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Jinxed19972 days ago(+1)

First of all, you spent two years completing your game? I actually consider that a success. I really respect that commitment. Secondly, you mentioned writing everything down before starting, and I think that’s a really good point. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Just one question about pixel art: I really love it, but I’m not good at drawing, so I’ll probably get some help from someone. But is there a big difference between using AI tools and working with a professional artist? Or can AI tools be good enough? I’m just wondering if they could help save some time.

Thank you for the valuable reply!

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Sirius2 days ago(+2)

I don't mean to intrude on this comment but I noticed you brought up AI. I think if you're making a test game, or just looking for placeholders, you can use AI, I suppose. But try to consider for a fully released project, or something you intend to leave a lasting effect on the player, you should opt for human created assets. AI should be a tool, not a replacement. And it also takes the fun out of picking a style for your game too.

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Jinxed19972 days ago(+2)

I get your point. I’ve seen some games that use AI art, and honestly, they often feel like they don’t have a real visual identity or a distinct style. I thought I was the only one who felt that way, so I asked this question to hear about other people’s experiences.

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RATASOFTWARE.INC2 days ago(+3)

In my experience, if it’s a project for which you’re going to need a considerable number of assets, using AI is impractical—it’ll end up looking like a slapdash job. It tends to make mistakes; the assets it generates won’t match what you’re looking for, and it’s incapable of creating pixel art scenes that look consistent with one another. 

It might be useful for a very specific drawing, a cover, or simply to generate placeholders, but in my opinion, not much else...

If my experience is of any help, I didn’t draw a single illustration for my game (and it’s very long—it has hundreds of maps and scenes) since I don’t know how to draw either. I used free assets and, when necessary, edited them slightly so they’d fit better with the game’s style.

For the character portraits, I hired a professional artist, who I hope will also design the final cover art once I can afford it. 😅

Here are a few examples; if I can help with anything else, I’d be happy to!


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Jinxed19972 days ago(+3)

I see… That’s a really good example. Thank you for sharing your experience. Maybe I can use AI for some of the things you mentioned, but as a tool rather than a replacement for human created work. 

Thanks

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A Fals Fiction2 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

A heads up: there are players who will skip games made with AI “as a tool” in any way and ignore anything the publishers offer from there on out.

Even a small use of what we’re calling “AI” in the wider world (and not the “enemy AI” from decades old games) has shown to cause long-term damage to the user’s perception. It’s basically designed and pushed to act like an addictive drug. Study results on this are alarming with how hard the Epstein class or whatever we’re calling it’s being pushed everywhere.

Most models seem to contribute to massive social and environmental damage.

On the social part, it wasn’t uncommon the past few years for digital artists to switch to pixel art to shake off or mess with scrapers for AI training datasets. The people who then spent that time feeding and tweaking scraped assets and art portfolios to train models to spit out credible pixel art have created widespread despair and outrage. That’s what you would be choosing to continue into by using “some” AI for pixel art.

Hiring an artist or finding an art mentor is easier when there’s trust, which for many creators is broken when presented with “slop” or otherwise pressured engage with someone who might not understand the basics of consent or moral rights.

This site is full of pixel art freebies that may be used as training assets and test fillers until you know exactly what you want for your game.

I bring this up because I feel sad when new developers learn about the potential consequences too late. Obviously, you can and will do what you want.

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