Office Hours #73 · 1 October 2026
Welcome to
Base44
Beach.
When open-source worlds meet an external coding agent, the browser is the only limit.
Plans changed, for the better
Use every tool
you have.
Thursday was meant to be a live build of Meadow Reach. After seeing AJ post an incredible 3D fishing game, which turned out to be an open-source project rebranded, Sam changed the plan to show what you can do when you use every tool available.
He forked Dan Greenheck's open-source Three.js island world, imported it into a blank Base44 app, stripped out the fishing gameplay, and turned it into Base44 Beach. It has a day-night cycle, waves, whales, gulls, cocktails, a stage, branded towels, and graphics settings, all hosted on Base44. All of the reworking was done from Claude Code through the Base44 connector, so it cost almost no Base44 credits.
He also shows a one-prompt sketched side-scrolling platformer, inspired by a ballpoint-pen chess project, with art, music, and an OG image generated together. An attempt to have Claude run a visual audit of Meadow Reach while also prompting from the builder locked the app for most of the hour, which Sam owns with good humour. The session ends with a walkthrough of the Launchpad judging flow and a teaser for a much bigger gaming sprint.
The import workflow
Fork. Connect.
Import. Reshape.
- 01
Fork
Find an open-source project you may reuse and fork it on GitHub.
- 02
Connect
Create a blank Base44 app and link it to GitHub, or to Claude Code through the connector.
- 03
Import
Bring the whole engine, shaders, and assets into Base44.
- 04
Reshape
Strip out the gameplay, keep the world, and prompt it into something new. Credit the source.
6 lessons
The world is
already built.
- 01
Fork, import, then reshape
Find open-source work you are allowed to use, fork the repository on GitHub, create a blank Base44 app, connect it to GitHub, and import the repository. You start with a full engine, shaders, and assets, then prompt it into something new.
- 02
Drive Base44 from Claude Code or Codex
In Claude Code, ask it to use the Base44 connector, point it at your app, and work there. Everything stays hosted on Base44, while the heavy edits use your Claude or Codex tokens instead of Base44 credits. Codex works the same way.
- 03
Reuse a visual style, not just code
Sam saw a ballpoint-pen chess project and asked Opus 5.5 for a dreamy sketched side-scroller in that style. One prompt produced the art, ambient music, animation, and even an OG image.
- 04
Add graphics settings to heavy worlds
Browser 3D can overwhelm weaker machines. Offer low-to-ultra presets and let players change them in-game.
- 05
Don't prompt an app two ways at once
Running a Claude audit through the connector while also sending builder prompts locked Meadow Reach for most of the session. Let one agent finish before the next one starts.
- 06
Credit open-source foundations
Rebranding someone else's project and presenting it as your own is not acceptable. Attribution keeps you within the licence and within the jam rules.
The jam
is open.
Rules as announced on 1 October 2026. The Launchpad listing is authoritative.
- Update 01
Game Jam opens at 18:00 BST tonight
Build a game started on or after Tuesday 29 September and submit it to the contest Launchpad. Voting runs seven days and closes at 18:00 BST on Thursday 8 October. The top ten go to a panel of ten staff and moderators, and the top three are locked in on Monday 12 October.
- Update 02
Prizes and roles
First place receives 500 credits and a gold name, second 250 and silver, and third 150 and bronze. Name colours last 365 days. A permanent Launchpad winner badge is coming to Base44 profiles.
- Update 03
How submissions are reviewed
An agent checks the Launchpad rules, a Super Agent checks the Terms of Service and Responsible Use Policy, and then Sam approves batches roughly every six hours. You can keep improving your app after submitting.
- Update 04
Using today's beach world
You may build on the same open-source world if you credit it clearly. Uncredited use will be disqualified, and judges will look for a genuinely new spin.
- Update 05
Tel Aviv trip cancelled
Office Hours runs as normal next week, and a new schedule will follow.
- Update 06
A bigger gaming sprint is coming
A larger gaming-themed sprint at the end of October will be teased when this jam closes.
Advanced questions.
Honest answers.
Every substantive question from the hour, including answers the hosts could not confirm.
12 of 12 answers
No. Voting runs for seven days. Your job is to earn votes so you reach the top ten, which the staff panel then reviews.
No. Votes only decide the top ten, and the panel picks the winners. This stops vote manipulation from paying off.
It cost almost no Base44 credits. Sam created a blank app with one prompt, and every change after that was made in Claude Code through the connector.
Yes. Once the repository is imported, you can prompt changes on top of it.
Yes, as long as it is hosted on Base44. External LLMs prompting through the connector are no different from pasting code into files.
Yes. Ask Codex to use the Base44 connector, complete the auth, and you get the same experience.
Yes in principle. Any API can be integrated, and local processing can be designed in. Sam had not used MediaPipe himself.
Three.js, through the open-source project. The sketched platformer uses no external assets, and Meadow Reach uses an imported low-poly library.
Yes. The builder now detects game projects and gives itself more game-specific tools.
No. Once your entry passes the checks, you can keep improving it for all seven days.
Sam approves batches several times a day. The first batch was planned for that night.
Just Sam, working remotely.
Watch the original
A beach,
a sketchbook,
a citadel.
Open on YouTube The Meadow Reach live build did not progress because the app locked while Claude and the builder were both working on it. That is recorded as it happened. The open-source author's name is taken from the in-app attribution and may be spelled differently in captions.
Bring this to your next build
Stand on
open source.
- 01
Open-source worlds can be imported into Base44 and reshaped. Credit them.
- 02
Use Claude Code or Codex through the Base44 connector for heavy edits.
- 03
Point the model at a visual style you admire. One prompt can carry a whole aesthetic.
- 04
Ship graphics settings with any heavy 3D world.
- 05
Let one agent finish before another touches the same app.
Keep learning
Further reading.
- Dan Greenheck's open-source island world
- Base44 Game Jam Launchpad
- Base Camp events
- Quaternius free low-poly assets
- Kenney game assets
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