2025 is almost over. The last thing I’ll do this year is finally write a comprehensive statement on my views on AI usage in my games.
So… Like a year or so ago I added a big new set of “Danger events” Vidcom Illustrations and we also updated the Steam store page to better communicate that we are using AI generated graphics. This caused quite a discussion about LLM usage and a true little storm of criticism on some forum threads from a smaller but still sizable part of the SE players.
I have refrained from going into direct forum or social media debates about the pros and cons of using AI generated art. I think anybody interested in such a discussion is already quite aware of the arguments on each side of the divide.
Also I strongly feel that players have the privilege to vent their frustrations and viewpoints. As Voltaire said, and I paraphrase: I will always defend your right to say what I don’t like to hear… I heartily concur with that. Furthermore I cannot really enter in a “thread-war” and stay civil at the same time. People call you a thief, and I say I hear you, they call me a criminal, etc… and at some point I would reply something insulting… and I really don’t want to enter any mudfights. As we all know: the mud sticks on all the participants.
However I have been reading all the negative postings over the last year…as well as the positive postings, sometimes even defending me. Thanks for that. It always brings a smile to my face. And also thanks for the criticisms, it did make me think. And that is always a good thing.
I want to use this weblog posting to give a reply to most of what has been said and what the player base should expect from me concerning AI generation.
First of all… I love procedural design and Shadow Empire leans heavily in this direction. The emergence of LLMs interests me a lot as they are, I feel, in essence very close to procedural world creation. If I can use them to improve my procedural systems or increase the visual communication of my procedural systems I am likely to do so. The goal for me is to get the Planet and your little empire you are playing as immersive as possible.
I thought everybody would agree with that… that for example for the event “alien critter infestation” an AI-gen illustration would be preferred above no illustration at all. Obviously I was wrong there. But I still believe this is better. Now, I just believe that not everybody agrees with me. I understand why some of you are allergic to AI-gen art and very strongly feel it’s an abomination and a soulless threat that threatens to devour us all. That it deserves a Butlerian Jihad! I understand, but I don’t agree. I still feel a middle ground in usage is possible.
There are also people who say that if I use AI-gen that I should make better use of it to actually have quality artwork and not people with six fingers, so to speak. This is something that I actually agree with and for the next graphics iteration, scheduled for Republica release, Q1-Q2, there should be improvements. And future iterations will probably be generated in the years to come when LLMs have made more big leaps. For better or worse it looks like the LLM generated stuff, their coherence among each other, and their eventual adherence to large reference portfolios, specification texts and contextual rulesets will only improve.
What excites me the most about the LLMs however is that it allows non-artists to create graphics and picture specific scenes they have in their minds’ eye. They have it in their minds’ eye, but they miss the artistic talent to visualize it for others to see. Well with AI-gen that problem is solved. And for this purpose I have done a major rewrite of the NewGfx Vidcom algorithms to allow unlimited modder-generated graphics to be added. This is not a simple case of allowing people to replace the existing art, which they could of course do, but the possibility of adding on top of it.
For example it is possible for a modder to create extra Vidcom variants for all the scenes that are outside (on the Planet surface; not in a bunker) and get them rendered as jungles. In that case the new gfx files would need a Filevar attached that would permit them being used only if the planet has alien trees. With these modder graphics added to the default graphics set the game would choose the new jungle ones if the condition set for it in the Filevar is true.
For example another modder could go so far as to make a specific jungle set with red lighting because of the Planet orbiting a red Sun. The Filevars system would allow it to only be shown if the alien tree condition and the red sun condition are both true.
Or for a more mundane, but extremely interesting, example a player could make a directory with say 100 paintings, and have it referenced from other Vidcom graphics then get random paintings displayed on a, say, interior wall or office wall. The painting curation and picks could be made conditional with the Filevar system.
I hope that some sort of collective graphics modding will become possible. It might provide fun moments to add to the immersion of Shadow Empire. I am not looking for unpaid artists here! As some critics might point out… But I am curious to see what modders will come up with. That is my main drive here. I like to be surprised. Heck, that’s why I like procedural creation in the first place.
For those that cannot stand AI art I am working hard on making it possible to disable all AI-generated art if the player wishes to do so. It is already possible for Portraits and Vidcom graphics and as it looks now this will be possible for the Stratagem art as well upon the next major core version upgrade and release of Republica DLC.
Another thing I want to say is that yes… I could have hired human artists. Yes. But currently I am counting towards 200 Vidcom graphics and 500 Stratagem graphics upon Republica release. My budget just doesn’t allow that and neither does my time planning. As it would take any single artist a really long long time to draw all that. Not sure anybody would really want to do that job without an AI assistant actually. The current approach also allows me to quickly generate new graphics whenever I do an impulsive addition of a new event or Stratagem.
So yes I thought about using human artists and yes I am sympathetic, but it would only work with a much lower graphics count.
I am still looking for a way to invest part of my revenue, equal to my former “human” art budgets, into real human artists and painters. We’ll get back on that topic after the Republica DLC release. In the meantime I can at least give the positive news that the 9 new music tracks that will be added with Republica are completely human made by our own Shadow Empire musician.
Now one more thing… I just have to point it out… the existing art that is being replaced was really not that super amazing. Most of it is actually copy-paste or collage-style-applied “stock art” and renders of stock-3d objects. I know some of you like its charm and I will try to continue to bring some new versions of this “programmer art” as some called it, to provide an alternative for AI-gen art. I will keep as much fallback option through the Prefs Tab as I can, without going to extremes though.
I have been trying to please everybody, but will obviously not succeed 100% with that. So I am more moving towards trying to please as many as possible, including my own preferences, which weigh, not surprisingly, quite heavily, in those calculations of optimum pleasing.
I think it is important to state my design philosophy concerning LLMs clearly. I will make my games and their rules myself and I will never use the prompt “make me a game”. When (and if) that day comes I’ll move on to do something else anyway. Maybe take up teaching? take long walks? Plenty of options available!
Anywho, I am getting off topic. The bottom line is: The game and the rules and how instances of things (classes) are procedurally generated are all written with clear human intent by me, Vic. If I can however use an LLM to provide variety or immersion with, for example: an often-reused image, an existing class instance, an alien critter instance, a decision event of minor worker strikes or whatever sort of thing like that, I will probably consider doing that.
I aim to provide more immersion and if it is a choice between AI-generated/assisted immersion.. Or… no extra immersion at all… I will choose the former.
That’s basically my core design philosophy concerning AI usage. Creative and mechanical direction rests with me. AI can be used to provide details and immersion, especially where otherwise none would be. I don’t know what the future will bring us…. and I do see how artist jobs are threatened by LLMs and I am trying over the coming years to offset similar modest sums as previous pre-AI SE graphics budgets to be allocated to human artist(s) so I stay more or less “carbon” neutral.
I hope you all had a merry xmas and I wish you an inspired and healthy new year! Good luck to all of you! And I’ll be back in 2026!
Best wishes,
Vic
I think there are probably important debates to be had on this issue (though perhaps not on the Steam forums, hehe) particularly regarding how images generated by a model that was trained on, e.g., scraped public internet material where permission wasn’t sought from the authors, should be treated, but I broadly agree with your position here.
I think the tech is exciting, especially how it might be used in tandem with procedural systems like those present in Shadow Empire. Shipping a collection of curated “baked” AI generated images is just scratching the surface: you could imagine one day shipping an optimized and finetuned image generation model *with the game* that could ingest context from the game and generate appropriate images on the fly, which could cover every imaginable combination of planets/suns/biomes, equipment/tech — and you could do fun stuff like regenerate character portraits to show age, traits, wounds, different attire to reflect differing political systems or factions, etc. It’s not quite at that level yet, but it seems to be where we might be headed in 3-4 years, especially as generation quality improves and models can be steered better. (This is theoretically possible today, but the hardware market penetration isn’t really there and the results are not reliable enough for a commercial release, in my opinion.)
First of all: I wish you have had a very good Christmas, and will have a great new year.
Then: I always like to read your thoughts, they make me think too. Thank you for sharing. I miss these more thoughtful posts, so if possible, keep them coming, even if they are not solely about Shadow Empire :)
As an LLM-generated images hater, philosophically and, usually, practically, I definitely appreciate there being as simple of an option as possible to turn it all off, like what there currently is. Also, I’m a fan of the pre-existing art. Also very excited for new tracks from the composer, as I’m also a big fan of the soundtrack!
It’s good to get a comprehensive look at your views on it, I definitely was a little nervous with the generated images on the moodboard posts that the game would go more, and inextricably, in this direction. There being options to turn it off, or replace the images with arbitrary images (like with nothing or with a mod art pack), I think fulfills most of my and other LLM haters’ criteria for enjoyment. I just think shadow empire is such a soulful game, one of my favorites of all time, and I’m very happy to be able to continue to enjoy it with a “human and bespoke procedural generation systems only” mode!
Thank you all for the comments. @Meduka , yes the future might bring big changes and I want SE to be able to navigate stormy waters, @ernie, yes I’ll try to go a bit deeper in my posts in 2026, @metime, I respect you position, and also you are on of the first on the other side of the aisle with a constructive tone, which motivates me a lot more to find a middle ground or parallel roads solutions. best wishes, Vic
Annex: There is an interesting ideological spectrum becoming clear on my radar anyways. It goes from say post-humanism (think Elon Musk) on one extreme to like the unabomber on the other extreme. There is something to be said for stop looking at screens and depending on computers, internet, etc… in general. Of course the proponents of that view are not participating in the discussions as they don’t use computers. Just wanted to mention them though.
Hi Vic. Thank you for explaining your thought process. I have two thoughts that I truly hope you read and take on board. As I love your games and really want to see you continue your success.
1: I am truly and very much expecting the dlc to get absolutely lambasted on steam due to this, and for the main game to get review bombed, and this may kill all the momentum on my favourite game. I don’t want it to happen but I’m certain it will once more outlets start covering the DLC and this comes up.
So I wonder even if you morally are okay with using AI, wouldn’t it be better for the future of the game to avoid this backlash regardless. It seems like it will just be self destructive.
2: This is my biggest point and truly hope you weight it up. All of the AI image generation is based on stealing other people’s artistic work and effort and they get nothing in return. As an artist who created one of the best strategy games ever, how does this thought affect your opinion on its usage? The AI companies themselves all but admit this is all copyright infringement and theft.
If I asked an AI tool to make me a game that is just like shadow empire and it managed to steal your source code and generate it for me based on that, and I put that on steam and it made money off your work… would you not be put out?
Regardless of what happens. Thank you for the hundred upon hundreds of hours of enjoyment. I truly hope you read this and consider it.
Hi Idris,
Thanks for your thoughts. Quick reply:
As you might have guessed I do not believe LLMs are doing theft. Imho they are learning to do similar stuff (or even copies of existing works) by looking at millions of examples. Much like a human would learn (and be able to copy as well). I have seen these opposing points of view many times. And probably neither you nor me will be able to be convinced by the other.
It is definitively possible that an AI in the future, say dunno 5-10 years, just by playing a million games of Shadow Empire and other 4x’s would be able to build new 4x games just based on a prompt. I am okay with that. Time to go do something else. (by the way stealing the source code is a bit different than learning from playing the games and/or looking at the games)
Also I don’t see a problem with mixing human artists and AI work. I don’t want to switch completely to AI art. And I hope to start placing some new commissions later this year. I would like to keep my budget at least the same size for humans artists as before.
And yes the review bombing is quite depressing. And a bit unfair to be honest. As I feel it is mostly a way for these people to hurt their “ideological opponent” instead of giving a balanced review of the game taking all dimensions into account. While they can even switch if off; there are not many devs who aim to make this fully possible.
Some of them told me its not about that, but its about my choice of having those ai-gen gfx in the game for who do want them… At the same time they dont seem to have a problem with using Steam that allows ai-gen content and non-ai-gen content. They are not boycotting Steam, nor Microsoft for example… but seem to be eager to hurt me.
But this is the way of the world. To agree to disagree is not for everybody and some people will always feel they must fight it out on “the streets” instead of through due political process and law making.
In any case I will never base my decisions on any kind of coercion like review bombing and will take any fallout as it comes.
Best wishes,
Vic
Hello Vic!
First of all I need to say that just now I discovered this amazing game. I brought and start playing just this January, and I already have more than 100 hours playing. I really can express on words how I`m pleased with it, especially for the deepness on it`s systems/mechanics, the procedural creating system and immersion that just this game gives me.
Reading this blog post really fits with what I really like from the game, and if A.I. is here to help (time and/or money), although I dislike A.I., It`s worth to use it. It is cool that you are trying to understand the other side from players that are totally against it and trying to give options, but I think that you can’t please everyone and i say don’t let the harsh criticism affects you.
Best wishes for you on this new year.
I appreciate you laying out your thoughts clearly, but do consider I have removed your game from my steam account and will never buy from your studio again. You probably don’t care about one customer, but this is a hard line for me.
Hello VIC. I believe you would want me to work with you on your game.
I do not believe you are a solo developer.
You use AI to steal or lend other developers ideas.
The problem with your game, I loved your game from the start the core premise.
You have degenerated far from it.
The AI you use allow you to AI generate the entire game not just the picture
and the AI is vulnerable to AI agents from companies and spyware.
You made the game a social justice simulator because the AI is re-programmed re-trained by remote leftwing moderators to change and curate training from costumers.
The LLM are doing more than theft, the LLM link directly to other LLMs and companies and political groups.
I get personalised insults in my game, suspiciously named locations and other puns.
LLMs only link you to the source material you should control much more narrowly.
You do not understand how AI work, that is not what scraping means.
Scraping means analysing, destroying, and rebuilding software from binary level.
I am not opposed to AI, only your unethical and inefficient use of it.
The game needs many more mechanics.
In particular, the ai is not trained on human users.
I seriously think your AI is insane,
The ai is cheating and ignoring your own mechanics alot.
I love the game and I really hope it doesnt get any worse.
What I don’t like is the loss of progression,
systematic detail and complexity is lost slightly.
The world is a planet after the galactic apocalypse
and why are there real world reference to politics?
Why are are there social justice immigrants ?
Why is the near-stone age planet full of capitalists and other modern references to real-world countries?
Why all the hard-coded attempts to steer and control my in-game choices?
So yes, I feel the backstory and the realism of building a civilisation from nothing
is lost.
The traders ruins the immersion
LLM’s are not unethical in themselves.
But I feel that AI needs alot of strict control
to link exactly to human sources you want.
Getting good and bad imput.
I hope that you use AI to optimise your game without letting the AI make too many decisions.
Also I want more influence and direct control of the AI through player choices.
Do this-
Add more hexes with more terrain systems.
Make the backstory matter more.
Procedually Compress information to create bigger worlds.
Art generation, you should use multiple layers of images for different effects.
Shadows, glow, edges, lights, topology, characters etc.
You should always be mindful of the human art you refer too.
For the AI-generated dialogs and options I suspect you are using,
You really need more control.
@studenteternal
Bye! thanks for leaving politely
@Virtue
Thanks for all the feedback. Made a few notes. There is some stuff that might get worked on in the near future. Did not agree with everything though. On the topic of LLM i just wanted to remind you that any LLM-generated content is PRE-generated. The game itself does not use any LLMs. So “I get personalised insults in my game” must be by random chance. But feel free to share this personalised insult, because I am quite curious.
Best wishes,
Vic
This is one of my favorite strategy games, so it is incredibly disappointing to see the use of AI-generated images. It just doesn’t sit right with me that large tech companies get to essentially harvest and profit from the work of artists without any form of credit or compensation to the artists they use the work of, especially when many of these artists are already barely able to make a living off of their own work. I do at least appreciate the option to disable these images.
This doesn’t mean I don’t sympathize, of course. This game is very ambitious, and I know you’re working with limited resources. I understand that sometimes compromises have to be made with projects such as this, and I really do look forward to what the future has in store for this game. I just hope that you continue to commission the work of some real artists to at least some degree.
Best of luck to you, and I hope the release of Republica is successful! It’s exactly the kind of expansion I’ve really been wanting for this game.
@Marcus,
Hi! thanks for the kind words… and yes there is much ambiguity as well as debate possible on the whole topic. Its been 3 months or more since i wrote this… The more I have been working with ai-Gen art the more I start to feel a hybrid approach is neccessary. My plan is to increase my gfx budget for the next DLC or other release (hard to say which right now). Which should be relatively easy as I hardly spent anything on artists since release (2020) even before the LLM invention. An unexpected problem however is that some (dont know how many will reply this) human artists seem to refuse to work on any project that also uses ai-generated art at the same time.
Best wishes, Vic
Vic
Vic, I can’t thank you enough for the work you have done (& continue to do) per this, outstanding (my all-time favorite) 4x pc game. I have been playing this gem (lots of multiplayer) since June of 2020. Came out at a great time for me, considering the chaos/issues revolving around the pandemic.
It is, extremely, disappointing to me, to see the recent negative Steam reviews related to your implementation of AI art. The bulk of which are just nonsense, imho; & sadly, could keep others from an awesome 4x experience. Though a smidgeon of research should/would encourage those misled, by those reviews, to make that purchase.
Though the game didn’t need it, I like it & am always looking forward to any & all additions/improvements you add to this incredible creation of yours.
Again…thank you.