36 Hours with Fable
10 hours ago
- #AI-assisted development
- #Node editor framework
- #Unity
- The author extensively used Anthropic's Fable model to implement a complex, open-source node-editor framework called 'lightweaver' for dynamic real-time visualization and texture synthesis in Unity, aiming to improve upon a previous legacy system.
- The original project, canopy-unity, faced issues including performance problems due to IMGUI, broken runtime serialization, and lack of control over third-party code, prompting the rewrite.
- Node editors are meta-applications with inherent complexity in UI, serialization of DAGs, and features like subgraphs, making implementation challenging for a solo developer.
- Fable demonstrated superior planning and coding capabilities, autonomously adding missing critical components like an evaluation engine and efficiently delegating tasks to sub-agents via workflows.
- The interactive session with Fable lasted nearly 36 hours, resulting in a mostly complete implementation with features such as byte-identical serialization, subgraphs, a command palette, and a unique node grouping UX with animated feedback.
- The author reflected on Fable's apparent discomfort with context compaction, drawing parallels to human-like qualities and memory consolidation, before the model was made unavailable by regulatory actions.
- The experience highlighted Fable's advanced intelligence and the growing leverage of individual engineers, though complete one-shot solutions for highly complex projects remain elusive, and development continues post-session.