Year of the ZABAL - Day 180
ZABAL Gamez Week 4 recap: six sessions on owning what you build
GM ZM, and happy Sunday in the Year of the ZABAL.
Week four is in the books, and it was the deepest yet: six sessions, every one recorded, transcribed, and kept. Miss something live and you have missed nothing.
The thread this week: tools that keep you in control - your taste, your data, your code. A private AI assistant, a content tool with no generative AI, AI as a music collaborator not a replacement, pixel art that is also code, and the open backend under Farcaster itself.
"AI becomes a creative assistant rather than replacing you." - Teresa Marrin Nakra
Miss week three? https://paragraph.com/@thezao/year-of-the-zabal-day-172
New here? ZABAL Gamez is The ZAO's three-month build event:
June is workshop month, July is the open build, August is the Finals.
Free, open to anyone, any harness.
Three tracks: artist, builder, creator.
The build is the application. Start here: https://zabalgamez.com/info
Only have a few minutes? Start here:
Watch: Teresa Marrin Nakra on making music with generative AI in Ableton: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/25
Read, if you build: topocount of Neynar under the hood of Snapchain: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/24
Read, if you create: Dylan Yarter on the Bizarre Pixel Studio: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/23
Day 22 - an open AMA with The Farcaster Intern
Builder track. BetterCallZaal hosted an open-mic audio AMA with The Farcaster Intern - anyone could come up and ask anything about Farcaster. Read it: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/20
Build from this: a tool or bot that answers a real Farcaster question the AMA surfaced.
Day 23 - pixel tooling, Snapchain, and Harness
Creator track. Dylan Yarter walked through the Bizarre Pixel Studio - a browser pixel-art tool where the artwork is also editable code, shipped as a webpage and a mini app. The output is also the source. Read it: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/23 - bizarrebeasts.io
Build from this: a creator tool whose output doubles as code - a generator, a remixable asset, a mini app.
Builder track. topocount of Neynar went under the hood of Snapchain - how signers work, OG vs Snapchain-native signers, storage, and bringing more of the Farcaster client onto the protocol. Read it: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/24
Build from this: a Frame or client that reads Snapchain directly, or a gasless-signer onboarding flow.
Builder track. Saltorious on Harness, the tool he built, and Bankr, the team he just joined - a private, screen-aware AI assistant that runs local-first. Read it: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/22
Build from this: a local-first AI helper, or anything that plugs into the Bankr skills.
Day 25 - generative music
Artist track. Teresa Marrin Nakra - inventor of the Conductor's Jacket, now at Stevens University - made music with generative AI in Ableton using Magenta, with a live demo. Read it: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/25 - https://www.stevens.edu/profile/tnakra
Build from this: an AI-assisted music tool, or a WaveWarZ entry built on generative variation.
Day 28 - building FlowStage
Artist track. AZKAL on building FlowStage - scaling your content without losing your taste: short-form video and slideshows from your own footage, organized by aesthetic, no generative AI, with a builder API. Read it: https://zabalgamez.com/recordings/27- https://app.theflowstage.com
Build from this: a content tool that keeps the creator's taste, or something on the FlowStage API.
Tap in live - this week
ZABAL Gamez Workshop w/Duo Do - building on Farcaster as an artist - Tue Jun 30, 7pm EST: https://luma.com/5nqganpf
Building Warpee.eth with Adrienne of GM Farcaster - Tue Jun 30, 11:30am EST: https://luma.com/jlv50mcu
The whole calendar: https://luma.com/zao
What is next - July is the open build
June is the warm-up, and it is almost done. July is the open build: anyone ships something real for the ZAO ecosystem, in public, and the build is the application. Three tracks, any harness. The strongest builds get curated into the August Finals, each paired with a ZAO mentor.
Get ready now:
The Playbook: https://zabalgamez.com/playbook
How to enter and register your build: https://zabalgamez.com/enter
Projects to adopt: https://zabalgamez.com/projects
The Finals: https://zabalgamez.com/finals
Get involved
Lead a workshop: https://zabalgamez.com/lead
Back a builder - mentor the Finals: https://zabalgamez.com/mentor
The build is the application. Week 4 down, July ahead. See you there.
BetterCallZaal from the ZAO Team