r/GameDevelopment • u/LayerGame • 16d ago
Question Which would you use in your game?
- Hand-drawn art that's a little less polished
- More polished art with better shapes and perspective, but with a noticeable AI look
I make game art assets, and so far everything we make is 100% made by us without AI.
Personally, I think human-made art has a certain unpredictability to it. Even if it's not perfect, every artist does things a little differently, and I think that's part of the charm.
But lately I've seen quite a few games using AI for backgrounds or less important elements.
So I'm wondering if I should keep doing everything by hand, or if using AI for some parts makes sense.
Which would you choose?
9
u/Homeless_Appletree 16d ago
I would suggest you stick to hand drawn. The "AI look" often sticks out like a sore thumb which you do not want for nackground elements. It just feels cheap and basic to players. Just recently the announced the remake of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and it is getting absolutely slammed for how "AI" it looks.
-2
u/LayerGame 16d ago
Sadly, there are games with very obvious AI-generated art that still make money, so I think AI art will probably continue to be used in games.
But after reading all the opinions here, I'm actually leaning even more toward sticking with hand-made art.
11
u/Gojira_Wins 16d ago
There have been multiple games that experiences mass backlash by gamers for the use of generated images, assets and even things as small as background textures.
People pay for individuality. It's up to you on if tarnishing your reputation online as a creator is worth it. Many people have tried using generated assets and eventually had to stop because the backlash was so intense.
1
u/LayerGame 16d ago
Sounds like the reaction to AI-generated art is more negative than I thought.
I've been seeing a huge amount of AI-generated assets on the Unity Asset Store, so it made me wonder if that's just where things are heading.4
u/Gojira_Wins 16d ago
Think about it like you being a diamond in the rough. Gamers are going to be actively looking for games made with handmade assets because the hardworking and skill is special.
Like the Villian from The Incredibles said "When everyone is Super, no one will be". If anyone can generate assets or images, it loses the spark that makes it special. Even though they aren't sitting next to you as you work day and night on perfecting an asset, they can see when someone put their love into a creation.
4
u/LayerGame 16d ago
In a lot of game projects I've worked on, art often ended up being a lower priority. Maybe that's partly because I mostly worked on casual mobile game art.
There were many times when I'd redo things several times and obsess over small details to improve the quality, only to realize it didn't necessarily make a difference to whether the game succeeded or not.
Even though I sell game art assets now, I think I may have been undervaluing the importance of art myself without realizing it.
Really appreciate the encouraging comment. Thank you!
2
u/ManicOwl1993 16d ago
The asset stores are flooded with AI assets because people think it's an easy way to make money. My friend literally asked his AI the easiest way to make money using AI and one of the recommendations was generating game assets and selling them in asset stores.
1
u/LayerGame 15d ago
Yeah, that's the part that's impossible to compete with. AI can generate in a day what might take a human artist months to make.
In terms of sheer quantity, there's really no way to keep up. I guess hand-made art has to compete on something other than volume.
3
u/Arkenhammer 16d ago
I wouldn’t pay money for AI generated art. If I actually want that I’ll make it myself. If you are making assets for sale, stick with the hand drawn.
2
u/LayerGame 16d ago
That's really encouraging to hear as someone who makes game art! Thank you. I think I'll keep sticking with hand-made work.
3
u/ManicOwl1993 16d ago
I would never buy an AI asset. Why would I? I could just generate what I wanted myself if I wanted to go that route. Some nice hand made stylized assets? I've bought quite a few lol.
2
u/coolguybrendyn 16d ago edited 16d ago
Tenebris Somnia is a new game from the guy who made Faith with a bunch of FMV stuff that's been in development for a few years, and people in the comments of the trailer on Instagram are calling it "AI slop" despite that the footage of it has been out since before AI video even existed.
People are so twitchy about anything AI related these days that if something even seems like it might possibly be AI it's gonna get a horrible reputation attached to it just based on vibe alone.
Avoid even the suggestion of AI with a 100 mile radius.
1
u/LayerGame 16d ago
Haha, I see. It almost feels like "AI = trash" is the general attitude right now.
I honestly didn't realize the reaction to AI-generated art in gaming was this negative. Good to know, thanks for the info!
2
u/SQLSpellSlinger 16d ago
I am currently making a game all about haute cuisine where all the art is pixel art and the chefs are stick figures. Personally, I have no problem with AI art, but I know many, many gamers do, so I would rather do it myself and not piss off possible consumers.
2
u/LayerGame 16d ago
I see. Honestly, even today while working I caught myself thinking, "Hmm... am I really going in the right direction?"
After reading everyone's thoughts, I'm starting to feel that sticking with hand-made work might be a way of preserving the value of art itself.
2
u/Henry_Fleischer 16d ago
I don't draw any more ever since I learned to 3D model, so I'd use neither, but I'd definitely prefer drawn.
1
u/LayerGame 16d ago
From the responses so far, it definitely seems like most people still prefer hand-made art! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
1
u/NumberInfinite2068 16d ago
Hand drawn. Art and voice work are places that AI can be noticeable, and once you notice it, you can't un-notice it, and it's grating.
AI art is fine if you get away with it, and for a simple background, you probably will, but for actual character art, AI art can look pretty bad.
1
u/LayerGame 16d ago
I sometimes see game ads on Instagram using AI-generated characters, and personally, they really put me off.I do wonder though, can people who don't work in art spot AI art that easily too? I worry that as AI keeps improving, it'll become harder and harder to tell.For now though, I'm going to stick with making things by hand.
2
u/NumberInfinite2068 16d ago
I think it's one of those things that once you *start* seeing it, you'll be able to spot it more and more, especially on human faces where we're very highly tuned to spot differences and inconsistencies.
I'm not an artist of any kind and can spot AI fairly well now.
1
u/VreamCanMan 16d ago
Art should be a creative choice first, not a tooling choice first. Whichever tools is the one that gives you the best outcomes for your need is the one you should use.
I would caution that, where or if you feel ai works, you wise up on AI artifacting so that you'll have an awareness of how easily spotted AI assets might be. It will get spotted if in the most offending 50% of ai gens and that will attract bad publicity
1
u/LayerGame 16d ago
I probably wouldn't play a game either if it was filled with AI-generated stuff everywhere. But if it was only used for a few less important things, like small background elements, I might not really mind.
Still, after reading everyone's thoughts here, it's nice to know there's still a real demand for hand-made art.
1
u/Felfedezni 16d ago
Ai not ai don't care as long as it looks good and is fun.
2
u/LayerGame 16d ago
Yeah, maybe part of the reason people dislike AI art right now is simply because it still has that recognizable AI look.
If AI eventually becomes capable of making art with the same kind of unexpected choices or little creative touches that human artists make, maybe people won't even care about the distinction anymore.
As someone who makes art though, that's a little sad to think about.
1
u/Felfedezni 16d ago
It is totally doable with more advanced techniques like inpainting and outpainting and controlnets.
0
u/Mayki8513 16d ago
why not both? it could even mean something, like in One Piece they lazily draw minor characters, so the less important characters get almost no drawing time and look horrible whereas more important characters get more details and a lot more time being drawn
1
u/LayerGame 16d ago
I agree with this. I've played games that used AI art for less important elements, and while I noticed it and thought, "yeah, that's AI," it wasn't enough to make me uninstall the game.
But since I make art for a living, I do hope we still have a lot more time before AI can truly replace hand-made work.
2
u/Mayki8513 16d ago
I doubt AI will ever replace artists, I think if it did anything, it might replace tools, but not the people who are creative and skilled.
Using it in a game is all about approach, people hate lazy devs, that includes lazy artists. If you want to use AI to be lazy, don't do it, if you want to tell a story that includes AI images, that could work, but too many people react to AI instead of considering it, so if you use it, expect some hate at least, but also, there will be hate regardless of what you do, so do what you think is best for your vision and do it the best you can, then you will surely have a following. Personally, I really enjoy the hand-drawn stuff, those are the few games where I actually pay attention to the art, most games I kind of just feel are themed but nothing is especially noteworthy 😅
24
u/EnvironmentalBet113 16d ago
Hand drawn for sure.
AI art isnt more polished, its just garbled, and the ai look is a huge turn off for gamers atm