Artbreeder: A game changer for Character Portrait mods?

[Sith Holocron 2,471]

A little background information on what Artbreeder is. . .

Artbreeder.com is a website that lets you combine and edit images using AI and machine learning to make portraits, landscapes, and objects. Luckily, it's  free.

Before today, I've seeing Artbreeder examples of characters from SWTOR which seem to my eye to be improvements on the original static picture. 

Source: https://twitter.com/Sutherland1P

It was inevitable that the same concept would come to KOTOR characters.  I leave it to you judge if the example below is an improvement or not.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/kotor/comments/igdcqi/you_are_beautiful_to_me_exile_a_dead_spot_in_the/

I have to to wonder how long it will be before someone decides to redo some or all of the humanoid characters using that program.  (I don't think the droid characters would turn out the same way.)

 

 

 

[DarthParametric 3,777]

Why would you want a portrait that looks nothing like the actual in-game character? You might as well just use random photos at that point. Now if it could do textures, then that would be a different matter.

[jc2 581]

To throw a differing opinion out there, not everyone looks like their Driver's License or passport photo. Variations of hair, makeup, colors, size, scars, and others exist, therefore, a portrait that doesn't quite match the in-game textures may not be so far fetched, if the portrait is considered a type of Republic photo ID. 

I wouldn't be opposed to using these types of portraits in game, I'm fairly certain there are mods that already change the portraits to appear different from in-game characters. 

[LoneWanderer 103]

I think the pictures from Artbreeder might work for portraits. They resemble in-game characters and that’s what’s important.

On 8/26/2020 at 10:01 AM, DarthParametric said:

Why would you want a portrait that looks nothing like the actual in-game character? You might as well just use random photos at that point.

Remember Neverwinter Nights and similar RPGs? They had beautiful portraits and simple blocky in-game models. Then players used imaginations to ‘enhance’ the models in their minds. The same thing here.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

In an isometric game, the portrait is the character. That's not the case with a cinematic game like KOTOR where the camera is shoved right into the in-game model's face.

[Natural Law 47]

Well you do get a good look at your in-game mug enough! So seeing something else in your stats panel / party selection screen can be refreshing. Observe!