# Building games with AI

> Prompt patterns that get good results, and how the AI verifies its own work.

Source: https://www.godotmcpstudio.com/docs/building-games

Godot MCP Studio gives your AI tools for working with your project and the
live editor, but the results depend on how you direct it. The
[tool catalog](https://www.godotmcpstudio.com/tools) lists the current tools and their editions.

## Start from what exists

Ask the AI to look before it builds: "check the scene tree and project settings
first" makes it call `get_scene_tree` and `get_project_info` instead of
guessing. The generated `AGENTS.md` teaches this, but saying it in your first
prompt helps every client.

## Ask for outcomes, not steps

Good: "Make a third-person character that walks around this terrain with a
camera that doesn't clip through walls." The AI picks `add_body_3d`,
`add_spring_arm`, `create_terrain`, and wires input.

Less good: dictating each node by hand. The one-call builders exist so the AI
can compose whole features; let it.

## Make it prove the change works

The strongest pattern is the verify loop: "run the game and show me a
screenshot", or "prove the jump works by monitoring the player's position".
The AI can run the project, watch properties over time, simulate input, read
the game's errors and output, and screenshot what the player sees. Ask for
proof and it stops hallucinating success.

## Placeholder art first

Ask for placeholder textures early. A playable gray-box game you can iterate
on beats a beautiful scene that doesn't run. `create_placeholder_texture`,
`create_material_preset`, and `add_shader_preset` keep things visible before
real assets exist.

## Turn a placeholder into game art

Once the scene works, replace one placeholder at a time. In Pro, use Image
Studio to create or import artwork, then draw, animate, and export it.

![A pixel-art character in Image Studio with an eight-frame walking clip.](https://www.godotmcpstudio.com/product/image-studio-editor-light.png "Artwork and animation are prepared in Image Studio; movement and gameplay are separate work in Godot.")

Use [Image Studio's drawing and generation tools](https://www.godotmcpstudio.com/docs/image-studio) to refine
your art. For generated assets, the [prompting guide](https://www.godotmcpstudio.com/docs/image-studio-prompting)
explains useful constraints for sprites, props, and tiles. Then ask your agent
to use the exported PNG in the existing scene:

> Replace only this prop's placeholder texture with my exported artwork.
> Preserve its position and gameplay behavior. Run the scene and show me that
> the new art has the intended scale and a transparent background.

When an agent proposes new AI-generated art, review the prompt and the credit
quote in the app before it is submitted. Local drawing and PNG export do not
use generation credits.

## Use the editor as the safety net

Every scene edit goes through the editor's undo system: Ctrl+Z reverses the
AI's last change like your own. Keep the project in git and let the AI commit
working checkpoints; a clean history is the best undo of all.

Visual authoring belongs in the editor. Materials, textures, lights, collision,
and layout should be saved into scenes or resources so you can inspect them
before pressing Play. Runtime tools are for testing the saved game, not for
creating permanent content that disappears when the game stops.

## When it gets stuck

If a live tool reports "editor not connected", open the project in Godot with
the addon enabled. If the AI can't find a class or property, ask it to use
`describe_class` instead of guessing. And for anything the fixed tools don't
cover, it can run a one-off editor script; Safe Edit asks you before each run.