Charles Cecil, co-creator of Broken Sword, says that Revolution Software’s decision to use a custom-built AI tool to help high-quality old pixel art can be considered “downright ridiculous”.
Speaking to Cecil at Gamescom 2023, we asked the point-and-click veteran to talk about how Revolution is using AI to help develop Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforgeda reimagining of the original 1996 adventure.
The studio previously spoke about the technique to Polygon, prompting some on social media to decry the use of artificial intelligence. However, it’s important for Cecil to draw a distinction between generative AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E and the one Revolution helped create.
Explaining why Revolution turned to AI in the first place, he recalls how, back when the original title was still in development, the studio hired an artist named Geraldine to manually trace the images as they came in, then use the fill tool, to add color and create images that players saw in the game.
Cecil praised Geraldine’s brilliant skill because, although her role was crucial, she was repeatedly asked to do “mindless work”. For ReforgedRevolution sought to eliminate this “hard work” by having its animators train an AI tool to perform this task using its own data.
Cecil says Revolution worked with the University of York to build the tool, and reiterated that the studio owns every bit of data it can access. By training AI to do what is clearly seen as incredibly repetitive work, Cecil says Revolution’s animators can unleash their creativity.
“I’m going to defend to the heavens the fact that artificial intelligence is capable of doing most of this work, and then humans step in and contribute their creativity. We have human artists who use their creative talents to create facial expressions, animation corrections, and fine details, but the groundwork is no longer needed,” he says.
Cecil says that artificial intelligence takes over the heavy lifting so that artists can shine
The veteran designer recalls how in the 1990s Geraldine had to work on around 30,000 sprites during production, and suggests that her time would be better spent on tasks that required the “human touch”. As a creative person, Cecil says he understands the issues surrounding the use of artificial intelligence and believes many of them are perfectly legitimate. But he is also adamant that it has a place in modern development when used to enhance creativity.
“Criticism of our artificial intelligence is absolutely groundless. Because we use our own data. We have super talented artists who work remotely and make something special. What we’re doing is using it as a tool to eliminate the hard work that someone at the time had to do, he says.
“Again, you have some AI tools that basically steal other people’s property, especially in graphics. And that’s a real concern. But we have an amazing group of artists who work in 2D and have done this [4K reimagining] possible”.
By saving time, says Cecil, Revolution also saved money. Dragging each sprite in the 21st century could take an hour by hand, he explains, but with AI it takes about 10 minutes. “What happens is that the AI lays the foundations, but then our artists add their own touches, maybe tweaking a character’s hair or changing their expression.
“It costs about 20 percent of what it would without AI. So of course it’s something to consider, but it’s also about eliminating hard work. To put this instrument in the same category as some others is frankly ridiculous.”