Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable • Hacker News Board

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#121

Post by latexr » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 4:40 PM UTC

josefrichter wrote: post #116

latexr wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You enjoy toying with your own idea so much, that your brain shields you from the pain of finding out it already exists. Doesn’t look like the author toyed with the idea at all, though, apart from having it in their head. Considering how they describe themselves (Check the About/Home page), if they had toyed with it at all they would have already built it. I also don’t see why finding out it exists would be “painfu…

Yeah "toying" as in "entertaining the idea" in any form or shape. And I disagree that the author didn't get anything from it. There's a ton to glean, it was probably fun, and many HN readers enjoyed the post.

> And I disagree that the author didn't get anything from it.

Those were not my words. Clearly they got a game out of it. What I said was they:

> didn’t experiment or learn anything from building it

Which is unambiguously true. There was no experimentation and no learning. There was one prompt and one result.

> and many HN readers enjoyed the post.

That’s entirely orthogonal.

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#122

Post by latexr » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 4:41 PM UTC

versteegen wrote: post #104

latexr wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You enjoy toying with your own idea so much, that your brain shields you from the pain of finding out it already exists. Doesn’t look like the author toyed with the idea at all, though, apart from having it in their head. Considering how they describe themselves (Check the About/Home page), if they had toyed with it at all they would have already built it. I also don’t see why finding out it exists would be “painfu…

I think you misunderstand what was meant by "toying with your own idea" here. I interpret it as daydreaming about it.

> I interpret it as daydreaming about it.

Which is why I said:

> apart from having it in their head.

But if that’s all you’re doing, there’s no “pain” from finding out it exists. On the contrary, there is plenty of room for joy.

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#123

Post by andai » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 5:08 PM UTC

45 minutes and $20 ? You can make it in 5 minutes with DeepSeek!

I even did it for free in their web chat.

https://jsbin.com/sigesemeyi/edit?html,output

DeepSeek Flash was also able to do it, even with reasoning disabled, but Pro gave much nicer graphics.

Your Fable version is prettier though!

Edit: And has better gameplay. And sounds. OK, nevermind! Fable wins this one :)

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#124

Post by jm_l » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 5:11 PM UTC

andai wrote: post #123

45 minutes and $20 ? You can make it in 5 minutes with DeepSeek! I even did it for free in their web chat. https://jsbin.com/sigesemeyi/edit?html,output DeepSeek Flash was also able to do it, even with reasoning disabled, but Pro gave much nicer graphics. Your Fable version is prettier though! Edit: And has better gameplay. And sounds. OK, nevermind! Fable wins this one :)

In this version, the sheep all get stuck in the corners and edges. This doesn’t happen in the Fable version.

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#125

Post by pixelesque » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

andai wrote: post #123

45 minutes and $20 ? You can make it in 5 minutes with DeepSeek! I even did it for free in their web chat. https://jsbin.com/sigesemeyi/edit?html,output DeepSeek Flash was also able to do it, even with reasoning disabled, but Pro gave much nicer graphics. Your Fable version is prettier though! Edit: And has better gameplay. And sounds. OK, nevermind! Fable wins this one :)

Love the:

> // Sky-like background

comment for the ground! :) No doubt most of the training data is for sky...

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#126

Post by jounker » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 5:42 PM UTC

boredhedgehog wrote: post #76

ai_fry_ur_brain wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How big are those projects.. I dont think this is good for your mental health or physicaly your brains health. Problem solving keeps your brain strong. The laziness in us is inclined to take shortcuts, don't do it. Its like driving your car 3 blocks instead of walking, your physical health will suffer.

> Its like driving your car 3 blocks instead of walking, your physical health will suffer. And be sure to only walk barefoot. Relying on artificial shoes weakens the muscles and the skin of your feet.

Sarcasm aside, most shoes are pretty bad for your feet.

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#127

Post by andai » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

jm_l wrote: post #124

andai wrote: post #123

45 minutes and $20 ? You can make it in 5 minutes with DeepSeek! I even did it for free in their web chat. https://jsbin.com/sigesemeyi/edit?html,output DeepSeek Flash was also able to do it, even with reasoning disabled, but Pro gave much nicer graphics. Your Fable version is prettier though! Edit: And has better gameplay. And sounds. OK, nevermind! Fable wins this one :)

In this version, the sheep all get stuck in the corners and edges. This doesn’t happen in the Fable version.

The Fable version has some kind of "gravity" that pulls the sheep together.

Some of the other games mentioned here use fancier flocking mechanics (like boids!) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48518518

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#128

Post by LogicFailsMe » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 5:46 PM UTC

jna_sh wrote: post #113

LogicFailsMe wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

90% of everything is crap according to the late SF write Theodore Sturgeon. That was true before AI and it remains true presently. Does it really matter whether this game was in the training data or not here? I guess if one is trying to assert it can build original ideas (and it can, I've done it), but it seems like this is the equivalent of pulling something from Stack Overflow and customizing it given the descripti…

You are the second person to respond to my question that’s entirely orthogonal to the actual AI usage here with a very self-conscious screed. Go read my responses to the first one :)

If you're going to go orthogonal to the AI yourself, what makes you think other people won't go orthogonal to your own screed?

I'm happy to assume the guy had the idea in his head for years. That others did too should come as no surprise. We are all a lot more alike than most people acknowledge. And this seems the credible successor to Activision's stampede from the late 1970s. Happy?

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#129

Post by warmedcookie » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 7:38 PM UTC

jna_sh wrote: post #5

“ can it build a game idea I've had for years, in a single shot?” Do people do no research or introspection when they’ve had an “idea for years”? There are countless examples of this exact game. I played this on the Gameboy Advance! There’s like 50 of them on the App Store right now. The standard “this almost certainly exists wholesale in the training data” applies, but I’m also interested in how you carry an idea fo…

I played it in Twilight Princess and I did not have fun and Link probably didn't either.

Re: Shepherd's Dog: A Game by Fable

#130

Post by disillusioned » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:08 PM UTC

ciscoriordan wrote: post #17

My Belgian Tervuren and I have a basic herding title and about 4 years of herding experience. The sheep movement is excellent. You could make it even more realistic by having them favor lusher areas and by having one occasionally bolt spastically (hard mode?) A handler mode where you play as a human and shout commands at the dog could be cool too!

Come by!