gren13

28 Year Ex-Game Dev unlearning the crunch. Building apps that help you touch grass. Overlanding, Fasting, Gear and more

[gren13 @Gren13]

Sat down this week to talk about my time on Stargate Worlds.

Huge thanks to David and Katie for the opportunity.

And to the incredible team we had, I’m deeply grateful. What we built together still means a lot to me.

Listen here: https://t.co/gItwZx9fK5

[gren13 @Gren13]

"Always have working code" sounds obvious but AI will happily leave you with a half-refactored mess.
I added:
→ Build in small increments
→ Test before moving on
→ Track progress after each step
Context windows collapse. Progress files save you.

[gren13 @Gren13]

I've been refining a https://t.co/XiuZhhmFJ3 file for my iOS projects and it's genuinely changed how I work with AI coding assistants.
Sharing what's working, what's not, and looking for input from others doing the same.

[gren13 @Gren13]

Another rule I swear by: "Simplicity First"
→ Make every change as simple as possible
→ Impact as little code as possible
→ Avoid massive or complex changes
AI loves to over-engineer. This keeps it grounded.

[gren13 @Gren13]

Solo devs: How do you actually track your work? Full kanban board? Post-it notes on the wall? A single .txt file you've been editing for 3 years?
6 apps in and I'm starting to feel spread thin. Genuinely curious what sticks.

[gren13 @Gren13]

GearFolio is live. Spent the morning resisting the urge to tweet about it every hour. Solo dev marketing is weird you want people to find it but you also don't want to be That Guy

[gren13 @Gren13]

@ModestMitkus Congrats that’s a major milestone. One I hope to achieve.

[gren13 @Gren13]

ChatGPT: "s-t-r-a-w-b-e-r-r-y. That's two R's."
Me: 🍓👁️👁️

[gren13 @Gren13]

@VadimStrizheus Just a little jealous. I’ll be checking out your strategy.

[gren13 @Gren13]

@helderbuilds It's a gear tracker for all your outdoor adventures, catalog what you own, build loadouts, never forget your camp stove again. Waitlist is a good call, need to set that up. Learning as I go.

[gren13 @Gren13]

Solo devs: Where are you finding beta testers? About to ship GearFolio and I've become my own worst tester. Too close to see what's broken. What's working for you?#buildinpublic #indiedev

https://t.co/va5n9e2IlC

[gren13 @Gren13]

5/ Bottom line:

AI didn't eliminate the need for good process. It revealed which devs never had one.

If your workflow was chaotic before, AI won't fix it. You'll just produce chaos faster.

But if you know how to lead a team? AI is another teammate.

[gren13 @Gren13]

Built 5 iOS apps this year with Claude as my AI dev partner.

The surprising part? AI didn't change how I develop. It changed who's on my team.

Thread on what actually matters when building with AI 🧵

#buildinpublic #indiedev

[gren13 @Gren13]

4/ The shift:

Before: Solo dev doing everything
Now: Solo dev managing AI teammates

Skills that matter:
- Clear communication
- Problem breakdown
- Code review
- Architecture

28 years as a GameDev prepared me for this better than I realized.