Perlin
Plan first
Have Perlin propose a plan you can steer before it builds anything.
With Plan first on, Perlin talks an idea through with you before it builds anything. It proposes how it would make the piece, asks a few questions where your answer would really change it, and builds only when you say so. You get to steer the engine, the look and how a game plays before any tokens go on a build.
Plan first is on to start with. Leave it on for big or open ideas, and switch it off when you know exactly what you want.
Switching it on or off
The Plan first button sits in the toolbar under the prompt box, beside the attach button. It is lit while it's on, and the prompt box reads "Describe your idea… Perlin will plan it with you first". Click it to switch. The studio remembers your choice in this browser.
Before a piece's first message, the note in Perlin's panel also says whether Plan first is on, with a link to switch it.
Planning a piece
Describe your idea
Write it as you would any prompt (Asking Perlin for a piece) and send it. The stage reads Perlin · Planning while it works, and the step under its reply reads "Drafting a plan".
Read the plan
Perlin replies with a sentence and a card headed The plan: a short point each on the concept, the engine, the look and palette, the motion, how it answers the pointer and touch, and its controls. If Sound FX, Textures or 3D is on, the plan says what the piece would get from them.
Answer the questions
Under the plan are up to three questions, only where the answer would change the piece (a style, a mood, how a game plays), each with two to four answers to pick. Click an answer to pick it and click it again to clear it. Skip any you don't mind about: Perlin decides those.
Change it, or build it
To change the plan, reply in the prompt box, which now reads "Reply to change the plan, or press Build it". Perlin proposes a revised plan, keeping what you agreed. When it's right, press Build it under the plan. Your message reads "Build it." with the answers you picked, and Perlin builds the piece.
Answering in your own words
The answers under a question are suggestions. If none fits, reply with your own: "the second one, but at night" or "make it a platformer, not a puzzle". Perlin folds what you say into the next plan.
A reply that only says to go ahead, such as "yes", "looks good", "go ahead", "build it" or "let's go", builds the plan as if you had pressed Build it, as long as nothing is attached to that message.
Only the latest plan takes answers. Earlier plans stay in the conversation as they were.
Planning a change
With a piece on the stage, Plan first plans changes too: the prompt box reads "Describe a change… Perlin will plan it with you first". For a small change the plan is a point or two. If you're making quick tweaks, switch Plan first off to have them made straight away.
What a plan costs
A plan is a request like any other, charged in tokens at your current effort level, and it needs the level's minimum to start. Nothing is made while planning: sound effects, textures and 3D models are made when you build, so a plan costs only Perlin's thinking. Build it is greyed out if your balance doesn't cover the effort level.
Images and files you attach while talking a plan through go along with the build, and so do assets you attached on the way.
When to use it
- On: a game, a large or vague idea, a piece whose style could go several ways, or when you want to see Perlin's approach before it builds.
- Off: quick iterations, small changes, and prompts that already say exactly what you want.
Related
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