How to use Claude to build a UE5 shooter
An author built an incomplete UE5 shooter with Claude Code, using guidance and reversible Git commits while handling animation and mapping separately.
news.ycombinator.com
Prompt to try
Editorial adaptation, not the source author’s exact prompt. Replace bracketed inputs and review tool permissions first.
Help implement [shooter feature] in [UE5 C++ project]. Follow the existing game structure, explain major decisions, and keep changes scoped for review. Use reversible Git commits so we can revert and retry if the behavior differs from [desired behavior].
Reach people exploring AI agents
See placements →What happened
The author reports an incomplete shooter built over a couple of months of spare time and says guidance and retries achieved the desired behavior.
Reported by loh on Hacker NewsHow the agent did it
- Built a first-person shooter from scratch in UE5 using agentic coding.
- Used Claude Code with Sonnet and tried Opus 4.5 for more complex work.
- Gave extra guidance when the agent made poor decisions.
Where a person stepped in
The author corrected agent decisions through guidance and reversible Git commits; animation and mapping remained substantial human work.
A person approved each step before the agent continued.
The author used agentic coding to build a first-person shooter in Unreal Engine 5 from scratch during spare time. After a couple of months, the game remained incomplete, although the author believed another month or so could make an early-access release possible. That was an estimate, not a reported release.
Most of the game is written in C++. The author found the most success with Claude Code using Sonnet and tried Opus 4.5 for more complex work. They also compared Codex and several local models through other agent tools, but preferred Claude Code for this project.
The agent sometimes made poor decisions. The author supplied extra guidance and kept Git commits arranged so changes could be reverted and tried again when necessary. They report being able to get the behavior they wanted through that process. Animation and mapping remained the most time-consuming tasks, with agentic coding offering little help there. The author says building the game alone would not have been feasible in a reasonable time. Who it's for: developers prepared to guide and revise generated C++ while doing substantial game production work themselves.
Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)
Source: Hacker News · loh
Frequently asked questions
Was the shooter released?
The source says it was incomplete. The author estimated that another month or so could make an early-access version possible, but reports no release.
How did the author handle bad agent decisions?
They provided extra guidance and managed Git commits so they could revert changes and try again when necessary.
More details
Remaining steps
- Managed Git commits to allow reverting and retrying changes.
About this account
Claude Code assisted C++ game development, with the author steering decisions and retaining the ability to revert work.
Platform: Hacker News. Attribution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46704093. Prompt: Suggested (written by Agents In Use, not the author's). Sourced by the Agents In Use pipeline.
Credit: loh on Hacker News
Source published 21 Jan 2026
Source checked 14 Oct 2026
Tools and topics
Claude Code · Unreal Engine 5 · Git
Game development · Unreal Engine · C++
Editorial completeness: 100/100. Measures documented fields, not agent performance or verified outcomes.