Fix, polish and publish
Why AI Breaks Working Code, and How to Fence It In
AI breaks working code because it cannot tell a deliberate oddity from a mistake. Write down what is on purpose and name what it may touch.
In some situations a scene shows the player no choice at all
Choices that appear only under certain conditions can all vanish at once for a player who took an unlucky mix of earlier paths. The game then waits forever. Here is how to try every combination in advance and find the ones that leave the screen empty.
The creepy background sound clicks or dips every time it repeats
A long drone should run on and on without the player noticing where it starts again, but a hard cut makes a click and a simple blend makes the sound briefly weaker. Here is the blend that keeps the loudness steady and when the next copy has to start.
Fix animations that run twice as fast on phones with a faster screen
A slide, a fade or a falling piece takes the right time on your phone but races on a newer one, or crawls on an old one. The cause is counting frames instead of time. This entry shows how to make the AI move things by elapsed time so every screen looks the same.
Auto mode moves on before the voice line is finished
Auto mode should wait as long as a person needs to read or hear a line. A fixed pause is too long for a short word and too short for a speech. Here is how to work out the wait for each line, including the speed setting and a voice that fails to load.
Fix a block-placing puzzle that clears a row but misses the column it finished too
One piece can finish a row and a column at the same moment, or be dragged half outside the board. Clear the row first and the column is broken, and an edge piece can place into nothing. This entry shows how to make the AI check placement strictly and clear everything finished at once.
Fix a rare-prize counter that never guarantees the prize or resets at the wrong time
A rare prize with a small chance feels unfair when it never comes, so many games promise it after a number of misses. The counter is easy to break: reset by any win, off by one, or skipped when the roll fails. This entry shows how to make the AI keep a fair guarantee.
Fix a "buy 10" button that charges a different price than it showed
Upgrades get pricier with every purchase, and buying many at once is where the shown price and the charged price split apart, or the button says you can afford something you cannot. This entry shows how to make the AI price a bundle so the number always matches.
Fix buttons that sit under the notch or the home bar on newer phones
On many phones the corners of the screen are cut, rounded or covered by a system bar, and a button placed there cannot be tapped or even seen. This entry shows how to make the AI place controls inside the usable area, also after the phone is turned on its side.
Check that buttons are big enough and far enough apart for a thumb
A button that looks fine on a computer screen is a frustration on a phone: players miss it or hit its neighbour. This entry shows how to make the AI measure every button as it will really appear on the screen, after the game is scaled to fit, and list the ones to fix.
One of my choices leads to a scene that is not there
In a branching story the AI writes dozens of scenes, and one misspelled link is enough to stop the game in front of the player. Here is a small check that finds every broken link before you publish, and tells you which scene was probably meant.
Fix a crate-pushing puzzle where crates go through walls or other crates
Pushing a box looks easy until the box meets a wall, another box or the edge of the map. Then boxes vanish, merge or the player walks into solid stone. This entry shows how to make the AI decide a move in one place, so that only a legal push ever changes the board.