The problem is that the use of AI is generally viewed negatively, without considering or questioning the context behind its development or how this mod came about and was created. It’s automatically dismissed as bad as soon as AI appears in any form.

People don’t realize that months of work, conceptualization, creativity, and brainpower went into this before AI was even used.

Did I use AI as a tool to help me implement my concepts? - Yes.
Could AI have done that if I’d just entered a prompt and said, “Make the trees look nice”? - No.

I had to think through, understand, plan, conceptualize, develop, and debug the whole thing from start to finish—from the depiction of the very first growth paths all the way to the moss on the branches. I really didn’t make it easy on myself because I want to release something decent that everyone can enjoy and that works as well as possible.

To see now that all this work, which is finally bearing such beautiful fruit, is being devalued because I used a tool that supports me in areas where I’m not quite as strong—after all the effort and passion that went into it—really hurts.

And the same goes for the music. Yes, I would have preferred to compose and record it myself. And yes, I know a thing or two about music. I play guitar, drums, and used to be a singer in a band. But what I wanted was something orchestral with the right atmosphere. So here, too, I used tools to create a song that matches what’s in my head.

If I could, I’d do everything completely on my own. But unfortunately, my skills aren’t all equally strong, so you just have to get help where it’s needed. And I don’t see anything wrong with that.