Where do games disclose AI use?

- Store page images

This game uses AI assistance to create some of the 2D art assets.

As a solo dev, I use Midjourney to fill in some gaps including upgrade and achievement icons.

This game includes some AI-assisted visual assets and synthetic voice generation for the in-game robot advisor.

Full screen pictures where made using AI during the EA / prototype of the game, we are in the process of replacing them all with our artists. Everything else is handmade.

Critias Empire uses images of public domain 18th and 19th century classical oil on canvas paintings, but since there are only a limited number of these, AI generated images are used where no appropriate historical public domain image can be found. This includes backgrounds, illustrations for buildings, features, disasters, maps and characters, plus live ops, events and marketing material. The images are generated using paid subscription to Midjourney. Crystalline Green Ltd. owns the copyright on the generated images. We are a small independent studio with limited budget, but we appreciate not everyone is comfortable with use of AI generated images in commercial games, so we understand if you would prefer not to play our game. Feel free to contact us if you have further questions or concerns.

The game features a small local language model used to generate dynamic storylines and events based on character traits and relationships. Generative AI is also used to assist in the creation of various 2D textures, marketing materials, portraits and UI elements.

We want to emphasize that both human-art and AI-generated content are used in the event illustrations. At the time of writing this (pre-beta), some of the illustrations in the game are still early experiments and, as such, treated as placeholders. As artists, we fully understand that AI-generated imagery is a controversial topic at the moment. We felt that by using generated art, in addition to our own art, we could create a much more vivid and immersive experience for the player. We are fully open to discussing this further and elaborating on our approach.

This game used AI to help quickly iterate through designs for some UI elements using our own artwork as a baseline. AI is also used to help translate the game.

Some icons and background images are currently prototyped with AI but will be replaced in the future if the budget allows it.

Game contains recorded as well as AI generated voice lines based on licensed voice artists.

We employ generative AI technologies during the creation of some assets. Typically this involves the ideation of content and visual reference material. These elements represent a minor component of the overall development. AI has been used to generate voices for an AI antagonist and a player advisor.

This game used AI to help quickly iterate through designs for some UI elements using our own artwork as a baseline. AI is also used to help translate the game; and is used for the AlienGPT custom species system using player inputs.

Use of AI-generated for some backgrounds

Usage of AI-Generated and Assisted Illustrations in Shadow Empire Post-release Illustration Creation Process The developers use Midjourney and Nano Banana to generate high-resolution illustrations for new functionality added post-release, particularly for Vidcom and Stratagem artwork. These images are often post-processed by hand, as well as enhanced using tools like Magnific, Topaz Labs, or other upscaling and refinement software. AI in Post-release Portrait Art Portraits: A base image is generated using Midjourney with a generic prompt such as “portrait of young woman, military.” Smaller parts (eyes, nose, mouth, hair, etc.) are overlaid using DALL·E to create variations. Aging effects are achieved by rendering an older skin texture with partial transparency over the younger base face. The older the character, the more opaque the overlay becomes. (Note: Eyes and lips often retain a youthful appearance.) This effect is gradually applied using a limited number of sprite layers, allowing nuanced visual transitions. AI-Generated Art in Post-release Game Content The game includes AI-generated and AI-assisted illustrations for Vidcoms and Stratagems. All such AI-generated art is pre-generated — no generative AI tools are called or used in real-time by the game itself. The intention is to provide players with an option to toggle between the original and updated AI-enhanced graphics via preferences. (Note: This is an aim and may not yet apply to all content.)

While almost the entirety of the game is human-made, there are still some places where AI was used to speed up work, data validation or help with tedious tasks - such as converting old crafting recipes to a new format, improving wording of some in-game item descriptions, or generating placeholder thumbnails for internal use (e.g. testing GUI layout and renderer).