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Indie Devs Respond To AI-Generated Pixel Art Fantasy Game Concept

Not quite the same, but completely possible without AI.

If you've been on the 3D art and gaming side of X/Twitter lately, you've probably come across that one viral AI-generated first-person clip of someone holding a sword and torch and wandering through a fantasy forest, presented as a concept for a game.

The puzzling question of "Why did this get 150K likes?" has a straightforward answer: many people simply aren't familiar with high-quality pixel art styles. We know that major games tend to stick to limited art directions, and on top of that, not everyone can distinguish real art from AI-generated content, and unfortunately, the two are becoming increasingly harder to tell apart.

Well, if this is the kind of game you've been looking for, the good news is that there are plenty of games like this already out there, and indie developers have been quick to showcase them. You might argue that few actual projects can replicate the smooth visuals of the original clip, but it's important to remember that AI-generated content lacks consistency. At the end of the day, even if it didn't, would you really want to invest your precious time in something no other person has dedicated time to creating?

Check out some real game clips below, you might find something that catches your interest:

Maybe you're just looking for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. It's been around for 29 years and has likely been updated to this level of graphical detail.

Either way, you can find plenty of different games in Quote Retweets of the original video that are crafted with genuine love and effort by real people. Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on InstagramTwitterLinkedInTelegramTikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

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Comments 3

  • Anonymous user

    I've watched all these game examples, and unfortunately none of them comes anywhere close to that exact calm, dremy fantasy vibe, and the vibrant, rich pixelart of the AI-generated gifs. I do understand that many people would want to prove that "AI slop can't be better than handcrafted visuals", but in this case AI is objectively better, at least for me. Maybe some people are in denial because it feels bad to admit that AI is better -- I understand, that's how I felt when after 15 years of making music I opened SUNO and in 5 minutes it created a better and higher quality song with my lyrics than I could ever do myself. But it's the truth. These fantasy pixel gifs evoke very special emotion in people, and it's not because they "haven't seen good pixel art before", it's because it's objectively better than most pixel art.

    0

    Anonymous user

    ·16 days ago·
  • Anonymous user

    > something no other person has dedicated time to creating?

    The more AI-haters lie to support their fear-driven agenda, the more regular people are going to tune them out.  So keep it up!

    0

    Anonymous user

    ·2 months ago·
  • Lord Gfx

    This is disappointing and so short-sighted. Why not engage with  Tim Soret's actual point that's being QT'd by all of these tweets? Tim Soret is a respected developer actively working in the space of pixel-art and graphics programming, with a game in progress that's vastly more stylish than anything here. Why did he say this, what point is he really making? Do better

    0

    Lord Gfx

    ·2 months ago·

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