Stellar Throne – A Stylized Sci-Fi 4X Recreation Constructed with AI and Godot

Hey fellow devs! :wave:

I’m Philip aka MrPhil, and I’ve been constructing a stylized sci-fi 4X technique sport known as Stellar Throne — assume house fleets, alien diplomacy, and AI-powered opponents… all crafted in Zig with a customized SDL2 engine.

This mission started as an experiment in what I name Agentic Recreation Improvement — utilizing Claude and ChatGPT not only for code era, however as collaborative “junior devs” who assist with design, testing, and even refactoring. That experiment became the complete sport you’ll see right here.

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What’s Stellar Throne?

A procedurally generated galaxy the place:

• You discover new star techniques and colonize alien worlds
• Wage fleet battles and floor invasions
• Interact with AI empires that (hopefully) assume strategically
• Handle tech timber, shipyards, and planetary development
• All introduced in a clear, readable, vector-style UI

I’ve been targeted on three pillars:

• Readable Star Map – Prioritizing readability over noise
• Competent AI Opponents – AI that does not stall or turtle endlessly
• AI-Assisted Dev Workflow – Most techniques are co-authored with Claude and GPT

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Tech Stack

• Language: Zig
• Rendering: SDL2
• Asset Pipeline: Customized instruments + AI-generated spritesheets
• Workflow: AI-assisted utilizing Claude, ChatGPT, and prompt-engineered pipelines

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Screenshots, Options, and GIFs coming quickly…

I’ll be utilizing this devlog to share:

• Visible progress (maps, fleets, planets)
• System design (fight, diplomacy, exploration)
• Experiments in agentic coding
• Behind-the-scenes classes (together with AI fails and surprises)

For those who’re concerned with:

• Constructing technique video games from scratch
• Utilizing AI as a part of your dev workflow
• Zig sport improvement

…then I believe you’ll take pleasure in this thread.

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Observe progress right here:
Wanting ahead to your suggestions, concepts, or simply watching alongside!

Cheers,
– Mrphil

Stellar Throne Enters Alpha: Polish, Audio, and the Godot Port Begins

Immediately marked a turning level in Stellar Throne’s improvement — I’ve formally reached what appears like an Alpha milestone. The core gameplay loop is playable, the techniques are largely in place, and whereas many options are nonetheless rudimentary or placeholder, the construction of the sport exists end-to-end.

I kicked off Section 7: Polish the Polish and Section 8: Audio & Superior Visible Results, however I’ve shortly realized that I’m bottlenecked by asset limitations — each sound and visuals. It’s in all probability time to deliver on an Artwork Director to raise the sport’s feel and look with skilled steering.

The opposite massive improvement? I’ve begun porting Stellar Throne to Godot. Claude estimated a couple of week of labor, and I’ve already accomplished the foundational port, galaxy rendering, and core logic migration. Utilizing Godot opens up a number of thrilling prospects:

WebGL help for playtesting on itch.io
A correct UI editor (quite than constructing interfaces by means of AI prompts)
Streamlined asset integration and animation pipelines
That is all made attainable due to the accelerated improvement AI gives. What would usually take months has taken weeks — and I can really feel the momentum constructing.

Immediately marked an enormous milestone — the Godot port of Stellar Throne is functionally full. I wrapped up the ultimate phases of integration, testing, and UI sharpening. A lot of the core techniques are actually operating in Godot, together with fleet journey, the analysis system (96 techs with tier unlocking), fog-of-war rendering, and responsive element panels for stars, planets, and fleets.

Whereas the port wasn’t 100% full — I estimate about 20–30% of the unique Zig/SDL2 performance nonetheless must be rebuilt — the trade-offs really feel value it. I’ve gained a cleaner UI, smoother navigation instruments, and entry to Godot’s highly effective exporting pipeline (WebGL, platform builds), editor-driven UI, and runtime debugging.

Bug looking continues. I’ve already addressed lacking header fonts, fleet icon visibility, and notification habits. Button layouts have been reorganized for higher readability, and I am lastly seeing visible polish emerge from the workflow.

From right here, it’s about rebuilding what was misplaced and increasing ahead from a stronger basis.