I don't know who is in charge of tags, but could this thread be updated to include the 'ai cg' tag? I filter it out in my searches and was disappointed to see ai art crop up as soon as I started playing.
Thanks for the feedback. That’s not how the “ai cg” tag works. It’s meant for games that
primarily use AI-generated character art or CGs, not projects where background elements were assisted with AI tools.
It’s a bit frustrating to see the assumption, because this game contains hundreds of hours of hand-drawn, original artwork. Real work by real artists. Suggesting the whole thing should be tagged as “ai cg” because of backgrounds (of all 160 tuned myself) dismisses that effort.
I’m also someone who prefers to filter out heavy AI-generated projects, so I understand the concern. If even light background assistance qualifies for the tag, it ends up hurting artists more than helping anyone’s 'filters.'
what the hell is with the AI backgrounds?
The backgrounds in this game were always generated by AI. They just looked so bad back in 2023, that people couldn't really tell?
Trust me, I really did try everything I could to avoid using AI-assisted backgrounds. I spent ages looking for alternatives: stock photos, asset packs, anything that could fit my game’s tone. But the reality is that a huge amount of stock art these days is quietly AI-generated anyway, sometimes even falsely marketed as real. And ironically, even when I used backgrounds that
weren’t AI-generated, I still got accused of using AI.
At a certain point I just thought fine, screw it. It’s not like the backgrounds are replacing any hand-drawn CGs, or anyone's work. The backgrounds are just a way to avoid leaving players with flat colour washes, abstract smears, or blurry photos that break immersion.
And honestly? Most players seem to appreciate it. I’ve run polls, and the feedback has been that people would rather have an actual location backdrop, than a blurry gradient. And for a solo developer, it solves a massive problem that would either cost $10,000+ and months of dev time. I've had people suggest that I just pay someone for the background art, but I literally wouldn't be able to afford that. This game could not exist as it does without taking advantage of this tool.
I know it annoys some people who hate AI on principle, and I get where that comes from. I'm happy to continue rethinking this and finding a better solution. By all means, give me a suggestion. But like I already said, Monster Girl 1,000's background have been AI for over three years now.