Thanks for the links, that’s exactly why I wasn’t sure where things stand currently. While I am familiar with EFF, I wasn’t aware of that article so it was an interesting read.
The one I kind of remembered (even though only partially) was the Reuters article, which contains this quote I was referring to:
The office reiterated Wednesday that copyright protection depends on the amount of human creativity involved, and that the most popular AI systems likely do not create copyrightable work.
It’s obviously a bit more complicated than how I mentioned it initially so I’m glad I could read it again.
The original ban was always meant to be temporary as far as I understand, Valve simply wanted some time to decide rather than make a rash decision (it’s easier to open the floodgates than it is to clean up after the fact). I’m sure things will change in the future as AI tools become more and more common anyway.
I’d like to mention that I’m not exactly up to date with AI related legislation so treat what I’m about to write as a genuine attempt to understand their worries rather than trying to be smart.
I remember there being a lot of uncertainty about the legality of what and how can('t) be used in training models (especially when used for commercial purposes) - has that been settled in any way? I think there was also a case of not being able to copyright AI generated content due to lack of human authorship (I’d have to look for an article on this one as it’s been a while) - this obviously won’t be a problem if generated assets are used as a base to be worked upon.
As for illegal content - Valve mentioned it in regards to live-generated stuff. I assume they’re worried about possibility of plagiarism and things going against their ToS, which is why they ask about guardrails used in such systems. On a more general note, there were also cases of AI articles coming up with fake stories with accusations of criminal behavior involving real people - this probably won’t be a problem with AI usage in games (I hope anyway) but it’s another sensitive topic devs using such tools have to keep in mind.
Again, I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough to write this stuff from a position of confidence so feel free to correct me if any of this has been dealt with.
AI generated content has a lot of unanswered legal questions around it which can lead to a lot of headache with moderation and possibility of illegal content showing up (remember that not only “well meaning” devs will use these tools). It’s seems reasonable for a company to try minimize the risk.
As for disclaimer, it will allow people make an informed decision - not sure what’s wrong with that.
I wish all you guys had the same access to modding as PC crowd but I’m afraid anything like script extender would be too much of a risk for any console manufacturer. Still, they do experiment with console mods so who knows, maybe one day?
The few glimpses at technology (future bike for example) and ads gives me hope for a neat spin on the classic elements of the setting. That’s all we can do for now, I guess.
Of course, I hope my comment didn’t imply otherwise. Unfortunately even a different title and completely original assets (AM2R?) won’t help much with some companies.
Good enough project will catch their eye sooner or later anyway.
I’m pretty sure devs are fully aware of what’s going to happen which is why they avoided putting their names on the project and included the source code.
Hammer was always going to come down since they included game assets in the build - news articles won’t really change much on this matter,
Didn’t have time to check it out myself yet but considering there’s still no public release date it’s most likely case of “things change too much to focus on teaching” or simply forgetting (spending days on a project can blur the line between what is and isn’t obvious). Not trying to dismiss your complaint obviously - one should expect people to need some guidance.
It might be worth letting the devs know - the more people mention it the more likely they’ll realize it’s a problem.
I tend to jump between games quite a bit depending on my mood and what else I’m doing at the time so this ended up a bit longer than planned. Sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to vent somewhere.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
I’m still pretty early into the game (chapter/world 2, I think?) so all the puzzles are rather easy but that doesn’t matter - I’m having fun. It looks lovely too.
Ico
I’m a bit torn on this one. I really like the idea, (so far limited) story and the atmosphere of this game. On the other hand, I’m not a huge fan of the camera (I get what they were going for but it can be quite bad at times) or combat. Oh boy, the combat…
I can live with it being janky and not particularly involved but why in the name of our lord satan did they have to put it on display so often? There are SO MANY combat encounters and all of them feel like a chore. Combat made me go from “oh yeah, let’s play this legendary title” to asking myself whether I want to go through it that day, each time I’m thinking about booting it. Hell, there were a couple of times where I entered a new room, saw the game spawning another batch of enemies and thinking “you know what? I’d rather play something else right now”.
I’m still going to finish the game as I do enjoy it for the most part but it’ll definitely be a rougher experience than expected.
NFS Most Wanted (classic)
It’s a classic so no much to write here. Still plays well and it’s perfect to pop in for a race or two in between doing other things. I do miss some of the events and atmosphere from Underground games but MW is good enough for it to not be a problem.
Katawa Shoujo
I’ve been in a mood for VNs recently and decided to start with this little gem. I played it once before, and wanted to see how well it holds up (it’s still pretty fun so far). I’m probably going to try a few different routes this time just to see how they go - not going for a full completion though.
Puzzle Quest
It’s a RPG/match 3 title for PSP. I’m not a puzzle game aficionado but I do like to play them from time to time and this one is really fun (I think I played more of it than all the already mentioned games combined so far). I do have 2 problems with it - they aren’t particularly serious but still something I’d like to mention:
I really don’t like the music - it’s not bad, I just can’t stand it for whatever reason. It’s the same issue I have with Skyrim funnily enough.
RNG can be rough - the amount of times I lost a battle on turn 1 is not even funny. RNG gonna RNG so whatever, it’s even less of an issue since defeat doesn’t have any real consequences as far as I can tell (non important to matter anyway). I really like this one.
RimWorld
It’s something I drift to whenever I don’t have anything else to play. It’s good, though how much fun I have depends on where my head is at the time - right now I think I’m getting close to being done for a bit.
Tetris DX
This might be my most played game on my Steam Deck. It’s a Gameboy Color version of Tetris, what else is there to say? It’s really addictive.
Wizorb
A fun and colorful block breaker game. I played a little bit of it some years ago but stopped thinking “I’ll get back to it when I’m done with other stuff”. This time installed it to steal some ideas get some inspiration since I’m working on a similar project right now. I like it (for the most part) - there are some technical issues (game doesn’t scale properly for ultrawide screens) and some that come from being used to my own game but it’s good. I’ll definitely play more of it for fun rather than just research.
Special mentions:
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - saying I played it would be a bit much. I tried it for a bit and can see it being fun once you’re familiar with how to play but I’m just not in a head space where I can be bothered to get used to the controls at the moment. I’ll try again some day.
The Sims - I mostly just wanted to see how it fares on linux. No issues so far.
Bang Dream / Girls’ Frontline - my two daily drivers. Both are gachas, both are F2P friendly, both are fun.