Devlog
Watch the game being built
Embers of Olympus is built in the open, as a YouTube series. A web developer learns Unity from day one and builds a Greek-myth action RPG with AI. In every episode a free AI tool and a paid one get the same job, and we show which one actually helped, including when neither did.
The channel opens with Episode 0. Check back here soon.
See the roadmapEvery episode
Same structure each time, so you can compare the tools across the whole series.
One real step
Each episode builds the next step of the roadmap in Unity, bugs and dead ends included.
Free vs paid
The same prompt goes to a free AI tool and a paid one. The results are shown side by side.
An honest verdict
Every tool is scored on quality, speed, how usable the result is, licence and cost.
Coming up
The plan for the episodes still to come. Titles may change once the work is done.
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0
A web developer tries to build a Greek-myth RPG with AI
The pitch and the plan
Who is building this, what Embers of Olympus is meant to become, and the rules of the series: every episode, a free AI tool and a paid one get the same job.
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1
Day one in Unity (as a PHP developer)
Phase P: setup
Installing Unity, setting up the project the right way, and what transfers from years of web development and what does not.
AI test: Free vs paid chatbot for learning C#
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2
Designing a whole game with AI: 25 files, then starting over
The plan: version 1 to version 2
The first plan was a six-act multiplayer epic. Why it was cut down to one polished act, and what AI was good and bad at while designing it.
AI test: AI as a design partner
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3
Moving a capsule: why game feel is hard
Phase 0: movement and camera
WoW-style third-person movement and camera on a grey plane, and the days it takes to make a capsule feel right.
AI test: AI-written camera code, free vs paid
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4
Tab-target combat from scratch
Phase 0: targeting and the basic attack
Selecting a target, a global cooldown, and the first enemy that dies.
AI test: Code assistants head to head
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5
The damage formula every ARPG needs
Phase 0: stats and the damage pipeline
One function that every hit in the game goes through, and why getting it right now saves a rewrite later.
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6
Building Diablo-style loot in one week
Phase 0: data-driven loot
Rarity tiers, random affixes and loot tables, all built as data instead of code.
AI test: AI item names and affixes
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7
Is my cube game fun? (Gate 0)
Phase 0: inventory, equipment and the first gate
Move, kill, loot, equip. The first real test: if it is not fun with cubes, no art will save it.
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8
Free vs paid AI concept art for Myrra
Phase 1: art preparation
Four image generators, one heroine, and the hard part: keeping her the same person from picture to picture.
AI test: Image tools, four-way comparison
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9
Can AI make 3D game assets yet?
Phase 1: the first art pass
Urns, columns and a temple from AI 3D tools, and how much Blender cleanup each one needs before it can go in the game.
AI test: Text- and image-to-3D tools, free vs paid
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10
Buying vs generating: the asset-store haul
Phase 1: the first art pass
Why the animated characters are bought and not generated, and what the money actually got.
AI test: Cost per usable asset
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11
Building the Rarian Plain
Phase 1: the first zone
The failing fields of Eleusis: the first zone with real art. Nothing is ruined, only unattended.
AI test: AI textures and skyboxes
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12
A town, NPCs and quests
Phase 1: the Eleusis hub and the first quests
The hub of Eleusis, its people, and the first two chapters of the story.
AI test: AI voices for NPCs, free vs paid
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13
Boss fight: Polydegmon
Phase 1: the boss and save/load
The Receiver of Many, the Intake at the Ploutonion: designing and building the first boss.
AI test: AI music for the boss theme
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14
Season finale: play the demo
Gate 1: the first playable demo
A 15 to 30 minute slice you can play yourself, and which AI tools earned their place over the whole season.
AI test: Season 1 scorecard results