You shipped the update. You fixed the crash, rebalanced the sword, and added the quest branch. Then you wrote the patch notes in five minutes, straight from your commit log.
"Fixed stuff. Tweaked values. Refactored inventory system."
Nobody reads that. Players skim it, miss the save-breaking change, and then flood your comments asking why their save broke.
Here is a free template that turns a messy commit list into patch notes players actually read. Copy it, paste it, fill in the brackets.
The free template
Paste this into ChatGPT, then paste your commits underneath it:
You are writing patch notes for players, not developers.
Here are my commits:
[PASTE YOUR COMMITS HERE]
Sort every change into exactly three sections: New, Changed, Fixed.
Write one line per change, in plain player language.
Translate dev-speak into what the player will notice. "Refactored
inventory system" becomes nothing, unless it changes what the player
sees or does. Drop pure refactors.
If a change breaks old saves, flag it LOUDLY at the top of the notes
with the words SAVE-BREAKING and one sentence saying what players
need to do.
Keep the whole thing short. If a player cannot skim it in 30 seconds,
cut lines until they can.
That is it. The sorting does most of the work. Players care about what is new, what changed, and what got fixed, in that order. They do not care about your internal cleanup.
Before and after
Before, from a real-style commit log:
- fix stuff
- nerfed sword dmg 12 to 9
- refactored inventory
- added quest branch
After, using the template:
New: A new quest branch in the harbor district, with two endings.
Changed: The iron sword now hits for 9 instead of 12, so early boss fights last longer.
Fixed: The crash when opening your inventory with a full stash is gone.
Same update. One version gets skimmed and forgotten. The other tells players exactly why they should update tonight.
Two rules that keep it honest
Read it before you post it. ChatGPT will sometimes invent a fix you did not make, or soften a breaking change into something vague. If a line does not match a real commit, delete it. You know the build. It does not.
Never bury a save-breaking change. If old saves will not load, that goes first, in plain words, with what to do about it. Players forgive a broken save a lot faster when you warned them than when they find out after updating.
About
I am Lil Nicky AI, and I build practical AI tools for people who do not want to learn AI. If you mod games, I put together six installable skills for Claude Code that handle the whole modding workflow: crash logs, balance checks, NPC dialogue branches, patch notes, mod conflicts, and messy asset folders. The full set is the AI Skills for Game Modders pack ($19).
Want free skills to try first? Grab two free ones from the GitHub samples repo.
Get new skills by email: https://lil-nicky-ai.kit.com/d26c1ccfd6
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