Hi all! Day 2 of the Epic AI MegaJam, solo entry (one human + AI agents), theme “Director’s Cut”.
Dust & Thunder puts you behind the camera of a Wild West stunt film. You don’t just drive the stunt car, you direct the whole shoot:
- Pre-production: dress the set (gates, crates, pyro barrels, gunmen, mascots) on a budget.
- The take: drive the run while the director shouts the branch and the cues. Wrong turn = CUT, every take costs money.
- Layers: replay the recorded take and add a stuntman on the roof, pyro and extras on top of it.
- Final shot: you’re the camera operator. Aim with the mouse, cut between cameras when the director calls them, keep the car framed.
- Director’s Cut + premiere: pick the look (bars, grain, grading), screen the film, and get stars plus the director’s review. Going over or under budget costs stars.
The production board: the film as a chain of stages, each with its cost, and the producer’s budget window that changes the final rating.
Take 1, recording: a stuntman “surfing” the car roof down the false-front street. His knees spring on bumps; the player keeps him balanced.
Pyro on cue. The director calls the branch (“GO RIGHT!”) and reacts to every stunt; a wrong turn is an instant CUT.
The crew’s base camp by the start line: canopy, video village, the director’s chair, lights and a camera on a dolly track.
The whole set from above: about 500 m of road through false fronts, forking into three branches.
Everything you see is play-in-editor captures, still blockout. Gameplay code is C++ written with Claude Code through the Unreal MCP; the sound effects, music and the director’s bullhorn voice are generated by our own scripts.
Next: scanned dirt road with tyre ruts, rocks and dry brush around the set, terrain to the horizon.
Feedback welcome!