The steam version of Roottrees is a remaster where they removed all AI from the game. The original was made for a game jam and used midjourney for all the photos. Its a huge W.
I was going to not forgive it for the generated graphics, but knowing the context does actually change things in this case, especially if they changed it for the paid version. I think I'll check it out.
If AI art has any valid use in game development at all it's as quick placeholders used for a proof of concept. Obviously doesn't take away from the ethics of how the tech works in the first place but I hold nothing against devs using it in that specific way.
This is an improvement for the game itself, but calling it a "huge W" when it won't move the industry needle at all shows how well Big Tech has misdirected our attention. Real talk, if you still have a Facebook account or shop at Amazon, you're as much to contribute to generative AI existing as any given zero-budget indie dev's use of generated art assets, right? Probably more. And I mean, here I am in the TH-cam comments, so I'm part of that, too. But I'm at least thinking more about getting away from the corporations that are pushing this, and much less about what solo/amateur creators do and don't do with the tech in the meantime.
@@Nassifeh Eh, the difference is if you simply use the internet you're adding to the training data of AI regardless of consent or intent, but it doesn't guarantee an improvement of their products or meaningfully normalise the use of AI. If you you it inn a professional project that is an endorsement of what it can do and does a lot more to show that the tech has actual viability.
Based on my understanding the original Itch io version of The Roottrees are Dead used AI art but for the steam re-release they hired an artist to do all the art
I'm the developer of The Roottrees are Dead and I can confirm there's no AI art in the Steam version. The confusion comes from the fact that the original itch release used AI art. For the remake we hired a great illustrator to replace it all.
@_Zeruca that’s a weird take, but also not true anyway. I didn’t make the original itch version that used AI, only this version. And the original was always clear about disclosing this, so there’s no history of lying. Not to mention the artist who did the work has been a famous board game artist for longer than AI art has existed and I have the original photoshop files with layers.
@@jarrodanderson4825 They're the kind of person who will just hold on to every perceived slight, even when it's corrected, and will wonder why nobody cares about their opinions.
6:17 "Our next game is Kiki's Delivery Service- I mean Mika and the Witch's Mountain!" It might as well be Kiki's Delivery Service the Game... since I don't recall any Studio Ghibli movie getting a tie in game...
@@kahunab7400 Ghibli did the designs and animation, (and you can see it all over the place in the critters) so it feels like a Ghibli production, but it's not based on any specific Ghibli film.
Yahtzee missed the chance to slip in a devastating "Hey, watch where you swing that thing!" (Definitely hasn't been used against me on multiple occasions)
I appreciate when Yahtzee gives the note "spread out the story and characterization." He brought it up here with Mika and the Witch's Mountain but I often bring it up with my friends for movies, shows, books, and games. Often I have to tell them to reign in their own backstories when playing DnD. Why is that such a problem in modern media? Give people just enough information to speculate, and what is the perfect example of what I am looking for? Inglorious Basterds (2009). Brad Pitt's Character, Lt. Aldo Raine. The man has a rope burn on his neck and is leading an anti-Nazi kill squad, those two things hint at a backstory that is interesting even if you don't know what it is.
7:41 This helped me realize why I hate it when video game characters do this - it's the video game equivalent of those annoyingly talkative real life people who feel the need to loredump about themselves within seconds of first meeting you. And the player character participating in the conversation adds even more to the sense of being trapped in a conversation you can't get out of.
You know, the other part of that is that everyone does it. If it was just one character it might be like, okay that's part of their quirk: they are really open. But because literally everyone does it, my opinion is they think it will make them seem more interesting, it just makes me wear out my A button ignoring them.
Sounds like Helskate leans closer to that of the Skate trilogy than Tony Hawk games, which from what I've heard Skate has a more difficult yet more satisfying control scheme than the Tony Hawk games do
Iunno, I kinda like Dark Voles; reminds me of the time a vole got into our pantry and tried to eat our rabbit's biscuits. Mind you, the rabbit is part Flemish Giant (and part Rex, making him a Chungusaurus-Rex), so he's fifteen pounds, and when he stomped that thing, it probably crushed its ribs; I found it in the basement on its back, going through its death throes. So yeah, Dark Voles.
There's a game called Locator in the works, where you're doing "correctly ID three things to lock them in" like Obra Dinn or Roottrees, but you're playing Geoguessr, with what I can best describe as "someone's screenshots of a Riven playthrough, and scraps of the manual". There's a demo on Steam which I quite enjoyed.
Reading the title, my first though was: "Ah, another Sony live-service get's its servers shut down, I didn't even hear about Roottrees but am not surprised" :D
Having enjoyed the first Tails of Iron immensely, and growing up with the 'Tales of Redwall' novels, I am still very much looking forward to the sequel.
The only point and click detective games I ever really got into were Return Of The Obra Dinn and The Case of the Golden Idol. Both are really great games.
As I understand it, the Roottrees game used to have AI art before release but later got actual art for it. Probably still worth a flick for even using it in the first place
I played the first Tails of Iron and had pretty much the same issues that Yatzee had with the second. Kind of surprised that there was a second game, but I vaguely remeber the first having a positive steam rating.
I enjoyed the first, something about the combat just sort of clicked as much more rhythm game than true soulslike to me, in that the fights felt very very choreographed. Not sure if I'd really need to play another one, but maybe in a few years if it's on a good sale I'd check it out.
Weirdly Minkborne seems pretty viable given what minks and similar beasties like ferrets actually do in the wild. I could vibe with a soulslike where you are a horrible little tunnel carnivore viciously hunting underground monsters through their tunnels and lairs.
The Roottrees doesn’t have any AI, but Helskate was ko-kreated by Kwebbelkop, a guy who’s trying to make an AI version of himself automate let’s plays, creating the blandest, most infuriating videos I’ve ever seen, on the level of finding a flower and saying “Yes, let’s go, we got a flower. Subscribe for flower.”
8:15 Oh god, you're so right there. Having the game come to a screeching halt so the NPC can talk at me for five minutes at the start of the game sucks so bad! Let me get back to playing!
Oh heck yes, more bureaucrating sleuthing! Cannot get enough of that. I hope he has a go at Locator too, that one utterly infatuated me, though it's more spatial awareness than logical deduction.
"Keep the momentum going." Agreed Yahtzee, video game dialogue that overshares right away is overwhelming and shocking much like how it is in real life
The steam version of Roottrees is a remaster where they removed all AI from the game. The original was made for a game jam and used midjourney for all the photos. Its a huge W.
That's the best way developers could use Midjourney: as a temporary solution until they can hire artists for more distinctive work.
I was going to not forgive it for the generated graphics, but knowing the context does actually change things in this case, especially if they changed it for the paid version. I think I'll check it out.
If AI art has any valid use in game development at all it's as quick placeholders used for a proof of concept. Obviously doesn't take away from the ethics of how the tech works in the first place but I hold nothing against devs using it in that specific way.
This is an improvement for the game itself, but calling it a "huge W" when it won't move the industry needle at all shows how well Big Tech has misdirected our attention. Real talk, if you still have a Facebook account or shop at Amazon, you're as much to contribute to generative AI existing as any given zero-budget indie dev's use of generated art assets, right? Probably more.
And I mean, here I am in the TH-cam comments, so I'm part of that, too. But I'm at least thinking more about getting away from the corporations that are pushing this, and much less about what solo/amateur creators do and don't do with the tech in the meantime.
@@Nassifeh Eh, the difference is if you simply use the internet you're adding to the training data of AI regardless of consent or intent, but it doesn't guarantee an improvement of their products or meaningfully normalise the use of AI. If you you it inn a professional project that is an endorsement of what it can do and does a lot more to show that the tech has actual viability.
Based on my understanding the original Itch io version of The Roottrees are Dead used AI art but for the steam re-release they hired an artist to do all the art
I'm the developer of The Roottrees are Dead and I can confirm there's no AI art in the Steam version. The confusion comes from the fact that the original itch release used AI art. For the remake we hired a great illustrator to replace it all.
The fact that you have used AI art makes you promising there is none mean literally nothing.
@_Zeruca that’s a weird take, but also not true anyway. I didn’t make the original itch version that used AI, only this version. And the original was always clear about disclosing this, so there’s no history of lying. Not to mention the artist who did the work has been a famous board game artist for longer than AI art has existed and I have the original photoshop files with layers.
@@_Zeruca what a silly thing to say.
Always love a developer that has the balls to change stuff. Good job
@@jarrodanderson4825 They're the kind of person who will just hold on to every perceived slight, even when it's corrected, and will wonder why nobody cares about their opinions.
How about "A Song of Mice and Fire"?
Mouse of the Dragon?
That "figure shit out on a list" gameplay is why I love The Consuming Shadow.
6:17
"Our next game is Kiki's Delivery Service- I mean Mika and the Witch's Mountain!"
It might as well be Kiki's Delivery Service the Game... since I don't recall any Studio Ghibli movie getting a tie in game...
Give me a Game Boy JRPG based on Ponyo right now.
@@TommyDeonauthsArchives didn't ni no kuni get some help from Ghibli?
@@kahunab7400 Ghibli did the designs and animation, (and you can see it all over the place in the critters) so it feels like a Ghibli production, but it's not based on any specific Ghibli film.
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker could be argued to be a loose adaptation of a Miyazaki-directed anime called Future Boy Conan.
I somehow read "Helskate, Mika and the Witch's Mountain" as "Hatsune Miku and the Witch's Mountain." I think I need coffee or a nap.
Modders: Give me a minute.
Oh my fucking god same
It could be because we're overdue a new Project Diva game.
Try drinking coffee then nap immediately. Best thing ever.
8:48 Okay so I was on Jay's side til he gave me a side profile and showed us how sharp his nose actually is
Yahtzee missed the chance to slip in a devastating "Hey, watch where you swing that thing!"
(Definitely hasn't been used against me on multiple occasions)
I appreciate when Yahtzee gives the note "spread out the story and characterization."
He brought it up here with Mika and the Witch's Mountain but I often bring it up with my friends for movies, shows, books, and games.
Often I have to tell them to reign in their own backstories when playing DnD.
Why is that such a problem in modern media?
Give people just enough information to speculate, and what is the perfect example of what I am looking for? Inglorious Basterds (2009).
Brad Pitt's Character, Lt. Aldo Raine. The man has a rope burn on his neck and is leading an anti-Nazi kill squad, those two things hint at a backstory that is interesting even if you don't know what it is.
The art style of Tails of Iron would be great in a book, but as a game, it all kinda blends together
If anything needed an Oxford comma, it's this title. Sorry Vampire Weekend.
7:41 This helped me realize why I hate it when video game characters do this - it's the video game equivalent of those annoyingly talkative real life people who feel the need to loredump about themselves within seconds of first meeting you. And the player character participating in the conversation adds even more to the sense of being trapped in a conversation you can't get out of.
You know, the other part of that is that everyone does it. If it was just one character it might be like, okay that's part of their quirk: they are really open. But because literally everyone does it, my opinion is they think it will make them seem more interesting, it just makes me wear out my A button ignoring them.
Sounds like Helskate leans closer to that of the Skate trilogy than Tony Hawk games, which from what I've heard Skate has a more difficult yet more satisfying control scheme than the Tony Hawk games do
I really enjoyed all the Redwall and Watership Down jokes in that last review.
Iunno, I kinda like Dark Voles; reminds me of the time a vole got into our pantry and tried to eat our rabbit's biscuits. Mind you, the rabbit is part Flemish Giant (and part Rex, making him a Chungusaurus-Rex), so he's fifteen pounds, and when he stomped that thing, it probably crushed its ribs; I found it in the basement on its back, going through its death throes. So yeah, Dark Voles.
Future reference, Game of Thrones through the lens of woodland critters is basically the premise of Redwall.
Except that Redwall is older than Song of Fire & Ice.
Martin the Warrior is just "What if Aragorn was a mouse?"
There's a game called Locator in the works, where you're doing "correctly ID three things to lock them in" like Obra Dinn or Roottrees, but you're playing Geoguessr, with what I can best describe as "someone's screenshots of a Riven playthrough, and scraps of the manual". There's a demo on Steam which I quite enjoyed.
Woo! Redwall shoutout!
I love the art direction on Tails of Iron. Won't play it, but I appreciate it.
Glad to hear a little shout out to Hypnospace Outlaw. I am curious what Yahtzee thought of that.
Reading the title, my first though was: "Ah, another Sony live-service get's its servers shut down, I didn't even hear about Roottrees but am not surprised" :D
Oh hey sounds like Yahtz finally got around go Hypnospace Outlaw at some point. Good on him. What a classic
Having enjoyed the first Tails of Iron immensely, and growing up with the 'Tales of Redwall' novels, I am still very much looking forward to the sequel.
The only point and click detective games I ever really got into were Return Of The Obra Dinn and The Case of the Golden Idol.
Both are really great games.
Oh the last one, Redfall of Winter Dragons, yet agaiN!
As I understand it, the Roottrees game used to have AI art before release but later got actual art for it. Probably still worth a flick for even using it in the first place
I played the first Tails of Iron and had pretty much the same issues that Yatzee had with the second. Kind of surprised that there was a second game, but I vaguely remeber the first having a positive steam rating.
I enjoyed the first, something about the combat just sort of clicked as much more rhythm game than true soulslike to me, in that the fights felt very very choreographed. Not sure if I'd really need to play another one, but maybe in a few years if it's on a good sale I'd check it out.
Weirdly Minkborne seems pretty viable given what minks and similar beasties like ferrets actually do in the wild. I could vibe with a soulslike where you are a horrible little tunnel carnivore viciously hunting underground monsters through their tunnels and lairs.
Salt & vinegar is the foot fetish of chips
"Professional Baby" might just be an arcane term for what we call "Only Fans Girl".
Like the vocal fry woman from "30 Rock"... "I'm a sexy baby."
The Roottrees doesn’t have any AI, but Helskate was ko-kreated by Kwebbelkop, a guy who’s trying to make an AI version of himself automate let’s plays, creating the blandest, most infuriating videos I’ve ever seen, on the level of finding a flower and saying “Yes, let’s go, we got a flower. Subscribe for flower.”
Finally a Redwall reference!
Jesus Christ AND “Watership Down”!!?
“Knock a few points off if (AI) is the case”
I knock all the points off for that laziness
If hack n' slash dungeon-crawling was added to skateboarding games back in the day I might have actually gotten into them.
I love Tails of Iron
"I'm off my tits!" 😂 Very British Indeed.
8:15 Oh god, you're so right there. Having the game come to a screeching halt so the NPC can talk at me for five minutes at the start of the game sucks so bad! Let me get back to playing!
Fuck yeah, Redwall referenced.
Oh heck yes, more bureaucrating sleuthing! Cannot get enough of that. I hope he has a go at Locator too, that one utterly infatuated me, though it's more spatial awareness than logical deduction.
I'd also recommend Detective Grimoire and Tangle Tower, by the devs of Crow Country
Honest chritizism is really important for us creator types.
Try 'criticism'
(It was low-hanging fruit)
@@reno_2200 I saw that. For some reason my spell-checker stopped working. That's why I need people like you.
11:50 is that one of the reason why ZP didn’t have animations lol
3:52 Yahtzee laugh is contagious. 😆
i love roottrees game
Yes!
you're the first, congrats
"Keep the momentum going." Agreed Yahtzee, video game dialogue that overshares right away is overwhelming and shocking much like how it is in real life
Pitch Minkborne anyway.
I'd play Bloodborne as a humanoid mink.
Hearing Croshaw complain about the graphics of Tails of Iron 2 is...wild.
Why? It goes for a very specific vibe, I can totally see people finding it unappealing
They seem like fair criticisms. It looks hard to parse and the style doesn't do anything for me.
Thanks for reminding me of the reasons I disliked Tales of Iron.
ai art is a useful tool that helps democratize art creation, hope that helps
Hideo Kojima literally means "small island" and "excellent husband".
Shadow Moses Island and Big Boss makes more sense now.
Tales of Iron sounds like a crappy third person shooter spun off from Hearts of Iron.