As mentioned in my last post, here are some images of recently added 3d terrain, and my ongoing mdf ruined building collection
After finishing the solo game on Thursday, I reset the table with some terrain items. The river by the way is from Peters Paperboys terrain but made 2 or 3 times as wide as normal and printed on A3 at work.
The red brick mdf buildings have had some simple architectural enhancements added - 2mm x 5mm balsa wood strips with brick paper PVA'd to them then added to the exterior wall
The 3d printed church in a bit more detail too
The church is in two parts with separate removable roofs
A well-known Cardinal doing a guest sermon in the local church!
And finally for the terrain, these came in a bag of mdf "bits" from local supplier Battle Kiwi for NZ$12
You get about 40 of these wall pieces, plus some rubble, and I combined 2 or 3 of the walls to create these multi use parts.
After some email comms with buddy Mark (1866 and All That) this morning I gave two different AI image generators a try
I took this image from my last game
In the Google Gemini I wrote something like "Use this photo to create a Commando comic book style cartoon image of the armoured car on a cobbled road in Russian countryside with a speech bubble saying "Vorwerts, Hans""
Not too bad - so then I tried another one....
I then decided to give the Chat GPT v5 one a try
I took this image from one of my recent solo skirmish games
Again, the command was to make a Commando style comic illustration out of this image of Soviet female soldiers attacking Germans in a Stalingrad factory
Not bad - but I asked for another one with slightly amended instructions
I didn't really want the word Commando there - and the lady leading the charge is in a very weird pose - but I had to stop here, as I had used up all my free goes for this 24-hour period - I can do another 6 or 8 tomorrow, if I want too!
Now finally, going in reverse order as it were - this is the second image I requested from Chat GPT - the instructions were " create a close up of a 28mm wargames figure of a female soviet sniper in a brick built ruined building at Stalingrad 1942"
Drum Roll.......
The only problem is - now, I want this figure in my collection!
As a test - I just did the same instruction to the freebie no restriction do as many as you like AI generator I have been using previously - these are the best two - and not too shabby either really
Cheers for now.
The 3d terrain is superb. AI definitely has its uses.
ReplyDeleteThanks Scotty, got a couple more pieces of 3d terrain on the paint desk currently.
DeleteThe terrain buildings and set up certainly look the part, the challenge is know when enough tinkering scatter is enough. As for the AI interesting I guess at some point the engines will be able to provide opponents for solo wargaming , they probably can already ?
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt. I am currently still in tinkering mode!
DeleteAwesome terrain sir!
ReplyDeleteThank you Michal
DeleteVery inspiring since I’m on the same terrain creation journey as you. I’ve been using AI in a less imaginative role - creating fake 1930s Newspapers for my upcoming VBCW campaign - prompted it has to be said by your recent forays into this hobby adjunct.
ReplyDeleteCheers JBM....funny you say that about the newspapers, I had an idea to do something similar although I can't remember what or why!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting images. I have a bit of mix of fascination and concern about AI art having had a bit of a play with it myself. It is certainly raiding other peoples art as part of its own ‘creative’ process and I suppose that is the rub.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my grand daughters want to pursue art, but it seems a rather dead end thing to study and will increasingly become so and not likely lead to success, especially as the AI gets better. I note that some magazines that used to have an artists art on the front of the mag are now using AI manufactured work instead. It is probably an inevitable journey, a one way street that none of us will be able to escape.
I am not split on the advancement of technology taking jobs as that is a real world effect, but I am split on AI claiming to be creative, but to be ‘creative’ relying entirely on the work of others without credit, permission or respect of Intellectual Property.
A subject deserving its own post perhaps.
Thanks Norm, that is unfortunate about your granddaughters. Never having had any artistic ability, a career in art isn't something that I think of when people are talking about AI taking jobs. We constantly hear how millions of jobs will disappear, but I am pretty sure we heard the same in the 80's and 90 's about computers, so I am hopeful all that will happen is that human employment will just evolve again....once, most of us were toiling away planting, growing or harvesting crops!
DeleteNice work on your terrain Keith, you have a fair collection now, very impressive. The AI stuff is very interesting, looks pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie, I need to stop fiddling with the msf buildings and get back to painting figures!
DeleteThe AI is interesting but I can see what Norm means about the implications for people with creative talent....
The image of the Soviet sniper is very convincing. It looks like a realistic painting. For me, AI imagery makes a good crutch for those lacking artistic talent (like me!) to help convey a message or idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon, I find it quite amazing and am just hopeful none of the more dystopian visions of the future come to pass!
DeleteSome great AI compositions there Keith. Mark seems to have mastered the AI world as well. I have tried a couple of times and have found I have frittered away several hours for very unsatisfactory results, and then run up against the subscription request just as it is getting interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence, I think it basically boils down to either...a very simple request like "Take this image and turn it into a battle comic image" or a very detailed one where you try to think of everything! I have wasted a fair bit of time in it in the last couple of weeks!
DeleteGreat looking terrain Keith and the mdf bits from Battle Kiwi seems to be a great bargain.
ReplyDeleteThe AI work is interesting and you got some great results based on your own minis, but like Norm I see the impact on the creative workers... there is an article in today's paper on a homewares retailer selling posters that look a lot like the work of some artists. The retailer insists they have not infringed copyright or done anything illegal 😒I don't think there is any issues using it for your own enjoyment, but if you are selling the results I don't think that is fair.
I enjoyed a few of the motion videos I created out of my own figures but then got annoyed with all the time it was using up and stopped.
Thanks Ben - the thing is, why would anyone pay for something someone else created with a generative AI - they could literally do it themselves!
DeleteSo, if I wanted a "portrait" of my wife, I could probably load something like - use this photo to create an oil painting in the style of Rembrandt of the same woman wearing 17th century clothing - or anything else I wanted it to do - maybe I will make her the Mona Lisa LOL!
Great to see plenty of shots of your finished terrain Keith, and very good it looks too:).
ReplyDeleteThose AI 'Commando' style images do look great, ditto the first female sniper that if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have assumed was a high quality diorama piece! AI is certainly coming on leaps and bounds, but at what price in the long run?
As mentioned before and touched upon above, AI is already being used widely across the design sector. I think it was Hewlett Packard that announced circe 20K job losses in its business as they will use AI instead. I know when 3D printing came in, the number of modelmakers required for a job massively reduced. Talking with former colleagues a few weeks ago, they basically do 10% of what they used to do, due to the speed and quality of prints nowadays, coupled with photorealistic renderings of products, meaning finished models are rarely required.
Thanks Steve - glad you liked my terrain pieces!
DeleteI am not sure where AI will lead but one thing is for sure, no one is going to put any controls on it to protect people's jobs, whatever they might do for a living. Our gaming mate Andrew used to be a model maker for a guy who supplied councils or large construction companies with representations of what a new housing estate might look like - but he hasn't been involved with that for 20+ years and from what I understand, the business no longer exists because what it produced isn't required any longer.
I am nearing the end of my working life (thank the good Lord!) so it's easy for me not to be too worried about the long-term impact but every technology that has come along that has been predicted to wipe out all the jobs, somehow never seems to do that and people's jobs just change - hopefully AI will be the same - and if it isn't, we will all just have to get used to whatever brave new world it leads to, because it's not going away.
Your MDF buildings with brick sheet look great and I really like the church. The thing with AI art is that is entirely derivative, so you get nothing new, not a problem if you want Commando versions of toy soldiers! I do work in the arts and it's certainly having impact, having said that chatgpt is doing para legal jobs and accountants are being replaced so not just the arts, all fun and games!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain, it was a bit of a mission covering all the buildings with the brick paper, particularly cutting out all the windows etc, but I do think the end results were worth it!
DeleteI dare say AI could theoretically replace large chunks of my job too, although I don't think my employers, or indeed New Zealand as a whole, can change quickly enough for if to affect me personally. Fingers crossed the impacts it has on society are not as dire as some are predicting!
The buildings are superb, Keith.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Richard!
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