MWEB GameZone takes a look at how Divinity Dragon Commander, from Larian Studios attempts to incorporate significant decision making to gameplay.
Developing a game where the choices the player makes has actual depth in terms of consequences, moral dilemmas and pushing ethical boundaries, is no easy task.
They say the studio is already "world-class" without the tech.
Was wondering when they would get the first season scandal. Too bad. AI is poison. Don't care who agrees with me or not. Its poison. It is poised to have very negative impacts on millions of lives and there is no safety net in place for those people.
I wanted to give some long winded explanation as to why I hit the disagree to your comment but I'll put it simple. AI isn't poison, people are poison. For as much as you may care there are more who don't. Humans are stubbornly careless, and blissfully ignorant. I'm not against AI, I still think that as a tool it can help us do greater things still. It's people who will turn it as a tool to do us all over.
I get why people feel that way, but I disagree. AI is a tool, not a replacement for vision. The art comes from the intent, taste, iteration, and decisions the creator makes, not from manually doing every step by hand.
We already accept this with other technologies. Photographers don’t build cameras or develop film by hand anymore, yet photography is still art. Digital artists use software that handles lighting, brushes, physics, and filters, and we still credit the artist, not Photoshop. Music producers use synths, samples, and auto-tools, and their work is still considered creative.
Prompting at a surface level might look trivial, but serious AI use involves refining ideas, guiding outputs, rejecting most results, and shaping the final piece to match a specific vision. That curation and direction is the creative act. The tool accelerates execution, but it doesn’t create meaning or intention on its own.
Not all AI output is art, just like not every photo or digital sketch is art. But dismissing the entire medium ignores how art has always evolved alongside new tools.
You're right. And I wish the responses disagreeing were more nuanced.
"It's a tool."
I agree. It's a crowbar used to pry open a door so you can steal what's inside.
"Digital artists are no different" Yes they are. We've digitized the utensil and the art. That's not the same as stealing.
It's not AI, it's LLM. It can't envision, it must only look backwards.
And the LLM company owns all the assets you create with it: the code, the images, the IP, the writing.
In essence, it means more for the Corp and less for the artists.
Weird how suddenly after Larian has been everyone's favorite, they are being attacked from multiple angles by different outlets at around the same time.
AI is a great tool. An extra assistant that can move things faster.
But if anyone knows and understands how it works, using it to create something "new" is basically stealing some pattern or mixing patterns that the ML script saw somewhere.
On the other hand the great majority of the movies,games and any media out there is just an idea or a mix of ideas stolen from somewhere else, so blame the user not the tech.
Dont fall for this coordinated attack against a studio who still delivers quality products
For a visual artist, AI can be rather helpful. AI can help assist an artist’s vision. The art still has to be practically applied to the form of media that is implementing it. If your having an artistic cramp, AI can help get the motor running. Fight against it all you want, AI isn’t going anywhere and quite a few changes are happening in the world because of it. Accept it, adapt to it, and hope it doesn’t kill us all, like the telephone was supposed to, over one hundred years ago.
Recent trademarks point to a major Larian Studios announcement at The Game Awards, connecting the Divinity IP to the teased desert statue.
The baton isn't being passed as much as looted off a collapsed old hero.
Interesting, & here I was thinking this was about commanding dragons!
Consequence, schmonsequence! I have EVE Online! Disastrous consequence awaits me at the next undocking of my spaceship!
Hard task they set for themselves.
I am interested to see how this game turns out. It will be quite fascinating to have consequences to decisions that go beyond your character's face becoming ugly when you make evil decisions etc.