Today, I've released a major new update to Welcome Aboard, Captain. 

Back in 2022, before AI art really got going in the mainstream and it was still small, relatively unknown apps offering AI images, I experimented with making art for my little heartbreaker RPG hobby project.

Fast forward to today, and I've read up on how problematic AI art is, from several perspectives, and I've grown increasingly uncomfortable with having one of my games feature AI-created artwork.

Well, recently, I finally got ashamed enough of it to do something about it. I went back in, drew all new artwork, and replaced everything with human-created images, drawn on an iPad using Procreate.

It took me a long time, because I'm not really an artist, but I'm far happier with the results than I was the AI art. In particular, I think my own artwork, despite it not being as flashy, detailed, highly-rendered, or photorealistic as the AI art was, conveys far more of what I wanted the art to convey than before. The AI was trained on artists far superior to my own art skills, but it wasn't trained on my vision for what the game universe would be.

For example, I didn't have an image that could convey the inquiry shields, the force-field-based personal data sensing, computing, and protection devices issued to Alliance crew on excursion missions. The ships were all kinda weird and didn't have the vibe I wanted. And the AI's ability to draw the image I had in my head was simply not there – it drew what it wanted to draw.

So now, I'm happy to release a brand-new version, with completely new, human-drawn art.  I hope you like the art, as well, and that it helps evoke more intrepid adventures in the science fiction universe of the Alliance.

May Earth always guide you home, captain!