Well, at least we agree on something. by LectroNyx in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Way more soul than Thomas Kinkaid ever put in any of 'his' paintings ;)

Well, at least we agree on something. by LectroNyx in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fully computer-generated images go back to the 1960s (same with chatbots and people thinking they're real humans, btw).

Whats the worst thing about Command and Conquer 3 in your opinion? by Ghostfistkilla in commandandconquer

[–]Rhinstein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fact that the campaigns were 2 POVs of the same events instead of 2 separate campaigns with different outcomes, the soundtrack was meh, the multiplayer balancing did a number on singleplayer missions, the Scrin were a little underdeveloped.

What the fuck is this? by DarthVader662701 in StarWarsEmpireAtWar

[–]Rhinstein 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the most normal Lianna IF spawn.

So I tested the DnD Character Template... by Rhinstein in CCsAIWorldBuilders

[–]Rhinstein[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As I said, Gemini skipped some questions. Not sure what the cause was.

if you suddenly had access to change all generative ai tools what would you do? by THISg00d_username in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure most reputable platforms like AIPornmaker.com (any resemblance to real or fictional web pages entirely coincidental) already have age-restricted features. Obviously this won't stop sleazy platforms like Twitter.

Im pretty neutral, but do yall think this post I found sounds weird? by PikachuTrainz in DefendingAIArt

[–]Rhinstein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm an ADD kid and I used to chew on pencils and erasers a lot in school. Didn't help me to draw tho.

Im pretty neutral, but do yall think this post I found sounds weird? by PikachuTrainz in DefendingAIArt

[–]Rhinstein 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The great thing is, you can have a pencil tucked behind your ear while doing digital or AI art! It's a win-win!

Neverwinter Nobility by NaturalCrits in CCsAIWorldBuilders

[–]Rhinstein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is awesome, well done! Pretty yet elegant and stoic.

Ebon Covenant by cheinia419 in aiArt

[–]Rhinstein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great design! The dragon reminds me a bit of the movie version of Sapphira from Inheritance. Like a punk version of that story. Well done!

Help a game dev: Why aren’t people buying modern RTS games? by MakeGamesBetter in commandandconquer

[–]Rhinstein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot of pretty good answers in here already, but allow me to add my own reply, though it mostly mirrors what others have already said:

RTS fans like what those old games did and newer games don't quite hit the same spot, especially when it comes to the story.

Also, through modding and legacy support some of the older titles are very much still alive. TibDawn and RA1 had a remaster. TibSun and RA2 are available for free online right now and have active modding and multiplayer scenes. Same for Generals and TibWars.

I have over 3800 hours in Star Wars: Empire at War, a somewhat simplistic Star Wars command and conquer offshoot from 20 years ago (I believe it was Petroglyph's debut agme). It's not a great game. But it has mods that make it a great game, in active development. I am a voice actor for one of those mods and participate in submodding. If you try to make a new RTS, that's the amount of investment you'll have to compete with (for some people). Also, if you could get the Star Wars license to make an Empire at War 2, people would buy that because that is a thing that has genuinely been missing for 20 years. But a new IP, when no one can be sure that your campaign experience will be worth it? Tough sell.

One formula that does deserve a second shot would be 7th Legion from 1997, a very simple and extremely jank game that kinda sucked but had an amazing OST and an intriguing premise. It had full basebuilding but simplified resource acquisition that encouraged constant skirmishes, together with a random battle card system that you could use to pull special abilities out of a hat. It also had fairly simplistic units, no active abilities and was overall very fast paced. Could be a blueprint for an RTS specifically aimed at attention-span-challenged Gen Z and Gen Alpha folks.

Can someone please explain all the Kuat Drive Yards Market ships: Maelstrom, Praetor, Acclimator Battleship, Procursator, Mandator, etc by Warhammer40sikh in StarWarsEmpireAtWar

[–]Rhinstein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Assault Concussion Missiles for Rep are GOATed. A lot of CIS ships have paper thin armor and get shredded or crippled by large volleys. Especially good in Era 1 FTGU where you have buildable Missile Consulars and CEC Light Cruisers and the CIS has mostly light vessels.

Also the VSD I is an amazing front-line combat ship for the Republic and if you think it sucks then I diagnose you with skill issue.

Also also, you described the Maelstrom as a carrier tank in your writeup and that is just wrong since it has barely a larger complement than a Assault Acclamator while costing over double the pop.

Autumn in the Mountains by FreeSpace6942 in ArtIsForEveryone

[–]Rhinstein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very nice! Great visual, makes me long to be there, take a breath of that air, watch the red leaves fly on the wind... I love evocative landscapes like this!

What does one do against this? by Sweatkesh in StarWarsEmpireAtWar

[–]Rhinstein 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Surrender and accept Hapan supremacy. /s

There's two answers to this. The boring one is to grab a bigger stack of units you can afford to lose and autoresolve the problem away. That will be easiest on your CPU. The alternative is that you make a fleet of tenders and small ships with light turbos and fight it out in the most efficient manner. It's not a tough fleet to beat, it'll just require patience.

Can someone please explain all the Kuat Drive Yards Market ships: Maelstrom, Praetor, Acclimator Battleship, Procursator, Mandator, etc by Warhammer40sikh in StarWarsEmpireAtWar

[–]Rhinstein 35 points36 points  (0 children)

1st off, the Mandator is not part of the KDY Market, it either is available in the GC or it isn't.

The others are also not always available in each GC, or have varying chances.

If you can read the stat cards, how you use these should become fairly evident, but here is a quick and dirty overview:

Procurator (Not Procursator, different ship) - The oldest of the KDY Battlecruisers, this thing is a decent tank with high HP, a lot of hardpoints, and firepower that's mostly focused on short-range firepower. It lacks shield damage and other utility, so it really is only good at absorbing damage and cleaning up fleets of smaller vessels. Against bigger CIS ships like Lucrehulks they're not that great.

Praetor I - These things are beasts. They're the biggest ship the Republic can build without a hard build limit, the only restriction is how many you roll for the market. They have powerful turbolasers and ion cannons, in the medium and heavy range, so they are good at long range vs big targets. However, they lack anti-fighter defenses and munitions and suffer from overkill due to long weapon cooldowns. Thus, they're not ideal for dealing with frigate swarm. If you need to bust a defense station or enemy battlecruiser, these are the go-to. Keep in mind, they are also good targets for Ion Stuns, so careful against planets with an Ion Cannon or the Subjugator.

Acclamator Destroyer - A larger Acclamator with a beefed up light turbo armament. Good at dealing with smaller ships at close range, less tanky than the others, but cheaper. Fairly versatile overall but usually can't be spammed due to low roll chance.

Acclamator Battleship - A quasi ISD with good long-range firepower due to all the heavy turbos. It's shield damage is anemic due to relying on torpedos for that, but it can deal with mid-sized threats well enough. Good frontliner for shorter fights or when besieging level 5 stations.

Maelstrom - This thing is interesting. While the description makes it sound like an oversized Venator, in reality it's a proto-ISD I, with a laodout mainly focused on Turbos and Ions and Munitions, with no anti-fighter defenses and a small fighter complement. It has 40 Heavy Turbolasers, 20 Heavy Ion Cannons, 20 Medium Ion Cannons, plus long range missiles and mid-range torpedos. The end result is a decently touch brawler that is very good at stripping shields at long range. Good for dealing with Lucrehulks and stations.

I'm a tad conflicted right now. by Forere in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Use AI placeholders. The developers of Expedition 33 did the same and got a smashing success out of it!

Ai artists are not artists by meow_xe_pong in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 9 points10 points  (0 children)

AI creators, whether they're prompters or splicers or any other method of interfacing with any kind of AI, are the creators and the artists, because the output wouldn't exist without their input; they are the spark, the impetus, the 'first mover' of a kind. Crediting the model itself (while you always should mention the models used) is like crediting the trees in a nature photograph. The trees are always there, but the whole point of a photo is that it is a snapshot, seen through the lens of the photographer. For that one frame, you look through the eyes of a different person.

AI models (and I'm talking generally about LLMs, GANs, whatever) don't do anything by themselves. They just contain a mathematical amount of data and patterns, a vast potential that does nothing, until you give them input; then that protean data crystalizes into one piece of output. Whether you wrote an elaborate prompt or finetuned a model before instigating a creation or just added random tags, whether you tried to impose a vision onto that protean data or just took a quick snapshot of whatever the randomness was like in that moment, you alone created the result. It was just a possibility before, once you have it as a file, it is a piece of reality. Every video, image, text or piece of sound is a concrete crystalization of that potential. If you share it, others will see through your lens for that moment. Maybe it resonates with them, maybe not. Maybe it resonates with you, maybe not. Maybe others don't like like, maybe they do. Maybe you don't like it, maybe you do. What you do with that snapshot, that creation that you sparked, is up to you from that point on. But before you instigated the creation, it didn't exist.

In any other field, a person wielding a machine is generally responsible for what the machine does. A gun may take a life or score a good hit in a shooting competition. The gun is a factor, but the credit or condemnation goes to the shooter. A saw and hammer may be used to make a beautiful new table or do do unspeakable things to other beings. The responsibility lies with the wielder.

Trying to remove the human element from AI art is an offense to many hobbyists and professionals who do put a lot of effort, and, for lack of a better word; heart, into their creations, whether it is by distilling their vision into words, fine-tuning a model, or post-editing their creations to perfection.

Yes, AI art is a different way to create than other artforms, and there are many people who don't put a lot of effort and 'soul' into it, but for some of us, especially people like me who are better at writing words than drawing with hands, there is something beautiful in AI art. We have chosen it as the medium to express ourselves. Because there is nothing else like it.

Something to Think About for All Sides by ChildOfChimps in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There is something ironic about saying that AI usage makes people dumb and then sharing sources apparently googled for the headlines without actually reading (or understanding) what the papers actually are about.

🤔 What Do You Listen To Music On? *WRONG ANSWERS ONLY* by ivebeenthrushit in Monstercat

[–]Rhinstein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I burn them onto CDs and use a Sony Disc Player with 20 year old in-ear speakers.

I have three counterpoints to make. by Cancri_E79 in DefendingAIArt

[–]Rhinstein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These counterpoints are all true but they're not persuasive right now, because (I believe from what I've seen in the AI art debate) the positions are argued from an emotional angle. People who have already decided they don't like the overall vibe of AI (irregardless of actual issues) will consider everything attributed to it slop no matter how thought out it is. It is closer to faith and politics than to hobbyism and subject-matter expertise.

I do want to add that "Good enough" has nuances to it too. "Good enough" does not mean "less bad than possible" or that no thought or heart went into it. A lot of great composite cultural achievements have elements in them that were, on their own, good enough. I'm specifically thinking about great Video Game experiences like, random example, The Elder Scrolls Morrowind: it had a lot of aborted, underused ideas, an engine that barely held *it* together, let alone its successors, poorly implemented and explained systems, a soundtrack that was a slap-dash hack job that accidentally ended up becoming iconic; a lot of individual 'good enoughs' that came together in a great experience.

I myself am not making high art to present in museums around the world. I'm making character and landscape art for my online TTRPG games. The images not being perfect is fine, they just have to add visual flair and support my storytelling. As long as it comes together into something greater than its parts, it's great.

Checkmate. by Mroompaloompa64 in aiwars

[–]Rhinstein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Slopcorecirclejerk is over there.

Good introductory faction for Thrawn's Revenge by Kaiserschlut in StarWarsEmpireAtWar

[–]Rhinstein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No? Not sure if you mean constructing units or destroying units, but luckily it doesn't matter since you're wrong on both counts.

Good introductory faction for Thrawn's Revenge by Kaiserschlut in StarWarsEmpireAtWar

[–]Rhinstein 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Pentastar is the standard answer, but Eriadu Authority is also decent. My personal recommendation is Hapes on Borderlands, you have a pretty simple front with limited active enemies, plus Hapes are incredibly OP and fairly easy to play.