Packet Defender 2.0

Back in January of 2025 I used ChatGPT to “vibe code” a project I named “Packet Defender.” This project was and is my attempt to use HTML and JavaScript to create a simple, text-based and web-based game to help my middle school web design students learn some of the basic terms and concepts about how the Internet works. We have discussed terms like packets, servers, clients, DNS, etc, but I thought a game or simulation could make some of these ideas a bit more concrete. I uploaded my project to GitHub, and with ChatGPT’s help also managed to deploy it via GitHub Pages.

The 1.0 version of the game worked, but it wasn’t very engaging or as educational as I hoped. Since then, I’ve worked on a variety of other vibe coding projects (all shared on my GitHub) and I’ve been VERY pleased with the ways I’ve been able to use AI as a coding partner and collaborator, VASTLY extending my own coding capabilities.

This evening (Sunday, September 29, 2025) I spent around an hour making a 2.0 version of Packet Defender. I used Google’s Gemini AI platform, however, instead of ChatGPT to make this new version. I uploaded my original ChatGPT chat log and final code to Gemini to get started, so we “build on the past.” Packet Defender is improved in several ways:

1. It asks for a username and shows that name above the packet information area, so students can take a screenshot of their final score and include their name
2. It has 3 levels, which change the ‘refresh’ rate of the game
3. It uses different solid colors for the packets to transmit or defend against
4. It uses an IP lookup table and requires students to lookup the IP of a given domain to make a successful packet transfer or network defense
5. It includes a RESET button to start over

This game can still be improved in a hundred different ways, but I’m pleased with the improvements tonight and I’m excited to give it a try with my own students.

Please take “Packet Defender” for a spin and let me know what you think!

Check out more of my AI projects, blog posts and videos on ai.wesfryer.com.