From Bubble Blower Tycoon to Max vs Monsters, @blackwidowink blends decades of curiosity with Upit's AI to build imaginative, genre-pushing games. What started with QBASIC Gorillas in 1990 is now a thriving journey powered by Ava. Read on to learn what drives their creativity, challenges, and advice for fellow builders. 1. What sparked your interest in game creation, and how did you discover Upit? I’ve been interested in game creation ever since I was 8 years old and I started tinkering around with the code behind the DOS game ‘QBASIC Gorillas’. I discovered that by changing a number here or there, I could effectively take the physics in the game to unexpected and hilarious places. That was 1990. Later on in high school I ran a few MUDs that were coded in C, but that was as far as my coding/game creation career ever went. I discovered Upit back when it was still known as FRVR Forge, after coming across the first video that was posted showcasing its ability. I was accepted as a creator at the end of last summer right before the switch over to the new platform. It only took me 34 years to make my first game, pretty good! 2. How does Upit's AI assistant, AVA, enhance your game development experience? Ava basically makes all my game creation possible. I always felt like I could read and understand what code was doing, but I never took/had the time to learn all the proper syntax. Ava takes away the need for that and gives me the ability to create using real language. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like a working understanding of what is happening behind the scenes is vital if you truly want to make something special, but especially with the introduction of Ava’s new models, it has become easier and easier for anyone to be able to build exactly what they want with little to no understanding of the code. 3. Can you describe a game you've created on Upit that you're particularly proud of? I’m proud of certain aspects of all the games that I’ve made. Whether it’s the game menu from ‘Bubble Blower Tycoon’, the pitch controlled physics from ‘Poseidon’s Song’ or the animation and gameplay from ‘Max vs Monsters’, sometimes things just come together in a way that’s special. I have yet to complete any of my true passion projects, but I’ve learned something different from every game I’ve worked on. Someday soon, I hope to be able to put all of the lessons I’ve learned into something I can completely be proud of. 4. What types of games do you most enjoy creating on Upit, and why? I enjoy taking on new challenges and trying to push myself and expand my knowledge by doing something I’ve never done before. The game creation contests are particularly good for that by pushing you out of your comfort zone to make a game in a genre that you may not be all the familiar with. What I’d really like to create is a card game, or three. That’s where my passion really lies. Maybe I’ve already been already working on something like that... *hint, hint* Also in that regards, hopefully we can see multiplayer support come to Upit soon! 5. What challenges have you faced during development, and how did you overcome them? Specific challenges that arise usually come from when I get a bug that is a such an edge case that AI doesn’t really have an answer for it. Or if I can’t position elements in my game quite right because I’m relying on something that has no eyes to understand the relationship between on screen objects. Trying to position a container, in a container, in a scaled container that also changes position? Good luck. Eventually, through trial and error I learned how to avoid such mistakes. AI can also be a great teacher and between Ava and my friend Claude, I’ve learned a lot since I started. 6. How do you engage with the Upit community, and what role does feedback play in your development process? I love this community, there’s so many talented and passionate creators that are willing to give feedback or share ideas. I like to be active on Discord and on the Upit site itself. It’s nice to see that the devs are also active and will provide feedback and praise to help boost confidence and give incentive to continue building. Often times when I’m building a game I like to take little breaks and look through what others are building and offer ideas or praise as I can. Sometimes when there is no feedback coming back on something you’ve created you start to question if anything you are making is any good, so anything from a simple “Good job!” to more detailed constructive criticism can be helpful. 7. What advice would you offer to newcomers eager to start creating games on Upit? Just start! Apply for creator status now and start building. If you keep at it, you will just get better and better. Ava and AI in general just keeps getting more advanced and the things we will able to build will keep improving as well. The community and the devs are here to support you, so the sky is the limit!