The upcoming remake of Damaged Sword: Shadow of the Templars makes use of AI, and in keeping with designer Charles Cecil, that expertise is the one purpose for the sport’s existence.
Speaking to Polygon, Cecil was frank in saying that Revolution Software program “could not afford” to make the title every other manner. Some other methodology would’ve been “not possible,” he mentioned, and the expertise has been notably useful with the in-game sprites.
For a lot of the sport trade in recent times, AI utilization has grow to be synonymous with theft, and considerations about it occurring throughout numerous departments similar to artwork and voice performing. However some studios imagine the expertise can be utilized along with human builders as a manner to assist finalize polished belongings.
The unique Shadow of the Templars had 30,000 hand-drawn sprites on animated, hand-painted backgrounds. As such, Cecil knew it will be expensive to have a human worker (or extra) do all of that work, whilst the sport’s authentic line drawings had been intact and offered for human artists to make use of as a reference level.
“A couple of hundred” sprites had been produced by Revolution. It was after a visit to an AI analysis crew and recommendation from an NVIDIA engineer that led the crew to determining how AI might interpolate frames between hand-drawn key frames. Outlines and physique element got consideration, and palms and faces had been manually drawn on afterwards.
Cecil informed Polygon he has comparable reservations that different creatives have about AI. Even so, he known as utilizing the expertise on Shadow’s sprites an “absolute sport changer,” and believes the sport is healthier for it. “As an alternative of taking an hour to do each,” he mentioned, “it takes between 5 and 10 minutes to do each.”
“Within the case of sprites…permitting actually gifted character artists and animators to take the unique and mould it into one thing actually particular, somewhat than having to undergo the drudgery of redrawing all the pieces once more.”
Polygon’s full story goes into Cecil’s return to the bigger Damaged Sword franchise and its upcoming sixth installment, Damaged Sword — Parzival’s Stone. It may be learn right here.