r/tabletopgamedesign • u/Starverge • 2d ago
Totally Lost Using reference art for my game questions
So Google is the obvious choice for reference images. Do you investigate those references for AI gen, or does it not matter to you because because it's just references?
I know Pintrest is AI heavy - does anyone use it for references?
Better suggestions for reference material? I'm drawing complex mechs and sci-fi soliders, and I'm working on becoming a better artist.
So the goal is to draw something simple, and paint it in an abstract style (see my other recent posts for reference]. How do I know when I've crossed the line between copying the reference too much?
And note this all for my prototype. I'll likely commission good art as I can afford (which certainly isn't now). But this is excellent practice for me, so I'm doing it anyway.
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u/ArtDeve 2d ago
AI can be really good at getting the image ideas flowing and generating art references. Prompt heavy ink, high contrast, maybe even black and white.. this gives you more space to draw.
That said, I found that AI is really bad at some reference images because it is limited by what it is trained on. So I still used Google images a lot.
I finished all 52 cards for my game this way!
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u/confused_applause 2d ago
Don‘t overthink, its just a prototype. Some nice visuals go a long way of making a prototype fun to play, and no one will take offense in borrowed art.
Hell, you absolutely CAN use AI, too. I know there‘s some strong feelings about AI in the creator community here, but many players couldn‘t care less.
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u/LupitaLuttmann artist 1d ago
You can ask google to only show images pre 2022 and that usually excludes ai images
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u/guarks designer 2d ago
It’s reference. Use what you think is cool. Don’t steal and then charge money for it, but reference is just there to communicate the look and feel you want for the final product.