This is the first devlog post about my arcade racing game Överdrift, and possibly not the last. Let's kick things off with some oversharing!
The Crisis
The first time I used generative AI was in January 2023. I soon became concerned that it would bring about the end of culture as we know it. Possibly the world, too. I think it still might!
By mid-2024, I even experienced some sort of brief existential crisis. Part of the reason was that I had started to fully realize the effects AI would eventually have on software development. I felt like the robots were coming for every form of creative expression I’d ever cared about. I like photography, I like writing, but more than anything, developing software has been my main creative outlet since I was 9 years old. I wasn't ready to let all of that go.
The Breakthrough
After I was done being all dramatic, I gradually started using AI more often to write code. Over time, I finally came around to the idea that AI might actually turbocharge my software development rather than kill it. I could become more creative, not less!
In November 2025, Claude Code reached the point where it was actually usable. Well, not just usable, it was pretty dang good! Since then, I have been able to finish small hobby side projects at a pace that I previously hadn't even dreamed of.
The reason I first started programming when I was 9 years old, on my Commodore 64, was that I wanted to create my own games. It's still an aspiration I come back to every now and then, only to inevitably give up because I just don't have the time. But what if now, with AI, I do?
In February 2026, I decided to try using Claude Code to create a game with the Godot game engine. As it turns out, Godot lends itself extremely well to AI coding because all of its project, scene, and configuration files are text-based.
I started out trying to make a turn-based pirate board game, but soon realized that is was incredibly boring. A snoozefest! I learned a lot, but I abandoned that idea. At least I got this cool water shader out of it. See the picture above. Told you it was cool!
The Recovery
Fast forward to May. I was standing on the subway platform after work, waiting for the train, and casually asked ChatGPT what it would take to create arcade racing physics that matched Burnout 3, my favorite racing game of all time. To my surprise, it didn't sound impossible. I asked ChatGPT to condense our conversation into a specification I could hand to Claude Code. A few hours later, I had a prototype in Godot that was genuinely fun to play!
I’ve been trying to make an arcade racing game like this on and off for the better part of 25 years, but I never came close to making the driving feel this satisfying before. It's remarkably close to the Burnout "feel" I wanted to replicate.
The track is built from a spline I drew in the Godot editor. Claude Code quickly wrote code to generate the geometry around it. Next, I asked it to record my laps and add a ghost car based on my best lap. Then I added NPC cars that I had to avoid.
I followed this up with a frenzy of features: minimap, drift-charged boost, shaders for red/white kerbs and dashed lines, trees rendered with GPU instancing. I even added a helicopter that would swoop in over the track. This confused younger coworkers that tried the game. Apparently, they never played 90s arcade racers. There was always a helicopter that would show up for no apparent reason.
Most importantly, the game continued to be fun. I'd often lose track of time, just driving the same lap over and over, trying to beat the dang ghost car and enjoying the drifting. There’s probably some psychological subtext to be found in me driving in circles, trying to outrun the ghosts of my past. But let's not think about that!
Completing the Arc
I now find myself enjoying developing software with AI. I do it all day at my job, and I probably spend too many hours on it at home. By "probably", I mean "for sure". It's just so much fun!
In any case, the game prototype never would’ve gone anywhere without the help of Claude Code. I just wouldn’t have had the time or the energy.
I’ve decided to continue working on Överdrift. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it, but I’m going to keep at it for as long as it’s fun and I'm learning stuff!
I should mention that while "Overdrift" sounds like a typical racing game name, "Överdrift" means "Exaggeration" in Swedish. I just thought it was funny.