- Aug 20, 2022
- 56
- 329
I agree with you there.The dev set up a patron page to commission some artwork, but couldn't find a reliable artist. As for generating images for the characters, that sounds good in theory, but generating decent images of pretty much any of the main cast besides Blaire can be difficult due to them having characteristics that are difficult concepts for image generators to understand. With Kiara many models barely distinguish between chubby and morbidly obese. Liane needs models that have decently diverse training sets or she will end up looking 60+ half the time. And holy crap, don't get me started on Prism (or Photona to a lesser extent). I felt like getting light effects originating from characters was nearly impossible even using some pretty unconventional methods I was messing around with a few months ago. I was considering tinkering with some of the newer tech to see if it was any better while playing the last update, but never got around to it.
Artwork will always look best when hand drawn by a talented artist, including every miniscule detail.
However, there are drawbacks. You mentioned it yourself, reliability is a factor, also a certain style might not be popular with some players.
Creating your own images gives the player the freedom to choose the style and fine-tune the looks of the characters until they fit their mental image.
But I also agree with you that current GenAI technology is still not quite there to do that easily and reliably, especially for more abstract looks. Getting the bodily proportions right for characters that have not typical model measurements (either fit, hourglass or voluptuous) can be tricky and requires quite some trial & error, but it is possible nonetheless. The same goes for the age. Adding some visual features in the definition to better fit the age the character is supposed to look like can help, I got some decent results for Liane that make her look like an attractive 45-year-old without sacrificing her looks or making her look 60+.
But yes, creating a character that looks close to what Prism is supposed to look like was a pain in the ass. I guess details that are very fantastic and otherworldly, so a lot of typical Superhero features, are hard to generate with such methods, simply because the pool of images the models have been trained on of course do not include models with superpowers like glowing eyes or RGB light-changing hair. So there are some hard limits that are difficult to recreate without some manual touch-ups in PS.
What's important to note here is that I am basing this on trying to create realistic looking images. In my head, the story is set in a somewhat realistic world, a point of reference in my head is the show "The Boys" which is played by real actors of course.
If someone would not be opposed to using anime characters, I imagine it would be much easier to include more fantastic features for characters that way. In general, the image pool for Anime seems to be more broad and detailed, however, I haven't fiddled with those art styles much so I wouldn't know for sure, just a heads up for anyone trying this out themselves.
In the end it comes down to personal preferences, I understand if someone feels the results are not high quality enough. I am personally happy and it adds to the enjoyment of the game.
I could theoretically share the results I have so far if someone was interested, but I'd rather not share AI generated "artwork" of the game without the Dev's consent.