"AI will build a AAA game in two months" meets The Door Problem

What happened. On Nov. 8, Di Huang, who describes himself on X as CEO of ohmygame.ai, an open-source AI studio for making games, posted: "Some of my friends think AI will make it possible to build AAA games in just a couple of months. I think that seriously underestimates how complex game development is." He said he points those friends to game designer Liz England's essay "The Door Problem," calling it "a great example of how much thought goes into game design." (X (opens in a new tab)) By Sunday evening the post showed about 330,000 views and more than 4,300 likes on X, with replies split between "AI can just solve this" and game developers listing their own door problems.

What the essay says. England's piece, posted April 21, 2014, starts from one premise: you are making a game, and it has doors. Can the player open every door, or are some decoration? How does the player tell the difference? Are doors locked, and does the player need a key, a console hack or a puzzle? Do enemies run in through them? Do doors lock behind the player, and what if there are two players? Is the door big enough for co-op partners, allies and larger mini-bosses? "SOMEONE has to solve The Door Problem, and that someone is a designer," she writes. She then walks through how every other role touches the same door, from the sound designer to legal to the character artist who doesn't "really care about this door until it can start wearing hats." (Liz England (opens in a new tab))