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Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 1, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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It's got a developer with more programming background than (I think) ThomasdelVasto has, but I'll point to Three Kingdoms Strategem. It's very much emphasizing the retro bit for speed of development, but I could believe Petersen's <six month estimate more than I do the GTA6 release date.

My estimate assumes ThomasdelVasto is a beginner at all things gamedev and is working alone in his spare time. Not saying all interesting games take that long. Obviously it changes with experience and how much time you allocate.

That said, AI could speed up the process, and it depends on how ambitious he is. It is of course entirely possible to spend less time if you know what you are doing, and keep a reasonable scope. But anyone opening with "what engine should I use" probably doesn't know all that much yet.

I did not mean to be discouraging, but simply wanted to inform that making games is difficult and takes time. An interesting prototype can be created within a few weeks, but making something that is fun for an hour or more just takes a lot of effort.

But a lot depends on the AI. If it can make up for the lack of experience, then maybe this project will take much less time than that.