Well, not totally new, but this is one of the major contributions to my absence from the blogosphere for a bit...the dreaded AI!
Based on Mark at 1866 and all That blog, I wondered how a complete game presented in comic book style would look, and fortunately for me, I have several perfect examples to experiment with...my solo Pulp adventures. This one, for example!
Bydand: "The Death Mask of Ramallah - Episode 4" - Sunday Pulp Solo Game
I copied and pasted all my AAR for one of these into Word, removed extraneous bits referencing die roll etc, then put the resulting prose into the Gemini AI and asked to create a "script " for a multi panel cartoon. I took pictures of the main character 28mm figures and got Gemini to create comic book versions of them. Then, I combined the script with the images to produce this......
Interior Ballroom
European ladies gathered for “Ladies Day”, chatting beneath chandeliers while a local dancer performs.
Mission Setup
Lady Camilla D’Arcy, Fi Lloyd‑Roper, and Jane Wellington shown in a small inset montage, preparing for their covert retrieval of the Mask.
Ballroom Atmosphere
The ladies mingling, champagne glasses, gossip, and the dancer mid‑spin.
Exterior Patrol
Two Italian riflemen on sentry duty at the entrance; two more patrol the garden paths.
Kitchen Infiltration
Mistaken Guest
A confused society lady entering the kitchen, startled: “Oh, so sorry… wait, what have you got there, girl?”
The Shadowy Observer
Kimberley Fyll‑Baye watching from a doorway — not part of the mission but snooping.
Camilla Arrives
Lady Camilla entering the kitchen in servant disguise, catching the flustered guest mid‑retreat.
The Ambush
Camilla raising a serving tray to strike the unsuspecting guest from behind.
Aftermath
The unconscious party‑goer on the floor as Camilla and Fiona exchange a look of grim efficiency.
Corridor Suspicion
Cover Blown
Jane’s alarmed face as the Capitano realises he doesn’t recognise her.
Jane Overpowered
The Capitano striking Jane with his Beretta butt, knocking her unconscious.
Lady Jane Intercepted
Two irritated guests blocking Lady Jane, demanding their long‑overdue drinks. She brushes past them.
Corridor Commotion
Guests, Kim, and an ambassador’s dog gather as the Italian junior leader rushes toward the disturbance.
Capitano Reassures Guests
The Capitano politely dismissing Kim and her companion: “Please rejoin the party, ladies.”
Alarm Raised
The Capitano shouting orders: “Check all the servants now! There may be more spies!”
Sentry Recalled
One of the exterior sentries heading inside, rifle slung, responding to the alarm.
Fi Blocked by Guests
Fi confronted by thirsty, indignant guests; her internal monologue: “LITERALLY dying of thirst? I think you are literally an idiot.”
Junior Leader Confronts Fi
Fi turning a corner into the Italian junior leader as he moves to interrogate her. Lady Jane fails her bluff.
Lady Jane Strikes Back
Lady Jane knocking the junior leader flat with her trusty drinks tray.
Escape Under Fire
Fi and Lady Camilla sprinting for the exit as the Capitano fires twice and misses.
Escape Under Fire
Meanwhile back in the Embassy
British Legation Epilogue Meanwhile, in the Embassy
Lady Jane and Fi back at the Legation, disguises discarded, toasting their success. “Tough luck for poor old Wellington…” “She knew the score… and she helped keep the Mask out of dangerous hands.”
Meanwhile, in the Embassy
Meanwhile in a shady street
Well, that was fun but wasted a LOT of time - doesn't mean I won't do it again though! My wife, unbeknownst to me, has also "discovered " AI and used it for a much more practical purpose - it redesigned an area of our back garden she has never been particularly fond of - and, hey presto $500 later, and a couple of days graft outside and it's all transformed -
Lots more to catch up on so I will be posting again in a few days I think. Till then, let me know what you think about my AI story telling efforts! (and the garden, if you like 😉)
Well, that was different and a lot of fun to read through, Keith. I enjoy comics and graphic novels, so that appealed to me. Though, it sounds like the time needed is prohibitive.
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard, glad you approve - I think some of the delay is my poor instructions and having to redo them quite a few times - probably because it's a free version of Gemini - sometimes, it just seems to go off on a tangent of its own and creates random stuff and then I have to open a new session and take the last sensible image and start all over from the point I reached on the previous session! A bit frustrating but I persevere cos I too like the final outcome. If it's just a simple 12 panel set of pictures, it's a lot simpler and can create the whole thing in a few seconds!
DeleteHa! Really love the comic graphics sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal - it was fun doing it but took a bit more time than I had expected it too!
DeleteVery clever and innovative and a ton of work by you for its implementation and learning curve (respect). It puts very powerful capability into the hands of the ‘the man on the street’. At the moment, for most of us, it seems the even at its current early stage, the possibilities of AI are still waiting to be expanded as we stretch our experience as users to fully explore its capabilities.
ReplyDeleteI have used it in a couple of illustrative examples in my home grown rules, which are just for my enjoyment and I read recently that someone has used it to create an App to help their wargaming by turning what they want into what used to be called machine code.
I have noted that advances in say camera technology have seen smaller, incremental improvements over recent years, no real reason to upgrade, but the new Sony Mirrorless DSLR using AI models, has suddenly opened up a gap that makes a trade-up very worthwhile to professionals, due largely to the increase in capability powered by AI (they say - I do think the term is now worth its weight in gold to corporations as a selling / prestige point).
I have a bit of a double edged view of all this. Admiration in the cleverness and accessibility of the technology Vs things like (in the example here) paid illustrators must be trembling at the prospect of this, especially as the involvement with art is a ‘feeling’ thing as much as just a job, it is a locked in skill that is not easily transferable to another occupation or involvement, it looks to being made redundant overnight.
I also note that this week in the news there was an item that said all of our devices that use RAM (everything) will be impacted this year on price as the cost of RAM has gone up massively (200 - 500%) as AI data centres are hoovering up significant proportions of RAM production. One big global supplier has switched their entire supply towards data centres. I think our period of re-adjustment is likely to be a sharp shock compared to similar driven re-adjustments in previous decades.
That aside - it is amazing what it has allowed you to produce..
Thanks Norm, a characteristically thoughtful and in-depth response from you. Of all your points, my greatest concern would have to be with the para about RAM and how we ordinary plebs might be affected!
DeleteWell that's just brilliant Keith:)! As Norm has outlined above, what the man in the street can achieve now is remarkable, talk less of professionals with more skills and experience. But as mentioned before, it will surely come at the cost of many within the creative industries, as AI is simply copying and re-purposing what is out there, without the original creator getting any credit or monies. I know the the design industry is already using it to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon the discipline. Of course we all took inspiration from previous designs, but the speed and quality that aI can bring is astonishing in comparison.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the garden looks great and sadly my hosta is destroyed each year by slugs, so hope yours survives!
Thanks Steve - I think I am starting to become a bit of an AI convert - I have been using Co Pilot a bit at work - today I even got ii to give me a polite reply to a couple of emails I couldn't be bothered thinking about too much! I proof read them of course but they were fine. Hosta - yes thats what it is - my wife kept telling me and I kept forgetting!
DeleteThat is a bit of fun Keith, but as you say time consuming. I have had some weird results and can't fathom where they came from.
ReplyDeleteCheers Mark - I am sure I will do a few more of these in the coming months but none of our Sunday games I don't think!
DeleteThat turned out quite well as your first foray into creating graphic novels. Like Norm, I have mixed feelings on this. AI will open doors so for some and likely slam doors for others.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon, I enjoyed being able to "create" my very own comic book although I understand the negative impact it may have on some careers.
DeleteSounds like a time consuming rabbit hole, but then that could describe all the rest of the hobby!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Haha....a very fair assessment Iain!
DeleteThat is a big rabbit hole to go down Keith, the whole game turned out really well and certainly has a good graphic novel look to it, not too sure if I could be bothered as it does seem rather time consuming, interesting though. The garden looks great, very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteCheers Donnie, I had plenty spare time in the twelve workless days over the festive period to experiment...I think I could halve the time with what I have learned...glad you liked the garden, unfortunately my wife has now started a similar process INSIDE the house..... 😞
DeleteThat's a bit different. I've dabbled a bit in AI mainly for work though I have used it to design a few scenarios for future games
ReplyDeleteCheers Scotty....I have dabbled with Co Pilot at work ( its the only one we are supposed to use) but for outside work I find Gemini superior
DeleteYou have been a busy boy!
ReplyDeleteBusy in an enjoyable way, Ray!
DeleteA pulp scenario seems like the perfect fit for an AI rendering, but I can see how time-consuming this must be. Out of interest I tried an AI generated army list a few weeks ago and it came back with some totally irrelevant troop-type inclusions along with a confident narrative on how best to deploy and play them. Fun, but I was glad I didn't invest more than five minutes in it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence....yeah it does have limited uses...I tried to be lazy and asked it to review all posts on Bydand Blog for CY2025, and create me a summary of games played...but it gave me a summary from Band of Wargaming Brothers instead....I think because John has a post called Bydand at some point on his blog. I could have persevered probably but I didn't bother....
DeleteThe output looks kind of fun Keith, but I don't think I could be ar**d! You still have to do all the boring stuff like proof-reading ("Jane overpspicted") and sense-checking. Proof-reading is surely what we want machines for, allowing us to get on with the fun or creative stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes I didn't do a great job on that Chris...it is another strange anomaly of the AI engines.."they" create the narrative to drive the image creation, but they often completely bugger up that part when they create the image. I have since learned to instruct them not to use speech bubbles and captions, because they are rarely correct, although the close up of the three ladies gossiping was all AI created and it seemed to work OK...
DeleteGreat looking result there Keith and you must be having fun to persevere with it.
ReplyDeleteI think AI may still have a way to go. I noticed that in the picture for "Lady Jane knocking the junior leader flat with her trusty drinks tray." Jane must be extremely skilled as even though the officer is knocked out the drinks are still on the tray! 😂
While AI produces a decent result I think human creators will have the edge on it for some time.
Yeah I know Ben, a lot of the little details like that, I couldn't be bothered redoing...plus, when I do give it instructions like "redo the previous image but have Jane holding the tray by her side and glasses smashed on the floor nearby", it often just "reprints" exactly the same image again!
DeleteKeith, for the first time out I can see the allure but mostly I feel relieved that you did not get the walking melon vendors. I have seen on other people's sites. But if there is not a lot of control over the design and interface of dialog and drawings, are you saving much?
ReplyDeleteWell Joe, I don't know about you, but I probably could not ever create those images using paper, pencil and ink or paint, and if I could - it would be by labouriously copying an existing image in my own hand and it would take me a couple of hours, whereas these image are created in 10-20 seconds, so I have saved that!
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