AI art crisis

Hey all. It's been a minute.

I haven't done any progress regarding MoGi, so I had nothing much to share. Regarding MoGi, I was demotivated because I can't make the sexy videos to work in a perfect loop. This is a technical issue, but for a year now, I have tried many video formats, an none of them make the videos loop seamlessly during the sex scenes. I'm not sure how to deal with this at the moment.

I also had a personal identity crisis with art made by Artificial Intelligence. At first I tried to avoid it, but the damn thing makes such a good art, in zero time. Then I tried to incorporate AI art in my works. This was very addictive and it consumed me. I even made a few Ucogi videos, trying to figure out where to go from here.

I liked the result a lot. The characters are mine, the story and jokes and direction is also my own creation. I wasn't stealing anything. I can easily convert an original Ucogi image I made, into a fantastic illustration, and then animate it with ease. 

A few years back, I asked a friend to color Ucogi in illustration style. It took her weeks to just do the hair, and it wasn't very good as a result. But this was an artstyle I wanted for Ucogi for a long time.  

So, perhaps the AI can be seen as a tool that enhances my actual work. It's like using a color filter in Photoshop, or a tween animation, instead of drawing every single frame. It saves time and creates content with better quality, colors, lighting... Somehow it feels a bit dirty, like cheating, or like a guilty pleasure.

There can be inconsistencies at times, with AI art. For example, Irene's hair can lose her signature two-tier bangs right up front (left image), to generic anime hair (right image).

Similarly, Ucogi can end up having a generic maid outfit, ignoring her original look and instructions.

But these are just minor complains. The AI creates sound and voices, and great backgrounds and fluid animations. Everything felt like a dream coming true, but something inside me felt off... There was a conflict inside me: If I'm not the artist anymore, then who and what am I now?

So, there I was, trying to justify my purpose in life. Maybe I'm a director, and my characters are just actors to my stories. I tell them what to do and they do it. This way I can have a small movie in a few hours, with perfect art. In reality, if I was to do this manually, it would take me months and I would need voices and new sound effects. With AI I get to explore what Ucogi and Alice look like, as walking, talking characters. This sounded like a decent compromise. AI can even surprise me, at times. It's like getting a fan art or a commission.

I decided to go hard on this. I got Instagram and TikTok accounts, in hopes of appealing to more people. I also posted this new take on Patreon and YouTube. And then the backlash started. Most comments were negative. Long time fans were disappointed. Also so many others use AI on TikTok and have thousands of views. AI not only surpassed my art, but I was losing from every front. Random people could "draw" better than me. And when I used the same tools to compete, not only I never got the views and likes as them, but instead, I got blamed for it. It is a lose-lose situation. My experiment for more content was failing. And I was failing too.

I got in deep conversations about AI slop, and what it means to be an artist. The bright side is that some people (fans of my work), prefer my imperfect and simplistic artstyle, over the oversaturated AI slop. This actually was a positive surprise. I focused too much on AI , reacting to the dread it caused to the art world, to the point where I felt mentally paralyzed. I tried to fight the AI urge at first, and I tried to compromise later on. I can't really compete with AI content that's been created at lightning speeds. AI is ruining the internet and I still struggle to see where I fit in all this. 

To be honest, after a week on TikTok, I feel kind of sick watching every single account being nothing but AI nonsense. I really felt the slop that everyone else was talking about. And by using AI, I was creating nothing but slop, just like the rest of them. The whole concept was already done by many others and it felt like I was the last person to arrive at a generic party. But having fans support me and tell me they prefer my art over AI, is restoring my faith in myself and my abilities.

Someone once told me that "I have the superpower to make my own porn". Now everyone has that power for free. So maybe I need to step up my game. I remember a comedian saying that the AI cannot take her job. The punchline was that the AI can never be allowed to be as racist as she is. Well, I've seen racist AI clips, but she made me wonder... if this is how you beat the AI. To be more sexist, violent, gross, exaggerated, extreme in what I make. Things that AI will refuse to make. But I'd rather avoid that extreme path if I can. I don't want to turn Ucogi into a slut for views (I got Irene for this!). And I don't want to create nasty stories and art unless there is a good reason. On that note, I do want to punish the crude and nasty villain from Wild West Bimbos!

When I was trying to figure Ucogi's boobs size and made them be as big as her head, I was thinking that they are unrealistically big. And now you see AI art with even bigger tits. Maybe there are no rules and limits. Maybe I should stop doubting my self about boob sizes and if people like my art more than AI slop. Maybe  I should focus on Ucogi stories and games, and use the AI slop only on TikTok to advertise my games? Or maybe I will just use Irene (since she is always faking things like in SuckerSuck), to justify my AI slop. I don't know. I still try to figure this out. 

The thing is that Ai can do anything, but most people make videos. My strong suit is making sexy and simple Flash games, and that's perhaps my best path moving forward. Obviously I won't use AI art when I make games, as I'm still using Flash, which requires vector graphics.

Everyone is unsure of the future, and I still try to find an answer within me, regarding all this. 
Please drop your thoughts on the matter. It would be of great help to me.

Regarding my works, I plan to update Ucogi.com (I need a SFW landing page with links to my Instagram and TikTok accounts). The last update was in 2022 and I lost a few files since then. I need to post more on Patreon (alongside my actual art, I also made some AI slop and I dont want it to go to waste), and I must finish Courtroom69 (hopefully in the next couple of months). I also plan to return to MoGi Origins around November, and see what I can do to finish this game for good.

Some Mogi AI slop - PlantGirl Pumpkin
(she shouldn't have a nose!) 

 

Gap year

A year has passed since I last shared any news here. I want you to know that I haven't abandoned MoGi Origins. That said, there hasn't been much progress. You might be wondering why.

I've been meaning for a while now to share some of my thoughts and feelings, but I was avoiding this, because it's not a pleasant topic. I'll sum it up by year.

2020: Covid. That was bad for everyone.
2021: Titan, the original programmer left the project. I was disoriented for quite some time after that, while also trying to find viable solutions.
2022: My hard drive broke. It took about one and a half year for the data to be partially recovered. With all that, my creative mood regarding MoGi was crippled.
2023: I got my hard drive back, thankfully, not much of the MoGi data was lost. But the waiting had a toll on me. Let alone having to look each single file, and realizing that some of them are gone forever.
2024: I found a new programmer who also converted the game to GameMaker 2.0. We worked on the game for 6 months, trying to fix bugs. But then a few personal problems came up. Besides a series of failing personal relationships (including Titan), the rise of Ai art made me have some kind of existential crisis. At first was in denial and then it hit me. The blow was paralyzing and it made me lose my artistic drive. At least the new programmer is on board, and... on hold.
2025: My new contact lenses suck. I always had problems with my eyes, but now... I have trouble even reading text messages on the phone. Thankfully, I can zoom everything on my computer screen. I don't like sharing personal problems but at this moment my left eye is pretty much useless. At least my right eye can see about 80%. It feels suffocating at times. Also due to anxiety, probably from all the above, I got tinnitus. But I get pills for it and I'm surviving.

With all that, it was like I'm loosing control over many aspects of my life. Even the MoGi game, I have to rely on others to complete it, and in a way I see that as a problem. So, I felt the need to put MoGi aside and work on something smaller, something that can I control. Something to boost my mood. So, I started working on an idea I had for over 6 years now, since 2019, or even before that. I worked on it for a month, due to a strict deadline. It's not completed, and I've been working on an update, but I hope you like the current version.

This new game is called Courtroom69. The protagonist is Dedu (yaay!) and he gets involved in a sexy crime case. It's been on Newgrounds for a month now, and it has great reception, even though it lacks sound. It is a short visual novel, similar to Ace Attorney.

Click here to play Courtroom69

I remember back in 2006, I said that I won't draw anime. And in 2007 I made Ucogi and she changed my life for the better. Then, in 2011 I said that I will never make any monstergirls, and in 2012 I started working on MoGi Cardfight which in 2013 became MoGi Origins. And later about that time I said that I will never make a visual novel. I found them to be cheap substitute for books and games. And an easy solution for devs who can't program 'real games'. I was wrong. Making a visual novel is hard and requires lots of skills. Sometimes I like giving my own spin to things that are seemingly not up to my liking. I don't mind giving a second chance, as preferences about something may shift.

In any case, that's all I wanted to say for now. I wish you are all alright. And apologies for not writing any sooner. I was in a dark place. I want you to know that I think of MoGi every day. And that I do want to finish it. I will resume working on it when I feel better.

 - Veins. 

MoGi Resumes!

This month I started working with the new programmer on MoGi Origins. I sent him the first things to do on the 15th of May, and we work ever since.

So far we addressed the following:
• Voms' and Ucogi's idle animations jerked a bit (fixed).

• The Tower level needed some fixing. Many improvements were made but it's not completed yet. Controlling the camera can be a bit tricky, so I made this animation trying to explain how it should work as it follows the playable character (orange box).

• Bloodstone crashed the game when she was killed, instead of transforming to another Mogi (fixed).
• The game can't have multiple languages (because of the way it was originally programmed).
• Update the Menu screen (still in development, and that's a huge task).
• When Alice faints, her attacking hair should disappear.

Everything goes well so far, and even thought is very early, I'm very pleased with how things are done. A good thing with the new programmer is that I can track how much he works.

I hope that by the end of June I would have something more concrete to show you!
Happy Summer everyone!

 

 

Bright future!

The conversion of MoGi Origins from GameMaker 1 to GameMaker 2 is a success! Everything works as it should, and the new programmer is about to start working on new Bosses and many other aspects of the game! The monster you see in the screenshot below, is a Medusa NPC, that can interact with the right characters!

Furthermore, most of the lost files were recovered, and the development of this game will carry on throughout summer, until everything is completed and polished.

Also, if you haven't played it, here's Orphanarium! It is my most complete Flash game and you can now play it for free. It contains an emotional story when Ucogi was just a chibi girl. Nothing sexy there, but there are many secrets you can find, while waiting for the next MoGi update!

Working on GM2

Happy new year everyone! It's been a while since I posted. 

There hasn't been much extra progress but the conversion of MoGi Origins from GameMaker1 to GameMaker 2 is 99% complete! Everything works as is should, even new glitches that were worrying me, like a black screen each time the player changes rooms. Now, the conversion is almost completely fixed, except for the sex scenes.

The sex scenes are quite complex to implement. I remember when we had a "white screen" problem, back when we were running every animation as a PNG sequence and the memory couldn't.t handle it. Then, the programmer used a special plug-in, made specifically for GM1, and that worked perfectly. But this plug-in doesn't work in GM2. I tried a bunch of video formats for GM2, but they don't loop seamlessly when I play the game. And even when they play well in my PC, they wouldn't work well in my new programmer's PC. And obviously the game must run smoothly in every computer. So this is the problem I'm trying to fix now. The GameMaker forums and Discord don't have a solution for this issue, so I have to figure this out on my own.

Once this is problem is solved, I will resume working on the development of MoGi Origins once more.

As a side-note, it's been a year since the original programmer, Titan, ghosted me. Usually I don't want to assume things, so I waited. He could have been in an accident for all I knew. But I spoke to his sister and I know now for a fact that he is fine. It saddens me to admit this, but after 10 years of friendship and hardship, I consider this bridge burnt.

Other than that, I had the time to check what was saved from my broken Hard Drive. So far, most crucial files are recovered, but there are some loses. These 3 Ucogi images for example do not exist any more as Flash files, and I can't edit them or render them in higher resolution.

That said, I gave the Hard Drive to the technician to run a deeper and slower scan, and hopefully he would be able to recover these files. It's been over 4 months (maybe even 5) since I gave him my HD, and these Ucogi images were in the folders I wanted him to recover.

MoGi Origins in GameMaker 2

For those who don't know, MoGi Origins was originally programmed by Titan, using GameMaker 1.4. Ever since Titan left the project, I was trying to find a new programmer to fill his shoes. Finding a programmer for GM1.4 was hard, but I managed to find a few. But GM1.4 is old, and it's hard to find license, and it's slow... would it be wise to covert the entire project in GameMaker 2? Well, it might be a bit too soon to celebrate, but this is how MoGi Origins looks, in GM2:

I was skeptical because I talked about this conversion with Titan, perhaps 3 years ago. He told me that most of the game would break, so it does not worth the effort. I took his word for it, as he had more knowledge than me on the subject, and he made me abandon the whole idea. Fast-forward to now, Titan has ghosted me for more than 8 months. It's like he doesn't exist anymore. I even tried reaching out to his sister but there's no response. So, I had to accept that he is gone and that I had to carry on, on my own.

After a somewhat depressing Summer, I had to move on and look for new programmers. The procedure wasn't easy as they had to sign an NDA and deal with the necessary formalities for the protection of the game. A few GM1.4 programmers declined for various reasons, but I managed to find a guy to check what happens if we convert the game to GM2. Depending on how good the conversion is, there are many benefits to this: easier level tiling, better video controls, more people willing/able to work with GM2, and even exporting to more than just Windows ports.

It is very early to tell, as I haven't played the entire game yet, but I was surprised by how much of the game is NOT broken! Yes, the backgrounds don't have parallax, the videos are not working and Neko possibly crashes the game, but the extra modes, the save system, the map... everything complex pretty much works as it should!

To some of you, this might feel a step back, as pieces of the game need to be fixed. But having this game work as it is, in GM2, is a huge deal and I'm extremely happy about it! I haven't been this hyped since.... 2016? I don't even remember. The thing is, that after these glitches are fixed, I can finally leave behind the limitations of GM1.4 and work on the game, as I should have done a long time ago. 

By hiring new and skillful programmers, I can finally finish this monster of a game! GM2 has many tricks and effects that can be used, and they can make this game even better that I initially envisioned. 

Thank you for being around, through the good and the bad times!
I love you all! \o/

New season, new plans

I hope everyone had a good time this summer! 

For me it was a bit of a struggle, but things feel a lot better right now. The tremendous heat, was unbearable. And it was causing power shortage and the internet had good and bad days. Also I needed a break as I was working non-stop from January to June, to create the game engines for Ucogi GO and Cyphergrid.

The last few days I started being active again. I managed to find a new programmer for MoGi and I was working on NDA and contracts with a lawyer, so that everything is done in a legit way, without the fear of leaks or stolen data. The deal is still in progress but we discuss whether we should continue making the game in GameMaker 1.4 or jump to GM2. A few experiments would need to be done to see if this is a viable option. GM2 is way more versatile but if that means redoing most of the game, then I would have to carry on with GM1.4. 

Another positive thing that happened is that I got back the MoGi files from my broken Hard Drive. 95% of the files are recovered! Yes, the files were recovered before, but most MoGi files were corrupted. Apparently, the technician did the MoGi files first (as I requested) but he used a "fast" method which didn't work. He used the slow method on everything else and got good results. But when he gave back my recovered data... my mind almost broke with how many MoGi files were not recovered. Thankfully, I asked him to use his slow recovery method on the MoGi folder once more. And I'm happy to announce that almost all MoGi files are recovered! That was a very stressful experience and it lasted a whole damn year! Well, now I got like 3 back-ups. Lesson learned. 

I wanted to write a breakdown / retrospective of the 10 years of MoGi development, but that was too hard to even begin and painful to remember the bad times. Right now I just want to look forward and I'm just glad that I can end the Summer on a very positive note!