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The Silent Partner
The Silent Partner

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Planning with ChatGPT

#chatgpt #planning

I am not a fan of ChatGPT. I never really bought into the hype and when I originally tried it out way back when and just found it less useful than google for my needs. Instead of helping me to improve it would just spitg out generic stuff that didn’t really help me and would often be wrong. Though for my students it did help them to write their essays without learning =/ (do not go to the subreddit for ChatGPT). So my initial experience with it was definitely underwhelming.

But recently and I came across a “prompt” that I thought might be useful especially with my current plan it was this

I need to build a [project name]. Help me plan this project. You should ask me questions about my project and each time I respond, you should ask me more questions if appropriate.

It seemed simple enough (and more importantly useful) that I thought I might try it out and maybe change my mind about ChatGPT

So after the prompt this was the first reply CGPT sent. A good list of questions to help me plan out what I wanna do. A problem I have in my planning before I get to coding is that I find it sooooo boring. I have the idea in my head of how I want it to work and look and cant wait to actually start coding. All the stuff that I should plan and sort out before hand I have a fuzzy idea which often leads to roadblocks down the line.

Questions to help plan<br> What is the primary objective of your word game app? Is it primarily for entertainment, education, or something else?<br> Who is your target audience? Are you designing the game for a specific age group or demographic?<br> What type of word game are you envisioning? Examples include crossword puzzles, anagrams, word search, or something entirely different.<br> Do you have any specific features in mind for the game? For example, a scoring system, time limits, hints, or multiplayer capabilities.<br> What platforms do you intend to support? Will the app be developed for mobile devices (iOS and/or Android), web browsers, or both?<br> Are there any specific design preferences or themes you have in mind for the game's interface?<br> Will you be providing a word database for the game, or do you expect the app to generate words automatically?<br> Have you thought about monetization options? Will the app be free with ads, have in-app purchases, or have a one-time purchase cost?

The first set of questions were general and easy to answer. Most of these were basic and stufff that I had already thought of in general but it was good to put them in writing.

I answered these and was given another set of questions.

Questions to help plan<br> How do you envision the gameplay for your word game? Will it be turn-based like Scrabble, where players take turns forming words, or real-time like Boggle, where players find as many words as possible within a time limit?<br> Will the game have different difficulty levels or modes to cater to players with varying levels of word skills?<br> Are you considering integrating any social features, such as leaderboards, multiplayer options, or the ability to challenge friends?<br> Do you want the app to include a built-in dictionary or word-checking functionality to validate whether words entered by players are valid?<br> What is your preferred visual style for the game? Do you have any specific color schemes, themes, or design preferences in mind?<br> Have you thought about the platform's device orientation? Will the game be played in portrait or landscape mode, or should it support both?<br> Considering the Scrabble-like aspect, would players be able to use special tiles (e.g., double/triple word/letter score) to enhance their scores?<br> Do you have any ideas for additional features or power-ups that could add depth and excitement to the gameplay?

The second set of questions were a mixed bag some of them I found as quite useful for example from the first question I came up with a new idea for how the game should be set up a the rules around a match. But some I found as not important for now or this stage of the planning for example questions 7, 8 and 9. 8 and 9 were not that useful yet because I should be focusing on the core gameplay features and rules before trying to add in power-ups. Question 7 wasn’t useful as I stated in a reply to a previous question that I wouldn’t be focusing on mobile for now (I only have experience with wechat mini-apps). So this maybe means that it is not recording my answers to previous questions

After answering these questions I added at the end that after the next set of questions i would like CGPT to draw up an outline to make this project in the month of august.

Questions to help plan<br> Regarding the multiplayer aspect, do you envision players being able to play with friends by inviting them directly, or do you want to implement random matchmaking, allowing players to compete against strangers?<br> For the leaderboard feature, are you considering having separate leaderboards for single-player mode and multiplayer mode, or a combined leaderboard that shows the best scores achieved by players across all game modes?<br> How long do you anticipate the time limit for the time-limited mode to be? Will players have the option to adjust the time limit, or will it be fixed?<br> Have you thought about any anti-cheating measures to ensure fair gameplay, especially in multiplayer mode?<br> Since this is a web-first game, have you decided on a specific technology stack or platform for development, such as React, Angular, Vue, or something else?<br> Are there any specific languages or regions you plan to support in terms of word dictionaries or language settings?<br> How do you envision the user interface for the word game? Will it be minimalistic, with just the game board and controls, or will you include additional elements like animations, sound effects, or background music?<br> Considering the mobile version, have you considered how the gameplay mechanics will adapt to touch-based interactions?<br> As for the dictionary, do you plan to use a standard English dictionary, or will you include specific vocabulary related to certain themes or categories?

The last set of questions went a bit deeper into it and gave some very good questions. Some I didnt have any answers for. For example question 4 about anti-cheating, this is something that tha.at if you are playing a game you should really think about but I ofcourse hadn’t even got to that stage. The thought of cheating hadnt crossed my mind yet.

After I thought a bit a gave my answers CGPT returned with what I thought was a very well detailed

Project outline split into phases<br> Project Outline: Word Game App<br> Phase 1: Project Setup and Design (Week 1)<br> Define the core gameplay mechanics and rules for the word game (Boggle-like, time-limited).<br> Create wireframes and mockups for the user interface design, ensuring a minimalistic and user-friendly approach.<br> Set up the development environment using SvelteKit, including project structure, dependencies, and version control.<br> Phase 2: Single-Player Mode (Week 2)<br> Implement the single-player mode with a random assortment of letters and a 2-minute time limit.<br> Integrate the built-in dictionary to validate word entries.<br> Add a scoring system based on word length and difficulty.<br> Implement a basic leaderboard for single-player mode.

Project outline split into phases <br> Phase 3: Multiplayer Mode (Week 3)<br> Develop the multiplayer functionality with random matchmaking.<br> Allow players to set their own time limits for multiplayer games.<br> Implement a turn-based mode for multiplayer games, allowing players to invite friends to play.<br> Create a combined leaderboard that shows the best scores from both single-player and multiplayer modes.<br> Phase 4: Polish and Testing (Week 4)<br> Fine-tune the user interface, ensuring it's responsive and works well on both desktop and mobile devices.<br> Implement sound effects and background music (optional) to enhance the gaming experience.<br> Perform rigorous testing to identify and fix any bugs or issues.<br> Gather feedback from beta testers to make necessary improvements.<br> Phase 5: Deployment (End of Week 4)<br> Deploy the web version of the word game app.<br> Monitor the live app for any issues and make necessary adjustments.<br> Plan for future updates and additional features based on user feedback.<br> Possible Stretch Goals (Beyond August):<br> Implement friend-invite functionality for multiplayer mode.<br> Develop a mobile version of the app, adapting gameplay mechanics for touch interactions.<br> Add special tiles with score boosts or unique abilities to enhance gameplay variety.

CGPT split up the month of august into 5 phases with 3-4 bullet points each on what to focus on to progress my app. It also included a bonus stretch goals area. Now this was all well and good but for me and what I had envisioned it was a bit too much. I as a single lower level developer working on my own with other commitments know I wouldn’t be able to do all of this within the time frame provided. I especially thought the first phase wouldn’t be able to spend much time at (design is my kryptonite). With that in mind I switched gears and asked for a MVP outline

Basic MVP Outline Basic Gameplay Mechanics: Implement the core mechanics of the word game, following the Boggle-like time-limited gameplay. Players should be able to see a grid of letters, form words by selecting adjacent letters, and submit their words within the time limit.<br> Time-Limited Mode: Set a fixed time limit for the initial MVP version (e.g., 2 minutes) for single-player and multiplayer games. Players should be able to see the remaining time while playing.<br> Single-Player Mode: Create a simple single-player mode with a randomized grid of letters. Players can play the game individually and attempt to form as many words as possible within the time limit.<br> Basic Scoring System: Implement a scoring mechanism that calculates points based on the length and difficulty of the words formed. Display the player's score at the end of each round.<br> Built-in Dictionary: Integrate a standard English dictionary to validate the words formed by players. Ensure that only valid words are counted towards the player's score.<br> Minimalistic UI: Design a clean and straightforward user interface with the game grid, timer, score display, and a button to start a new game. Keep the UI intuitive and easy to navigate.<br> Web Deployment: Focus on developing the web version of the game, making it accessible to a wide audience without the need for mobile-specific adaptations.<br> Basic Multiplayer Functionality: Implement a basic multiplayer mode with random matchmaking. Players can join a game room and compete against each other to form words within the same time limit.

This was muuuuuch better. It didn’t give me the same amount of detail but what it did give me was a very clear guide of where to focus my energy to get the project done within the timeframe.

I am still not sold fully on ChatGPT, but I will admit this is something I can make use of. The questions will help me to pin down some areas that are a bit too fuzzy. Especially if I answer them with more details. But the killer part for me is the MVP outline giving me a clear plan of action on how to build out my project.

Something I will need to sort out for future planning sessions is working on how to do deployment also.

Anyways if you read this poorly structured post I thank you. They will get better as a write more (I hope)

Tomorrow is the day to start augusts build wish me luck.

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