AI covers for mods

[Tj Pepler - Critcher]

11 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

It's similar to asking a programmer to do code work for free

So this is my point though https://www.vintagestory.at/forums/forum/34-mod-requestsideas/
My case was just if it's ok to expect the modders to produce code and models and everything out of the kindness of their heart, and /or commision work, why couldn't we have an equivalent forum titled art-requestideas and be able to have a place to request help from people as well.  You are correct that some people do try and take advantage but I assure you I have had my share of PMs asking for free total conversions of the game   I guess I'm just hoping that there are artists with the same sense of sharing and giving that would like to contribute to mods and I would like for them to have an official place to exist.

[LadyWYT]

7 minutes ago, Tj Pepler - Critcher said:

So this is my point though https://www.vintagestory.at/forums/forum/34-mod-requestsideas/
My case was just if it's ok to expect the modders to produce code and models and everything out of the kindness of their heart, and /or commision work, why couldn't we have an equivalent forum titled art-requestideas and be able to have a place to request help from people as well.  You are correct that some people do try and take advantage but I assure you I have had my share of PMs asking for free total conversions of the game   I guess I'm just hoping that there are artists with the same sense of sharing and giving that would like to contribute to mods and I would like for them to have an official place to exist.

Ah I gotcha. Yeah that would be a nice section to have, though it seems like thumbnail image requests might already fall under the "Mod requests" category. Except instead of someone requesting a mod, it's the modder requesting help with assets. Probably wouldn't hurt to drop a request or two in there to see if anyone bites.

[Tj Pepler - Critcher]

I think though that we do need to value the artists time though and maybe a nice way to do it would be the modder can post her mod and post the art that they would like, then the artist could look at the mod and even the author and see if they want to support the project.  But the modding forums are weird sometimes and so many posts are in between right, so that's why I keep coming back to a seperate forum, that is just specifically for the one case, because I'm sure that a lot of modders would love to be able to show off their hard work in a shiny wrapper   and that would make it a nice one stop shop for that purpose.  (I think there needs to be a bit of restructuring in a few other places too, LOL)

[orphan]

I hope they eventually start performing quality control over the moddb, most AI generated thumbnails have AI made code and can be flimsy for security reasons and updating... often times even built on stolen code from previous modders, examples like the grave mod being directly from another grave mod

[Vexxvididu]

On 3/16/2026 at 9:39 AM, Vexxvididu said:

Yeah, overall the community is pretty anti AI.  ...but I can also see the temptation since AI art is just very EASY and cheap to make.  It's very accessible.  I was very tempted to do it myself for my mod but decided against it.

I felt inspired to draw a crappy greenhouse in MS paint.... may or may not attach to my mod posting, lol.  (SteadyGreenHouses).

[Bruno Willis]

9 hours ago, Tj Pepler - Critcher said:

a nice way to do it would be the modder can post her mod and post the art that they would like, then the artist could look at the mod and even the author and see if they want to support the project.

This.

I've seen mods where the modder has included a line in the description saying "looking for thumbnail art" and then crossed it out when they got some. That's a great way for those of us with art skills but no money to "pay" for mods we like. 

[Lielac]

9 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

I felt inspired to draw a crappy greenhouse in MS paint.... may or may not attach to my mod posting, lol.  (SteadyGreenHouses).

Excellently evocative of the mod! I love the snowman, lol

[Broccoli Clock]

I avoid AI at all times, simple as that, irrespective of what context.

AI images in the mod, I'm not installing the mod. 
AI images in your advert, I'm not buying your product.

etc, etc..

It's a principle thing, absolutely based, even if using AI would "speed up" or "lessen" my work I have no interest in using it. In fact there was a poster on here crowing about how they  had uploaded all the VS lore to AI and was using it to somehow generate content. They were immediately placed on ignore.

Anyone that knows how AI works, at a technical level, will avoid it like the plague. Training anything on the vox populi of the Internet is just inherently stupid, yet that's the model. I know this is getting off topic in regard to just the ModDB, but overall AI in general is a massive shit sandwich that people are being forced to eat.

[ifoz]

2 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

In fact there was a poster on here crowing about how they  had uploaded all the VS lore to AI and was using it to somehow generate content.

The VS lore we currently have is so intentionally vague and requires specific historical knowledge to understand some parts of, that I can't imagine an AI would be very good at interpreting it and creating content from it. At least if the idea was to make the content lore-accurate. 

Personally in the past I've just used screenshots of content for my mods, as it gets straight to the point and shows off a bit of what is added. Usually with some stereotypical 'medieval' font featuring the mod name on top because I think that's funny. 

[Teh Pizza Lady]

AI = Artificial Intelligence

Currently AI cannot exceed a quarter of what a human mind could achieve. This is why your most powerful computers in scifi games and TV Series use human brains at their cores.

That said, it can help organize things, help reason through processes, act as a sounding board, etc, but it should never be in the driver's seat and certainly shouldn't ever perform the majority of the work when developing a game or mod or creating a picture. AI can only replicate that which has already been created. It cannot create anything new.

[Farmore]

Personally as an artist irl I tend to overlook anything with AI as AI conflicts with my personal worldview. I tend to view art more philosophically (how, why, when, etc) as opposed to a thing to advertise your mod/product (not that there’s anything wrong with that either).

My impression of strict programmers is that they are looking for a means to an end, an image to get people to check out their product, marketing, advertising, or just a placeholder image. So a lot of them like AI because it fulfills these requirements.

I don’t know how the average non-programmer/non-artist views AI and how it affects whether it not they download a mod but I know a lot of artists will just automatically overlook it, so, if someone is using AI that is something to accept. And I am speaking generally here this isn’t applicable to everyone, but it is my impression of a lot of programmers and fellow artists I’ve spoken to?

[Maelstrom]

On 3/19/2026 at 9:16 AM, LadyWYT said:

In fairness, that isn't really an AI problem, as much as it is just part of being human. I think it's natural for us to look for shortcuts and easier ways to do things, and while easier methods aren't necessarily bad themselves, always looking for an "easy out" can be a real problem. [emphasis added]

Johnny Come-Lately to the convo with a comment from left field...

"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind.  Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."
- Frank Herbert
Dune 1965

[DUCATISLO]

16 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

I felt inspired to draw a crappy greenhouse in MS paint.... may or may not attach to my mod posting, lol.  (SteadyGreenHouses).

bait used to be belivable

[Thorfinn]

AI is a serious mis-characterization anyway. It's all a model, albeit one you "train". For the forseeable future (and probably forever), it's just blindly following a glorified "if-then" algorithm. Zero creativity, as there is nothing creative about just following orders. 

The main reason AI output looks so goofy is that it's more or less averaging all its training data into some muddy mush, then reintroducing a pseudo-random variability.

All that said, I have nothing against it. It's just a tool, little different than any other. Just like I'm fine with a mass produced mug, I'm indifferent. If you want something that speaks to the human condition, don't look to "AI". If you are not looking for something spiritual, why not?

[Vexxvididu]

1 hour ago, DUCATISLO said:

bait used to be belivable

How is that "bait?"  It's just amusingly bad art that is now on my mod!  I don't think "bait" means what you think it means.

Edited 19 minutes ago by Vexxvididu