Board games & tabletop roleplaying games require quality art. As a small indie publisher, there’s never enough time or money to get original images into your prototypes, books or social media. Supplementing your existing efforts with machine assistance helps fill that gap, but there are a few critical questions you need to address before getting started using AI art for games.

AI Art for Game Design - Things To Think About & Links To Get Started

If you asked me about the birth of the internet, I picture computer labs filled with college students playing games & asking search engines questions. Back then, we did not realize the search engine would become the default gateway to the collective sum of human experience. What we know/feel is online; the relevance of such is dictated by a collective of competing & evolving algorithms. I get an eerie sense of deja vu when I ask DALL-E2, Stable Diffusion, or MidJourney what it sees when I ask: “My cat in a pumpkin costume.” It feels like the beginning all over again.

AI Art for Games - You should be using AI art NOW!

The difference between a search engine and a creative AI is the difference between “does this exist” and “make this exist.” We’ve cataloged all human knowledge & experience now we’re replicating imagination & dreams. On the way, we’re replacing everyday human interaction with machine equivalents.

AI Art for Games - Everything Waiting To Exist

One does not need to understand something to copy that something. This fact has specific ramifications when considering the human mind & genome. AIs exist because of this truth. An AI engine doesn’t need to understand humans to act or make art like a human. At our current stage of development, all an AI needs is a person to validate its attempted copy.

AI Art for Games - A World Of Imaginary Friends

Mash ups are ridiculous. Mash ups are fun! The beauty of AI is that nothing is too whimsical or strange for it to bring together. Just like children’s drawings, there are no preconceptions constraining the AI’s outcome. But just like children, it is our responsibility to teach them right from wrong.

AI Art for Games - The Ethical Use Of AI Art

Over the next couple months, we’ll be focusing the blog on getting ready for a Protospiel or Unpub event with examples of how we applied these practices to getting ready for the Conquest Princess Board Game crowdfunding campaign in late April or early May.

Meberhardt