[DevLog] New Age Cartel — Solo Dev Project & Public Beta Soon!
Hey all! 👋
For the past couple of months, I’ve been hard at work solo-developing New Age Cartel—a modern PBBG / text-MMO designed with a slick, responsive UI, deep player-driven economy systems, and custom artwork.
Core features are coming together, and Public Beta testing will be opening soon! 🎉
Feature Highlights:
Central Dashboard: Real-time character stats, profile tracking, syndicate status, and daily login rewards.
Tiered Operations & Missions: Scale up from petty street jobs to high-tier syndicate operations with custom atmospheric art.
PvP & Rivalries: Target lists, stat-driven combat calculations, player contracts, and live rival battles.
Underworld Training: Upgrade facilities from underground rings to private compounds to boost Strength, Guard, Agility, and Precision.
In-Game Stock Market: Dynamic market charts, corporate ticker tracking, and interactive investment portfolios.
What to Expect in the Beta
Looking for active feedback to polish things before the full release:
Balance & Economy: Testing progression pacing, combat formulas, and market balancing.
Multiplayer Systems: Testing group mechanics, territory battles, and community features under load.
QoL & Player Feedback: Ironing out UI flow, catching edge-case bugs, and taking feature requests.
If you enjoy modern browser games and text-based RPGs, keep an eye out for the testing link dropping soon. Would love to hear your initial thoughts or questions below!
Is the “custom artwork” actually custom artwork and not like AI generated placeholders?
Because the UI from the screenshot looks very much like it was created entirely by Claude Code
Yes, AI tools were used to help build out the UI and art, but all the initial mockups and style direction came from me. in the future i would be changing lot of things
I mean you can’t sell this thing on the artwork if it was AI generated man.
I’m not going to lecture you on the ethics and merits of AI in game design but I will just say that from a personal standpoint, I can tell immediately that this looks like vibecoded slop. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Maybe you hand built all the games backend systems and just used AI for the UI or whatever, but with the absolute inundation of “Look what I made” projects that were made 100% by an AI and not the user, I would definitely echo what another user said and be upfront about how much of this was just AI generated because it sets appropriate expectations for your potential new users. And if you stick with it long term, consider commissioning some hand made art assets to make it stand out.
Good luck with your project though
well yes i acctually used ai for the frontend ui and i appricate the feedback on setting proper expectation upfront and will make that clear as im moving forward