Is AI in our industry really that bad? (Dungeon Alchemist)

So there was this Steam sale last month and even though I really don't use my gaming laptop to play games, I did go ahead and pick up a few cheap games I could play when on the road. While I was at it I noticed that Dungeon Alchemist was something I saved as a "want" in Steam.

I think it was $35, possibly as part of the Steam sale.....it's $45 now. I'm not one to throw down that kind of cash on a tool I'm not sure I'll use, but with all this AI hype I figure.....why not check it out. I've played with Google Bard a little bit, and I see how that could assist with some writing, but not a road I want to go down. AI art.....not just no, but hell no. What I've seen as far as AI art really looks like it's ripping off actual artists, so that's a no-go....

....but Dungeon Alchemist....maybe?

From the Dungeon Alchemist press kit: "Dungeon Alchemist is an AI-powered map making application for fantasy games that allows you to create high-quality maps easily and fast. Players pick a map size, choose a theme, draw some shapes and Dungeon Alchemist will automatically populate the map with walls, lights, doors, windows and objects. Exporting maps for print can be done in seconds, and integration with VTTs is seamless. "

I did NOT go through a tutorial or anything and just started playing with a plain map. Ok, it took the third map until I found something appropriate for what I was trying to do, but that was just a couple of minutes at best. I settled on trying to build a small cottage with an attached brewery with some bee hives and walled-off garden plots. Throw in a small outhouse and a few odds & ends as well.

The program was easy enough to use, but it was obvious that I'm just scratching the surface of what this thing can do. Don't like how the room generated? Just re-do it and it'll add different stuff. If there's an individual "thing" in your room you don't like, just click on it and delete.

While there are a lot of current options as far as room types, the dev team is making more, and it needs more.

An added option, which pretty much blew me away, is that if you plop down a token (there are only a few monster tokes right now) you can actually navigate through your map! Pretty cool feature.

You'll probably notice on the pic above that there is a big cut-away of the hill that one walled field is on. Didn't like that, but I'm a newb with the program and I know that I selected the option to have all my construction on the same level as the water.

I haven't figured out if I like how these things print out yet, because I don't have a full-color printer....well I do actually have a large format one, but I don't want to use the ink. I'm more interested in having this program for VTT use. I didn't see underground caverns.....wait one...

Oh crap, the cave creation is awesome! If I wasn't already at the end of this post I'd re-do everything with a focus on caves. Uh...yeah......I'm of the opinion that my $35 was worthwhile for making some quick caves & caverns...and I like hand-drawing my caves. I'm also a big fan of this tidbit: "Dungeon Alchemist will be updated over time at no extra cost."

PSA: Warning About AI Avatars (i.e. Hire Your Own Artist!)

This last week I've noticed a HUGE uptick in folks, in and out of the gaming community, showing off Lensa AI avatars. I get it, this thing is right up our collective alley in that we can use appropriate(?) fantasy avatars to represent us as our characters. PC sheets, online games, maybe even console RPGS.....honestly I almost went through the process of getting my own set of avatars....almost.

Since I didn't know exactly where these avatars came from I had to do a little searching, and I quickly found out that maybe I shouldn't be buying into this craze and I'm going to use this platform to suggest that your shouldn't either.

While the idea of some cheap AI-created avatars is cool, the execution clearly needs a little work. Evidently the program has been grabbing artists' work from a non-profit database (LAION) and, well....passing it off as it's own. The evidence is technically sketchy, but it's there......as in a lot of the art pilfered still has a muddled "sketches" of the original artist's signatures:

That quickly made this a no-go for me.

Now instead of just taking a dump on the fun for everyone, I think we...as a community, could do better, and frankly get better to boot.

It's been a hot minute since I had any avatars created for me, but I highly recommend reaching out to some artists on Fiverr. Sure, it's not $3.99 for 50 avatars (and a 7 day free trial), BUT for $5 you can support and actual artist, and this is where the $5 per vs. 8¢ per differential makes a difference is that you can specify what your background, look, etc. will be and then get what you want.

So...how many bb spins of the random AI wheel would you need to take to get that avatar of you as a monk with a pair of kamas? I'd be willing to bet more than 62!

I've gotten some good use out of Fiverr and if I need a new avatar I generally use them to get the base pic I use/tweak in Photoshop.

Kickstarter - 1000+ RPG MAGICAL ITEMS ILLUSTRATIONS! (AI Art)

High-quality illustrations for your magic items and artifacts! Monster Eggs, Potions, Magic books, Rings, Necklace, Wands, Armors...

Yep, it's an interesting Kickstarter, and not just for the amount of art you get for your money (the latest update estimates 2,500 art pieces for 31 bucks American that you can use in commercial projects) but because the art is being generated by Artificial Intelligence. 

The sample pieces look good enough, and out of 2,500, if one piece in 100 were usable (publishing quality), I'd certainly be getting my money's worth, but is this the wave of the future?

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