Welcome to a new devlog for Assembly RTS, the physics-based real-time strategy game!
Hi everyone, the past two weeks have been slow going,
but I'd still like to update you on some of the things that have happened with the game.
Getting rid of AI art
A while back Karyundara posted a video about my game.
He shared some very useful insights regarding my Steam page.
After reading the AI content disclaimer on the Steam page, which mentions that I use AI for translations and marketing material, Karyundara shared his thoughts that this could be a turnoff for many people.
This got me thinking and ultimately it led me to get rid of AI imagery in my marketing material entirely, because its not really necessary. And lets be honest, AI art generation is legalized art theft anyways.
However, I'm keeping the AI-assisted localization, because for the time being I don't have the funds to hire professional translators.
Level Editor improvements
Up until this point I've been using a combination of my in-game level editor and the Unity editor to make new maps for Assembly RTS. It's a clunky and annoying process.
This is why I started improving the in-game level editor further, making it more intuitive and feature-rich. I've encountered lots of bugs and fixed many problems. I'm still fixing newly discovered issues related to saving, loading and downloading and uploading levels to the Steam Workshop.
One notable feature I've added is gizmos. Previously, the position and rotation of objects could only be changed by typing in new values. Now the objects can be dragged around visually.
(just ignore the growing mound in the background, it's already been fixed)
That's is it for this devlog. Don't forget to wishlist Assembly RTS - Unleash Your Forces on Steam!
Ultimately no one really actually cares about the use of AI generated images except a small handful of loud people, the only ones who do probably aren't going to play your game anyways.
If you find it unethical, that's you're choice. Let your game do the talking for you. :)
If people want to play a game they will. Regardless of how you made your game assets or advertising assets.
If a developer uses AI to produce any of assets used in their game, then that's a sure sign that they don't actually care that much about what they're doing and that their project is likely a lazy cash grab. If all they want to do is just mass-manufacture low effort digital slop, then why should I bother with it when there's a plethora of games and other media made by people who actually love and care about their work?
That said, if there was a game or any other kind of media that I knew used AI in in some way and still looked interesting enough to me that I would want to try it, I would just pirate it. Generative algorithms need to steal data en masse in order to be effective, so I'd absolve myself of the guilt of rewarding that theft with revenue by just stealing back, and I'd encourage anybody else to do the same.
Good on this developer for maturing past the false promises of effortless solutions to creative challenges. Genuine creativity is the only kind worth engaging with, and it thrives difficulty and overcoming challenges.
P.S. As a reminder, if you disagree with me, then you don't have to actually respond to this yourself. Just go to ChatGPT and use it to generate a counter argument, it' much more efficient than having to do the thinking yourself. :)
Just to clarify, I wasn't using AI to generate any assets in my game in the first place.
I was using it for some marketing images.
I see. Sorry if I went too hard on that post, I just really hate AI. Good luck on your game!
Thank you!
long time that i have red such dumb comment
Oh Hi, just made an account to post here, it wasn't my intention to make you get rid of the AI, I know some people hate AI and I 100% agree with DrBones here, I'll still play your game with or without the AI art but if you feel you would be better without it I'll support you no matter what, it honors me you used my video and listen to my feedback.
Can't wait to play this game!
Hi Karyundara, I know that wasn't your intention. Don't worry!
Your feedback was very helpful and it made me think about this topic again. I came to the conclusion that AI art isn't really necessary for marketing Assembly RTS. The game will do the talking, without any fancy extra AI imagery.
Yeah let the game do the talking because it already looks gorgeous, even more with the recent terrain and lighting update you did, can't wait to try your game!
Happy to do English translations if needed..
Thanks for the offer! I've heard that volunteer translations are not straight-forward from a legal perspective, so I'm not accepting any for the time being. However, it's something I'm considering for the future. You can let me know if you find any mistakes in the English text. Thanks again.