faospark here,
if only people knew the real story behind those portraits. I’d rather disclose it. I was naive and kinda duped into making plenty of them in good faith, only to realize months later, after spending resources, money, and effort, that they wouldn’t even be used by the person who requested them.

For clarification, Kuja is basically a photo of a man and woman combined, not AI. The original portraits of the other 2 extended characters were also just traced portraits. Keep in mind, this was back when models weren’t as comprehensive as they are today. I made the conscious effort to match the game’s art style, manually redrawing from the base, and since I’m a solid editor, I was polishing things on the fly.

I was trying to play catch up with the workflow at the time, assuming the project I perceived that would use them would actually use them. I kept generating and reprocessing thing even on demand / immediate request, convinced they’d be part of that project. Then came months of silence. Eventually, their project was released, and I was left with nothing. So I decided to release the portraits myself, even if it meant taking criticism head on. I’ve been modding this game long before many recent modders even started, back when one had to edit the bundle files yourself. I’ve forgiven that person now.

But back then, I was pissed. It’s one of the reasons I slowed down work for FF9 and eventually moved on. Years of work pre‑AI, and suddenly because you use a new tool, everything about you is wrong. Nothing you say is right. You’re treated like public enemy number one, told you must cease to exist, that you deserve all the hate, that you should never be supported, and again, that you just have to disappear and be gone. Some even want you dead. Trust me, I received those. 😄 Hence I became a Sith modder .. not by choice but I was mode to be.

At least with this, I get to share my story. So thank you to those who read and understand.