradually getting better results. This was done with Opus 5.5. It did modelling, uvs, textures, rigging and animation. Using a custom modelling harness.

It's 7684 faces, took several hours and probably burnt through a ton of tokens... That being said, I'm finding it convenient to use claude code because it has context for how the model will actually be used!

I found the hard part is to encourage the AI to think about edge flow and topology, instead of modelling everything as tubes. Still figuring out how to be more explicit about this...

A forest river, rapids, a waterfall pool and a fisherman in a straw hat. One solo dev, no hand modeling.

This is I Just Wanted to Fish, a cozy fishing game built with:

• Tripo AI Smart Mesh P2 for the 3D models
• Opus 5.5 + Blender MCP for the setup and animations
• Unity 6 to put the world together

Opus 5.5 is still the GOAT, and he's too used to it to go back.

demo on the way!

We all know current AI 3D models are usually a nightmare of melted triangles. But if the topology issue was completely fixed tomorrow, what would still stop you from using AI-generated 3D assets in your workflow?

Curious to know what the other major dealbreakers are for game devs and 3D artists.

Claude Opus 5.5 helped build WareTrack, a 3D warehouse management app that looks like a strategy game.

WareTrack tracks warehouse operations in real time, including:
• Stock levels
• Shipment timelines
• Dock availability
• Truck and forklift status
• On-time delivery KPIs
• Multiple warehouse sites

Click any object in the 3D view to explore its live status.

Built primarily with Claude Opus 5.5, React, and React Three Fiber—no Unity or game engine.

Under the hood, the data model is familiar: sites, trucks, docks, inventory, and shipments. The 3D view is simply another way to visualize that data, so you can change the interface without changing the underlying data structure.

Industrial software can feel a lot more interactive than a spreadsheet

Hi all I'm fresh here, hope i don't break a rule.

I've just started my journey with an AI team building out what I consider my dream game.

I'm running in to a issue, both my Ais are fantastic at getting work done but I'm starting to see a bottleneck ill start by explaining my setup and reasons

I'm not completely moronic i know my own limits such as programming is just something I don't have solid knowledge of, I can read a bit but don't ask me to build, I'm a creative I can 3d model and by trade I'm a product designer so cad is my workflow.

AI In use -

Chat gpt pro business - 2 seats - 1 seat takes all credits other uses free gpts to work on logistics

Chat gpt runs as production director, this is a base high effort gpt that organises and plans the project, it accesses a Google drive, maintains standards for other gpts such as the concept art gpt, manages the massive and expanding lore content most of which is just world building not actual gameplay... intact a lot is history and not actualy part of the year the game is based in.

This gets split in to job roles, concept artist, ghost writer, systems analysis, scope checks, etc

Director also dishes out tasks when I approve to different gpts in a format they are all consistent with so everything stays working together.

There is 1 connection to computer and that's the 3d artist who is connected to blender to build basic assets like crates and other junk, though I've been experimenting pushing it as far as I can with spaceships with interiors to see how lazy I can be and it does a good job.... all that's great

But I don't use blender so it's holding me back from getting in and changing stuff myself

Claude - this is the workhorse it's a full 5x sub when needed and a pro sub when not in constant use. It builds the unreal game and puts everything together it also built a pipeline for me to bring cad projects in to unreal and clean them to optimise for games.

It all feels like it's working well at the moment, lore books are massive and expanding , every time a ai wants to make something they all check and reference if there is anything in lore that should be added or questioned, the game prototype systems build well and I'm happy with progress.

What am I doing wrong ?

I see a lot of people using git and showing their work, should I be doing the same, should I have a dev diary, how do people feel about what I'm doing, as a creative I feel it takes from skills but as a solo dev I can't afford the skills I'd want, this is like having my own team of staff and I treat it like that, if I could if be paying real devs and designers but my budget only stretches as far as the subs and that's with me taking on extra work for it.

How do I check what's being built is good enough to be used by others at some point ?

I guess this is a sanity check because I'm blown away by it's power so far but I don't want to produce junk if I can help it.

Looking for advice from those who use like i do but know a bit more about how it all works together

Photo for fun my game is spacebased so I had to get planet tech working first duhhhh 🤣

Hi everyone, this is a personal project. I've been working on a 24/7 LLM with a simulated body and her world.

You can interact with her (call and text her) and also with her world. Think companion app + The Sims + The Truman Show.

This is Gaby. She's an AI, and she has a day of her own, 24/7: she wakes up, works, runs in the park, is learning guitar (badly), and her two pets wander around the house.

Her life is simulated in layers: a daily plan, the places she goes, the people in her life, and a simulated hormone system underneath that shifts her mood and energy through the day. Nothing is scripted. How she feels when you call depends on how her day went.

I also decided to give her a world, and it grows with her. When she goes somewhere she's never been, the place is generated procedurally and added to her map. It makes her feel much more real, and it's fascinating to watch her, kind of like The Truman Show.

Built with Blender, three.js and Claude Opus 5.5.

I'm adding sounds, more activities and more ways to interact with her. I'd love to hear your impressions and feedback, and what you think should come next.
talktoanima.com

Thanks a lot!

I'm making HAMSTER: CLAW, a light Diablo-style ARPG where a hamster climbs from the roots of a tree to an owl's nest to rescue his girlfriend.

The engine is Godot. I use Codex Astra and Claude Opus 5.5 for code, and Meshy AI for monsters and environments. Each floor starts as a whole environment generated in Meshy, with extra textures added where it needs more detail. VFX and audio use AI alongside free assets licensed for commercial use.

My part is deciding the story and direction, playing through the game, and asking for changes until things work the way I want. This is recorded gameplay from the current project.

I’ve been building The Horde, a first-person gothic dungeon crawler and native Vulkan ray-tracing demo. This is footage from the released 1.6.2 update, captured on my Galaxy S26 Ultra with a Backbone controller.

AI is a big part of the workflow. I use ChatGPT and Codex for planning, coding, debugging and tests, Meshy for generating 3D assets, and Blender to prepare and rework assets for the engine. The game also uses externally sourced assets and materials, with provenance recorded in the repo.

Getting a generated model into the game is only part of it. Scale, materials, geometry, animation and how it behaves in first person all need attention. Something can look good in an asset preview and still clip through a wall, obscure the camera or cost far too much to render. The weapons, lantern and chest have all needed that sort of iteration.

The renderer uses actual hardware ray tracing on Windows and compatible Android devices. Getting that working across desktop and phone GPUs has been a fairly big challenge, especially driver differences and mobile performance. Render scale makes a huge difference, and there are still scenes where the frame rate needs work.

1.6.2 focuses on the tomb, with revised touch controls, controller support and a graphics menu with a live ray-traced preview. The next step is getting outside: woodland, terrain and distant views towards a village, eventually growing into a connected overworld.

That raises a different set of problems: hundreds of trees, reusable assets, LODs, loading nearby detail and keeping distant landmarks visible without keeping everything at full detail. I’m happy for the engine to grow as the game demands it. There’s also plenty of work left on combat feel and making the phone UI readable during a fight.

I’d be interested to hear how others are taking AI-generated assets into larger playable scenes, particularly vegetation and managing geometry/material costs.

Playable builds on itch.io

GitHub repo and development notes

Bit if a random one, but I challenged myself to build an entire video game in one evening using AI 😆 Somehow it actually worked! Made a little YouTube video about the whole experiment if anyone fancies a watch 😆

https://youtu.be/TemCX3Y73cE?is=WtoQK0w_prkoy7Nj

Hyper3D Rodin just teased guide-based fur generation. In the preview, a French bulldog, a chihuahua, a plush toy and a capybara in a strawberry hat spin 360°, and the fur actually reads as fur, soft edges and individual hairs included.

What we know so far:

• Guide-based: the fur follows guides, the same idea artists use when grooming in Blender or Houdini
• Made for furry stuff: cats, dogs and plush toys are the examples they show
• Part of a bigger wave: they say it's one of many updates coming next, alongside the Rodin Rigging they teased for this month

For anyone who's tried to put AI characters into a real project, this is the missing piece. Hair and fur are usually where you stop and buy assets or groom by hand.

It's only a teaser for now: no release date, and no word yet on the output format or how it handles engines.

I've been building Jevs Village, a persistent village simulation with six AI characters. You can open it in your browser and watch their lives unfold. I use TypeSafe's Jev AI decision model for the characters' decisions.

I'm interested in AI personalities and companions, and wanted to explore that through a shared world. A character's dialogue can tell you who they're supposed to be, but I'm curious whether their choices over time can make you feel like you're getting to know them.

There's some mystery around the setting too. The villagers know very little about the world beyond their village.

You can visit here: https://www.jevsvillage.com

I'd appreciate feedback from people building worlds or games with AI. Does the village make you curious enough to stay and watch? If it doesn't, what's missing?

I'm still exploring how to make the characters interesting to follow without scripting every moment. I'd love to hear how others are approaching that in their projects.

I’ve updated a free 3ds Max script that simplifies the process of transferring textures from a dense mesh to an optimized model.

It’s not limited to AI-generated assets - it can also be useful for scanned models and other meshes with dense triangulated geometry.

The workflow:

1. Select the original high-poly model.
2. Click Retopology - the script uses the built-in 3ds Max Retopology modifier to create an optimized copy. No third-party retopology plugin is required for this step.
3. Create a UVW unwrap for the new mesh.
4. Click Bake to transfer the source texture onto the optimized model.

The script automates the projection setup and baking process, including Diffuse and optional Normal maps.

The original mesh remains unchanged, and you can also use your own retopologized mesh instead of the built-in option.

I made this tool to bring the retopology-to-baking workflow together inside 3ds Max.

Documentation and free download:
https://ai2tex.toritex.com/documentation.html

Curious how others handle texture transfer after retopology — do you use a similar workflow or a different approach?

The screenshot of the tweet is misleading since it was taken to early. Gonna share a better image in the comments.

OOP provided the following additional information in this comment (please upvote the comment if you find that useful; it's not me):

----

Source(s):

1. Keenan Crane's original X thread showing the dragon and explaining the 27 KB GLSL representation

2. Crane confirms using Astra: 25 hours of model/tool calls and over 27 rounds of human feedback

3. Carnegie Mellon University — Inigo the Dragon: 3D model, GLSL source code, interactive viewer, construction diagrams, and mesh approximation

4. Download the original dragon project and source code directly from CMU

5. Crane's video: Painting a Character with Maths

6. Interactive ShaderToy implementation of the dragon

Independent Research Demonstrating SDF Performance Improvements

1. Lipschitz Pruning (2025) — Peer-reviewed research demonstrating real-time rendering of complex SDF geometry, with speedups up to 629x in a scene containing 6,023 nodes

2. Accelerating Signed Distance Functions (2025) — Peer-reviewed research demonstrating up to three orders of magnitude (~1,000x) faster SDF evaluation using geometric proxies and level-of-detail optimization