Use of Generative AI in Mods

[u/username_for_user]

I am working on a mod for Old World, mostly as a personal project, and have found that I will need a large number of custom portraits to get the result I am hoping for. The current in-game portraits, while wonderful and thematic, would be anachronistic to the theme of my mod, so I am considering developing my own. The portrait editor is helpful, but still anachronistic and somewhat time-consuming for the volume of portraits I am considering.

I have found a workflow that can reliably and efficiently produce the portraits I need with a consistent style. The trouble is, these images are artificially generated, and I know that this comes with an array of potential issues.

I'm also mindful that the devs put hard work into curating a custom art style and developing unique portraits for this game, and the last thing I'd want to do is take away from that. In an ideal world, there would be a real artist developing actual portraits for me, but as I am a team of one, that is unfortunately not something that is achievable for me.

To be very clear, I am not suggesting that I use the existing portraits as reference art. The style I am going for is different than the way portraits are currently styled, and does not reference the game's visual palette at all.

My perspective on this is that, in this context, the use of generative AI to produce portraits may be an acceptable use case, but I would like to hear the community's thoughts on this. Any perspective would be helpful, especially before I sink a great deal of time into the project.

[u/the_polyamorist]

People are just seeking permission to use A.I.

Use it. Or don't.

Accept however people think of you, either way.

Plenty of people will download your mod, despite A.I.

Plenty of people will go nowhere near your mod, because of A.I.

[u/username_for_user → u/the_polyamorist]

This seems like a pretty reasonable perspective. Thank you.

[u/XenoSolver]

I'm also mindful that the devs put hard work into curating a custom art style and developing unique portraits for this game, and the last thing I'd want to do is take away from that.

Please don't think that a mod can somehow damage our work. We have an artist but we're a company and we can pay one. As a modder, you're not in the same situation because you're an individual with presumably no budget to hire people. And no matter how you do your mod, it's not taking anything away from other players.

[u/username_for_user → u/XenoSolver]

Thank you for your comment, and it's great to hear directly from someone on the dev team - I appreciate the point of view you've provided.

[u/REAL_RICK_PITINO]

I broadly prefer to not consume AI content in video games but this sounds pretty acceptable to me. This is a hobbyist project; you aren’t an artist and can’t pay one.

However, I’ve found most people against AI have zero nuance to their stance and will likely hate your mod regardless

[u/DDTL49]

I understand that the vast majority of people (myself included) don't have the time, the ressources or the talent to make their own art, but AI-generated assets will always rub me the wrong way. I would look at the portraits and think "a clanker did this". As another commenter wrote, I would much rather have nothing than AI-slop.

In your case, if the use of AI is clearly mentioned in the mod description, I think you will be fine.

[u/lupuslibrorum]

Well, I’m against it and won’t touch a mod or game that uses A.I. I only get excited about stuff humans make. I think our world desperately needs a greater focus on the value of being human, far more than it “needs” anything that an A.I. can generate. But obviously there are some who are fine with it. And since a mod is a personal project, only you can decide if it’s worth your time. Even a high quality human-only mod isn’t guaranteed to get a lot of downloads.

[u/IvanaikosMagno]

Personally, I think you should never use AI. Even if it's for a mod, these tools were created through completely unethical means and have a disgusting impact on the world.

But the worst part is, AI-generated images are always generic/ugly. I see a lot of people using AI because "it's better than nothing," but personally, I prefer nothing.

I don't know your mod, but I believe there's always a better alternative without you having to pay anything. There are thousands of images and paintings in the public domain; finding good images certainly requires work, but it's this kind of work that will make me test your mod or not.

[u/Head_Evening_5697 → u/IvanaikosMagno]

Personally, especially when it comes to art, I am with this guy. In my D&D campaign my DM has started to use AI to generate portraits for unimportant NPCs and it's so jarring. I'd rather have nothing or a stick figure than that.

On the other hand, do whatever you want; some people will condemn you for it, some people won't care. Think about it a bit, make a decision and stick to it.

[u/Ingifridh → u/IvanaikosMagno]

I agree with you.

I can understand why OP would want to use AI in this case, and using it like this is a million times less troubling than deepfakes and such. But since, as you say, that whole technology is created through unethical means, I'd personally prefer not to see a single AI generated image in my life ever again. To me, using genAI for a hobby project feels sorta like someone treating themselves to a bit of foie gras every now and then – like, sure, in the grand scheme of things, it's a drop in the ocean, but even so... you could just not do that, you know.

That said, I know not everyone agrees with me on this, and I sincerely wish OP the best with their mod, whatever they'll end up doing with it. I know it takes a lot of time and patience to find the perfect public domain images when you have something specific in mind, so I can understand the dilemma.

[u/QZTK]

Yeah, this is fine. You aren't selling this for money, and it's a relatively minor part of the mod.

[u/Trentdison]

If you're making a mod and not seeking to make any money from it, I don't see the issue.

[u/Pastoru]

I think that many portrait mods in Old World are already with AI.

Be clear that this is the case, and I think it's all right. For free mods by lone modders, graphical assets are more difficult to produce without that, it's not the same as a sold game or even as a big mods which receive gifts (like the big CK3 total conversion mods).

[u/Difficult-Feeling849]

Well, as a long time mod user I will say that I couldn't care less about what tools you use for modding. Modding is a passion project, and as such I can't really judge people for using AI as a helpful tool. As long as the end product is good and betters my gaming experience, I'm down.

[u/DifficultConcern8341]

Is there a chance of using generative AI to create more events? Events that are essentially endless in number (but understandably limited in scope)? The game is a lot of fun, but after a while, events become repetitive. It would be a major upgrade if events felt new every time you played.

[u/The_Bagel_Fairy]

Do you buddy.

[u/Salty-Wrap-1741]

Just do it

[u/ruskyandrei]

People will eventually get over the current AI use witch hunt. This is not a genie that will go back in the bottle, no matter how many people are upset about it.

I'd just worry about making a good mod that works for your vision and not about what other people will think of the tools you used to make it.

[u/Galagos1]

AI is part of our life now.

Nothing can undo that.

The only thing that would influence whether I would or would not download your mod is if I think it would be good for my game.

[u/Maverikfreak]

Do it and publish it, I want more portraits specially if they are historically accurate. No problem with AI

[u/wormm99]

I was thinking of using AI to create more events. I’m sick of the ones in the game. I think I’ve done them all. Gets boring.

[u/DDTL49 → u/wormm99]

AI-generated events is exactly the kind of thing I (and most people) would absolutely hate. Also the AI can't create, it will just mash together already existing events and regurgitate something uncanny. Yeah no thanks.