I was born in the 1980s in Northeast China. Now in my forties, I keep dreaming about the street where I grew up. This time, GPT6 has made modeling a large environment much more accessible: I gave it a stack of reference images and explained what our part of Northeast China used to look like, then had it build the old street I remember. Along the way, I want to talk about what it can do now, and what it still can't.
I was born in the 1980s in Northeast China, and this is the kind of city I grew up in. Every day, I'd walk to school and back in my school uniform. In primary school, we'd finish around five or six in the evening, right around dusk. I'd walk home on my own, kicking little stones along the road. When the leaves started falling in autumn, we'd pick off their stalks. Two of us would hook our stalks together and pull in opposite directions to see whose snapped first. We called it “la gou zi.” Looking back, it was such good fun. We had no phones or anything like that, yet somehow we always found all sorts of odd little things to play with.
In this scene, apart from the trees, grass and people, almost everything was built by GPT.
I keep dreaming about the street where I grew up
Now that I'm in my forties, I often dream about scenes from my childhood. I'm not sure why. Sometimes, when I'm feeling down, I want to see what my childhood home looks like now, so I open Baidu Maps and look for street views. Some places are still there, which is nice. But plenty have changed beyond recognition. Others have simply been torn down.
I wish I'd taken more photos. Now I carry a camera
That's why I carry an action camera when I go out these days. Nothing fancy: when I'm near home, I just take a few shots of the streets around me. Really, it comes down to regret. I didn't take enough photos or record any video as a kid, and now I can't quite remember what everything looked like back then. I'll keep whatever I can.
Why I never managed to make it before
Have I thought about putting a place like this into a game? Of course I have. I think a lot of people have. The problem is not having the art assets. As an indie developer, it's hard to find enough of the assets you need to build a whole environment like this. That hurdle alone keeps most people from getting started.
How I approached it this time
This time, GPT6 has made modeling large environments much more accessible. My approach was to give it a stack of reference images and explain roughly what our part of Northeast China used to look like. Some details needed my input before it could get the feel right:
- Northeast China details · 01The exposed pipes are black.They don't have that shiny metal finish, because they need insulation wrapped around them.
- Northeast China details · 02There generally aren't outdoor stalls along the street.Instead, ground-floor spaces are converted directly into shops.
In this scene, apart from the trees, grass and people, almost everything was built by GPT.
I'm being open about GPT's modeling limits
To be clear, GPT modeling is currently only suited to objects that are relatively easy to represent with geometric shapes. For the finer details, I plan to use other AI pipelines rather than rely on it for every part of the process.
And I don't intend to stop at low-poly 3D. I want to use this project to explore how far AI can go with 3D today. So I'll keep trying other ways to build more detailed models and more realistic materials, and see whether Godot plus AI can get close to the visual quality of next-generation games. When I have new results, I'll share them with you.
What else do you remember seeing on streets like these?
I'm getting older, and there's only so much I can remember. So I'd like to ask: who else remembers places like this? What other things would you usually see on the street back then? If you can remember it, I'll put it in the game.
That's all for now. I'm going back to rebuilding my childhood home.
If you can remember it, I'll put it in the game.
Lao Liu — Playing Games, Making Games
Creator at the indie game studio Pulucat. Find me across platforms under the same Chinese name, 玩游戏做游戏的老刘, for ongoing updates on my process and results making games with AI.