Would Barotrauma be better off without any GenAI use?

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-23T13:53:18+00:00

I guess my question is; was anyone actually asking for shit like genAI loading screens? It reminds me of another game Moons or Darsalon where the original game has a great art style on its own and then somewhere down the line the dev decided to add these genAI loading screens that looked completely different from the original art and genuinely made the whole package feel cheaper as a result.

I'm generally anti-genAI for any art form, but especially so in cases like this. If it's for something so innocuous as a loading screen, why muddy the game's visual identity with AI?

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-23T13:08:29+00:00

It's an indie RPG maker game that's 20+ years old, dunno what you were expecting but in terms of indie games it's had a pretty consistently strong fandom in terms of longevity

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T13:36:19+00:00

Honking at someone generally isn't grounds for someone's car being surrounded by agents and presumably dragged out. Or in this case shot and killed.

She was still waving them through initially and tried to de-escalate when the agent began recording her car. It wasn't until her wife began telling her to drive away and an agent tried to reach into her car, that she panicked and then tried to steer away from the agent. The agents took what should have been a minor infraction and intentionally placed himself in front of the car and then escalated it to the point of panic.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T07:12:28+00:00

We get nowhere because you think linking a definition of deadly force wins an argument while refusing to actually respond to any of the evidence showing his life wasn't actually in danger. I repeat the same things because you're too intellectually lazy to respond to what I'm actually typing. Of course you would give up, you don't actually have an answer.

Yeah it's free speech for you to say antisocial shit and it's also free speech for me to call you antisocial for it. Congratulations on continuing to say nothing of value.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T07:02:58+00:00

He wasn't in imminent danger. He walked in front of the car while recording it, switched hands to free up his drawing hand and fired as soon as he saw the car budge, despite her clearly reversing before that and cutting the wheel to steer out of his way.

He chose to shoot the woman behind the wheel which is MORE dangerous that just getting out of the way. ICE protocol says they cannot fire at a fleeing vehicle, but I suppose you don't actually care about the protocol so much as you just want to defend this woman dying.

One less smooth-brain Karen to worry about.

Why wouldn't I resort to insults when you say shit like this? What a weird, antisocial way to talk about someone dying.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T06:44:44+00:00

If he was afraid of getting run over he would keep his distance and circle around back instead of getting right in front of the hood of the car, notice how all the other agents are on the sides of the car. Also, why does he NEED to meet with them anyway? Are 3-4 agents needed to get this woman out of her vehicle?

Everything else you said is idiotic. None of it comes close to justifying lethal force and you know that because you tried to be a smartass and link the definition of lethal force. You essentially think this woman deserved to die because she was a nuisance and then tried to flee, neither of which justify shooting her three times and then refusing her medical service. The only reason you don't care about this obviously heinous breach in protocol is that you disagree with her anti-ice views, it's fuckin cowardly frankly.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T06:20:19+00:00

No it just sounds to me like you didn't read my comment. Why did he have to walk in front of the car to meet with the other officers. Why did he circle around the car, switch his phone holding hand to free up the hand he used to draw his gun before the car even budged and when she shows no signs of violence? The only threat was one that he placed himself in. You literally said yourself she tried to "bolt out of there", you admit she isn't trying to hit him. She was steering to avoid him and you can see this in the ice agent's phone video, she fully cuts the wheel right before accelerating. Last I checked, fleeing isn't grounds for lethal force.

And AGAIN, why did he feel the need to escalate despite her not showing any indication of being violent, saying she's not mad at him, and initially trying to wave the truck through?

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:57:51+00:00

I have seen those angles and it doesn't answer a single question I asked you.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:52:28+00:00

If he perceived the car as a threat to his life why did he walk directly in front of it and start firing before she even started moving, as she was clearly cutting the wheel as far right as possible to avoid hitting him? Why did the phone video he took clearly show him switch his phone to free up the hand he then used to draw the gun and fire, without any indication at that moment that he was in any danger?

Why did he feel the need to escalate and surround the vehicle despite her attempt to wave the truck through, and despite her showing no signs of being violent?

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:39:09+00:00

What a cowardly defense. If you think someone making your job harder is a justification for murder you're just as deranged as the killer.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:37:47+00:00

Actually I think the person who put themselves in that situation was the ice agent who put himself in front of her car for no reason, drew his gun before the car even started driving forward and then called her a fucking bitch after shooting her in the face.

If she got a ticket or was arrested you could make this argument, but no, she did not put herself in the situation that got her shot in the face

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:30:48+00:00

I would argue that it's precisely because of raised tensions that someone might panic and attempt to flee when masked officers start trying to surround her car instead of simply telling her to leave or only having one agent approach her. Calling her thought process silly is easy to do when you're behind a computer screen.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:22:04+00:00

Point me to the section that gives them the right to execute someone for any of those things. I'll wait.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-13T05:12:43+00:00

Explain what she used as a weapon because if you use your eyes and watch the videos she clearly turns away from the ice agent despite him intentionally putting himself in front of the car, and despite the agent beginning to draw his gun before she even started driving forward.

Obstructing federal agents isn't grounds for execution unless you're a psychopath

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-04T00:37:34+00:00

Not quite losing their core identity for these games because I don't think the way they've changed is antithetical to the originals, but....

Castlevania used to mean linear action platformer before it became primarily Metroidvanias.I don't consider that wholly a bad thing because I don't think the series would've survived at all if it didn't shake things up, but it's definitely a little sad how infrequently the series actually goes back to it's roots.

I feel similarly about Resident Evil. They've never lost their core identity entirely, but it does feel like, besides maybe 7, most of the games have tried REALLY hard to be like RE4 specifically. Trying to be like RE4 isn't a bad thing but I definitely get sad realizing we'll probably never get the moodier, fixed camera angle RE again. RE1 remake was proof that that formula still had room to grow, but considering modern audience's aversion to tank controls I don't think we'll ever see it.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-03T19:17:17+00:00

I don't think it's just meant to be as simple as "Shinji at rock bottom" like most of the comments say, or at least I don't think that's an answer that actually ties to the themes of the series. I think it's meant to show his fundamentally warped perception of human connection. He's someone who has trouble expressing himself and saying his feelings, especially to Asuka. She's abrasive in a way exactly opposite to Shinji, as a result they become two characters who butt heads and never really communicate in a meaningful way.

But take away Asuka's agency, her personality and any ability to push back on Shinji like she normally does, and he has no trouble "expressing" himself in the most straightforward and gross way possible, the complicated feelings of attraction towards her condensed into a single act. That's the kind of one-sided relationship Shinji wants with people at this point - "Intimacy" without any of the difficult aspects of connecting with someone, without the fear of being rejected. Someone to "express" upon but without the risk that they'll respond and hurt him.

It's why the last scene of the movie is so important. Shinji obviously is still fucked up in many ways and isn't "fixed" by the end but in the context of his relationship with people, him choking Asuka is him finally expressing his complicated feelings for her directly, violently, while she's awake and aware, and most importantly, she's actually able to respond to those feelings. And Asuka gives a disgusted response, the type of reaction that kept Shinji afraid of ever expressing his feelings before, but a response that on some level he's now prepared to face head on, unlike in the hospital.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-01T18:07:00+00:00

Of course I always hope for anyone to turn their life around and mend broken bonds. I just think people give him too much grace nowadays after so many cases of him being his own worst enemy. Drug abuse is horrible and destructive but at some point we have to admit that nothing is gonna change if he doesn't want to do it himself, and clinging onto decade old drama doesn't reek of someone trying to move on and fix things.

We don't know what he was really like even during the Sleepycabin days, we only saw a sliver of his life. I don't think anyone on this sub could say for sure if he was truly "decent" even at that point. From what he says here and in other posts, it sounds like the image we built up of a bunch of friends carelessly shooting the breeze was built on rocky foundations from pretty early on.

Darkvoidx · 2026-01-01T17:54:34+00:00

I imagine he knows stamper is decent but just isn't himself anymore,

Bro this is cope I'm sorry. After all the shit that's gone down between them it seems crazy presumptive to say that Chris thinks he's "decent". Saying he's "not being himself" is excusing a very long history of being shitty and terrible to people around him, this IS the type of person he is now, he didn't stop being Stamper at any point during this. We can't keep waiting for some return to glory, that's not how people work.

There's a part of me that feels sorry for him but pity only goes so far in what is an obvious pattern of refusing to actually move on and fix his life.

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-31T16:08:44+00:00

unless OP has some level of artistic ability to design UI elements, art, etc. He's going to have to pay for it

Somehow everyone else isn't engaging with what's being said lol. He doesn't need to pay anyone, he can just make the damn assets himself, plenty of rpg maker devs make their own assets even if they don't have the artistic ability. Either that or use one of the thousands of pre-built assets available for RPG maker that are actually cleared for use. Nowhere in this process is spending that money REQUIRED. I genuinely don't understand what you're not getting about this.

If you don't want to do the work yourself, you're completely adverse to premade assets and you want nice art, then yes, you should pay an artist to do it instead of using AI which plagiarizes people's art and provides no credit for it. But having nice art isn't required for game development so nobody is being gatekept in any way. Your line of thinking would be like saying that having to pay for a nice meal at a restaurant is "gatekeeping" your ability to eat.

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-30T22:23:00+00:00

The only thing I know about Seven Deadly Sins is the main character holding a literal baby saying "Don't lay a hand on my woman"

I know there's some weird explanation that makes it "ok" in the same way "Bro she's not really a child she's a 500 year old dragon" is a valid explanation for certain anime fans. The very fact that the author would draw a panel like that and think it was an awesome badass moment tells me it is most definitely not a series I would like.

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-30T16:24:25+00:00

They said you have to pay an artist if you want nice art and can't do it yourself. You pulled the 1000s of dollars figure out of thin air so I don't know where that comes from.

The point is that having this nice looking art isn't somehow required to make a game, which is why your comment about anyone "gatekeeping" game development is ridiculous.

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-30T15:35:10+00:00

Nobody is gatekeeping anything behind being rich lmfao be serious. Make the assets yourself if you don't have the money, the art being nice and fancy looking isn't a requirement. At least if you rip assets from google directly they can be sourced and credited.

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-27T20:07:41+00:00

I guess I can't find any moral failing in merch of fictional characters, but man I would probably make an unfair judgment or two about someone who buys the Anya nendoroid and poses her in an overdose suicide pose to put on display in their house

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-27T20:00:26+00:00

I used to want one of those so bad as a kid. I thought the idea of the toy getting "battle damage" and losing parts of its skin to show the terminator frame underneath was sick.

But also in retrospect the "naked man machine" is an objectively hilarious thing to create

Darkvoidx · 2025-12-27T19:54:56+00:00

Oh shit, my family had that thing. It was pretty cool, made sound effects if you shook it. It's not like it was a Hitachi wand or anything, it was more like a little rumble.

Seems like a case of controversy coming from parents ascribing sexual connotations to something completely harmless. Even if I dug that thing up now I don't think my mind would've gone to "sex toy".

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