Lost Spirits: An Interactive Encounter with a Fractured Soul

Lost Spirits is a game prototype developed in the Godot engine, utilizing Gemini Pro, a Large Language Model (LLM) for rapid code generation and a local Small Language Model (SLM), Gemma 3 4B, to power AI-driven NPCs (non-player characters). The study investigates whether LLMs can democratize game development for non-technical artists and if real-time AI-driven character interaction can sustain a meaningful narrative arc without traditional branching scripts. Preliminary results suggest that AI significantly accelerates the technical pipeline—enabling the development of a functional 3D prototype within a two-month window—and facilitates rich, responsive character interactions.