Gone are the days when institutions used to hire an army of human calculators and factories needed an ample supply of workers. The world has come a long way since the invention of transistors in 1947. However, humans are still trying to become more efficient, creating faster computers, internet, and devices. This quest for efficiency is a major driver behind the development of AI, with its capabilities expanding at an unprecedented rate.
Of course, this advancement has also impacted the game art development arena, where it has blended into the artistic process. This harmonization of human creativity with machine intelligence has opened completely new doors to game art production.
This guide will explore this harmonization, understand its limitations, the tools at the forefront, and how to outsource game art.
Game art production is creating art and visuals and then integrating them into a particular game. It has several contributing elements, including concepts, character design, animation, texturing, environmental design, and more. Let’s briefly describe all of these components of game art creation below:
The following are some examples of how AI is revolutionizing video game art creation and helping artists explore new horizons.
AI promises to improve graphics quality, simulation performance, and realism significantly. With its incredible predictive skills, artists can create immersive environments where players can enjoy a like-like gaming experience for hours. Video games rely heavily on simulations, which is why AI is having a significant impact through its predictive capabilities.
Modern video games have numerous simulations, animations, sounds, characters, and whatnot. Generating them requires a lot of energy, time, and money. However, AI can smooth out this process by creating these assets at scale and a much lower price tag. AI can generate interactive narratives from instructive narratives, with AI Dungeon 2 being a prominent example. With its AI quests, AI Dungeon 2 allows players to generate actions on the move.
Simulating the real world can be a tall order for game developers, but AI can represent intricate systems pretty well. FIFA’s Ultimate Team is a great example of how AI systems successfully model weather and players’ emotions to create realistic gameplay. Similarly, the chemistry score of a team shows how well different players combine on the pitch, the team’s morale rises or falls due to the on-field results, and much more.
Game testing is a critical part of game development that lets developers check if there are any issues with players’ actions, simulations, animations, and more. AI can now detect even minor components removed from the game’s framework.
Modl.ai is an example of a tool that implements QA bots handling the repetitive aspects of game testing.
Let’s now discuss the best tools to accelerate game art using AI.
Meshy.AI provides the ability to generate 3D models from a text prompt. You can generate hundeds of 3D assets for game in a matter of minutes.
The limitations of this tool is that the meshes are not yet perfect, and the output models are not always game ready depending on your requirements.
Promethean has risen rapidly in the ranks of AI art generators, thanks to its ability to feature-rich 3D worlds. You just have to provide it with a simple prompt and it generates a complex environment from it, reducing your effort and time by a significant margin. From dense forests to crowded cities, Promethean can create any environment you like in a short time.
Skybox is another prominent tool for creating intricate environments and game visual effects. Also known as text2Skybox, machine learning is at the helm of this program. From realistic weather effects to vibrant days and nights, Skybox can help artists develop whatever visuals they like. Moreover, the program has a user-friendly interface and a massive filter library, making it easier for both beginners and advanced artists in their craft.
3DFY.AI is a popular art creation tool that uses the text23D concept, letting you create 3D objects from simple text prompts. Thanks to its advanced deep learning techniques, the program can analyze 2D images and convert them to intricate 3D models.
Moreover, it creates models rapidly, saving developers a lot of precious time. For instance, you can create a unique RPG shield, add tie dye texture to it using Runway, and finally implement it into the tie dye game.
Runway comes packed with various useful features to accelerate game art using AI. The Gen 1 version was great, but the Gen 2 is even better with advanced learning capabilities. It can create intricate animations, interactive interfaces, textures, and more. You can create numerous types of textures for your names with Runway in a short amount of time.
You can even create visually appealing videos using simple text prompts with Runway Gen 2. You can transfer the style of any source video to the AI-generated video in which the character exhibits similar characteristics and movements.
Here are the best AI tools for 2D game art available today.
Scenario is one of the most comprehensive tools for AI art generation. Its fine-tuning feature sets it apart from other tools, allowing you to train the AI based on your unique style and artistic inclinations.
When you upload your data to Scenario, it learns from the colors, patterns, and designs and considers it your unique style. Creating images using Scenario uses the data you have previously fed to stay in the same creative lane.
NightCafe Creator is a community-focused game art program that uses various successful AI models, such as Stable Diffusion, DALL-e 3, and more. It allows you to share your creations with other enthusiasts, chat with them, and participate in art challenges.
Till date, NighCafe Creator has been responsible for the creation of over 465 AI artworks. You can use its free version to create a single image with short runtime. Creating more complex art requires higher cost credits, but NightCafe provides some of them for free daily. NighCafe uses VQGAN and CLIP - the former is an art generator while the latter determines how well the art matches user prompts.
Leonardo.Ai is one of the most powerful AI 2D art generators focusing on speed and consistency. Its image generation tool is built for both beginners and advanced users, with a variety of settings that users can tweak according to their requirements.
Leonardo.Ai has recently introduced Style References, allowing you to apply styles from one image to another. It is ideal in situations where style consistency is required, such as interior design, fashion, marketing visuals, and more.
Artbreeder provides multiple tools to create 2D artwork, such as Mixer, Tuner, and more. The Tuner lets you create highly accurate images with simple prompts. All you need to do is write your prompt in the box and click Generate. Similarly, Mixer allows you to mix different images and create new artwork. Another feature of Artbreeder is patterns, which lets you select a pattern and combine it with an image to create a unique look.
Jasper is an art copilot that lets you generate images swiftly. Its art generator just requires a simple prompt with as many details as you like. Moreover, you can select various styles to enhance your artistic creativity. One of the best things about Jasper is that the images you create are copyright-free, so you can use them however you want in your games.
While AI is undoubtedly powerful and effective, helping artists create exceptional games, it has some limitations. Exploring them is important to have a holistic picture of AI in game art development.
Copyright issues are one of the major concerns surrounding AI art development. Recently, around 4,700 artists, including prominent figures like Norman Rockwell and Wes Anderson, filed a lawsuit against Midjourney and other AI firms. When AI creates art, there is always a question of who owns the artwork. Many AI art generators do not allow the creator to own their art while potentially using the work of other artists in their datasets in the first place. It creates gray legal areas that are hard to understand and resolve.
AI is powerful but certainly not perfect, resulting in unpredictable gameplay patterns and unintentional bugs. It can frustrate players and developers; both want an enjoyable and bug-free experience. Moreover, the developer might have a hard time editing an AI-generated code, as it could lead to its complete breakdown.
AI art has come a long way, but it still has significant flaws, generating outright bizarre results sometimes. For instance, AI is notorious for misrepresenting hands with more fingers than usually are on a human hand, confusing hands for feet, and more. Gaming is all about having a consistent visual experience, which AI art cannot always provide.
Visuals are at the heart of any game, the first thing players see upon launch. Video games today are more complex than ever, with players demanding even more intricate visuals that mimic the real world. That’s quite a task and requires class-leading expertise provided by Cominted Labs.
We are a leading game art outsourcing company creating everything from 3D characters to 3D environments, texturing, and animation. Thanks to an experienced team of developers and artists, we have created a stellar portfolio of environments and characters. With predictable pricing and cost-effective solutions, we offer the most reliable game art outsourcing services on the market.
So, book a call with us today and let us take you on a transformative game art journey.
