iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 18h

It's so much of a pain in the ass that I literally installed a script to dodge that job. (And yet, it's still not gonna beat doing it by hand for smaller scale trees, not to mention the texturing)

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Maybe you should have disclosed your usage of AI on newgrounds considering the rules explicitly require that.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Just make sure you take some time to pick up on some of the rules of the medium. Picture 5 has a lot of mixed sized pixels (also referred to as "mixles") and it is hell to integrate them into a piece without it looking extremely out of place.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I mean seriously, I got into game dev and had some of the most ugly pixel art imaginable. I still have a long way to go, but I'm not abandoning my tools because my skill hasn't caught up to where I want to be at.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Honestly, it's just annoying seeing so many people post their AI-generated assets onto the platform. I'm not interested in investing my time into any sort of project that uses AI because it's clear that they don't want to invest their time into putting care into the project.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It's mostly because of how blue sky chooses to compress image data. It's very sloppy and tends to inflate file sizes for pixel art in particular, nobody likes the Vaseline filter that gets splotched onto pixel art, and it's currently hell trying to find a way to circumvent it.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

They should be doing it on here as well instead of just the hell site.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Always glad to see when a company actually goes against the slop machines.

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Reposted by JamesTDG (comms open)

tracey 🌱 🔜 gateway fate 203 @sheepskin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

gaia online making anti-genAI posts i knew we could always trust u

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

You might want to rephrase that. Homer Bush is kind of triggering the immature corner of my mind.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Interesting question I have, who here has played a game and used the colorblindness settings despite not being colorblind? It usually seems like my brain processes edge/shape data faster than color data, as whenever I enable colorblind mode, I'm faster at solving puzzles in particular

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I'm honestly sick and tired of the knee-jerk reaction to my medium of choice, yes, its origins are rooted in outdated hardware, but it's like saying we should've abandoned sculpting when CAD tools like blender released.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Even my dead server has more channels and tools set up than them.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

They could have easily funded a Kickstarter and had people on board to work on it immediately.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Note: The gender does not change, Gandalf just wanted to have it because he could. Nothing else.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Okay, okay, then just HEAR me out here: bsky.app/profile/jame...

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Screw the genderbent Malfoy trend, that shit's for terfs. All my homies just give Gandalf huge tits. (Tolkien, I hope you're laughing from the grave)

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Heh, my rookie years would've still been better than that trainwreck

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Be glad you didn't get it, the anti ownership shit for it makes it unreasonable to use

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"But James, it's just a screener, you'll be fine!" I CAN'T OPERATE AN AMAZON ECHO. It literally doesn't comprehend my speaking style. It basically means that I am unable to go through any sort of screener because the AI will literally discriminate against me.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Currently suffering the hellscape that is trying to get a job. Because of how much people are on the AI bandwagon, I'm required to do screeners with their AIs instead of filling a damn application. Can't even get temp work!

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

To have it be applied in a useful manner. Bounce gel, perfect for disaster response. Speed gel, perfect lubricant for equipment. Portal gun's a no-brainer though. None of these AI companies could handle making anything legitimately useful, only extremely sucky Gladoses.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Looking back on Portal a bit here, it's fascinating how Cave Johnson, despite how horribly he ran Aperture, SOMEHOW is a more competent executive compared to any other giant company CEO, like, his company invented crazy functioning shit, and just couldn't get the right ideas guy (or gal or enby pal)

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Huh, that's a fascinating route to aim for. I feel sorry for anyone with extremely high res monitors

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

And depending on the model, my own work's a part of that training material. FUCK YOU LAION 5B! (I wish I could have easy access to verify if my works were used as training material again...)

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

have been doing to annoy me. No, I'm taking the time to learn the quirks and see where a genre once held in high regard could rebound and stop being associated with shovelware. Likely I'm gonna end up making something that handles comparably to boomer shooters like DOOM

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Indeed, indie gets its value and charm from NOT looking like AAA. It's SUPPOSED to cut against the grain to create something new. I'm currently disappointed with the state of the top down shooter franchise, but I'm not just gonna repeat the exact same shit the AAA companies >>>

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I've just made it my policy that anyone who claims indies need to use ai requires percussive maintenance. Indies do NOT need to catch up with AAA, in fact, AAA has only CONTINUED to lag behind, partially as a result of, guess what, GENERATIVE FUCKING AI!

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

If you're lazy, just fucking say you're lazy. There's thousands of us globally who would've jumped at the chance to work on the project, hell, I'm currently on a whole bender for OG computer games right now!

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Agreed, Dizzy's one of those iconic old home computer games from the 80s, I definitely would've wanted to jump on board to give it a new lease on life

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Usually I handle static stuff, but I do dabble in animation from time to time jamestdg.newgrounds.com

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm making fun of my own trashy and chaotic Dev timeline

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

bsky.app/profile/jame... Already prepped for the season

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Would be cool to see it edited down to a dedicated video, VODs may be nice, but it takes AGES to pick up on the important details from them

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I still game on mine too, though it has turned into a glorified GBA at this point lol. (Wish I could've afforded a Steam Deck)

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Also, I've seen photos of the modern day Bliss hill, while the original beauty is gone from it, the vineyard in its place isn't ugly either, and ngl, it might be my largest gripe with the ai video, it assumes the hill has its og appearance.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

As someone who did not even grow up in that era, I could spot so many problems wrong with the historical accuracy of the contents in the video. It's a fascinating period to study as a hobbyist digital archaeologist, but oh man, am I glad we aren't stuck with XP...

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'll need a bit first, I got WIPs scattered across a bunch of project files I need to compile together, and I'm too far away from my computer for a bit to do that right now...

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It just mostly hurts as an artist to see so many lose care for their subject, art's meant to be an experimental learning process, and they're shovelling it to the wayside...

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Same goes for my Halloween PFP this year, AI wouldn't have thought to include the blood moon or the crest, hell, it wouldn't have even gone for really studying the various designs Drac had in Castlevania and just slapped an ugly agglomeration of generic vampire designs.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

When I worked on a Commander Keen skin for a fan project, I actually read up on how the old CGA system worked in DOS for sake of design accuracy, but ai wouldn't have even thought about that, just a gross "hey it vaguely looks like keen!"

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yeah, the heavy abuse of AI has severely ruined capturing a lot of nostalgia in general because it doesn't really encourage anyone who interfaces through AI to actually learn a bit. >>>

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

To quote Moss: "We're all gonna die!"

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Sounds interesting, is this a project meant to emulate the restrictions of the NES? (assuming the three colors and one transparency rule.)

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Oh god, this mf is cranking it to an ai gen minor?!

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For the record, yes, I ABSOLUTELY want someone to steal my idea and beat me to the punch here, its miserable trying to make myself understand the method attempted in Astortion, except having the whole animation step of the base model being done in 3D.

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I mean, there's always the DOOM method of billboarding whatever you feel like you can get away with. Personally, I've been trying to learn enough to build a whole 3D to 2D asset pipeline that doesn't just look like I downscaled a 3D model...

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Finally found a classic #Elite ship that I could translate based on its wireframe, this is the Gecko #pixelart #lowpoly #picocad2

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JamesTDG (comms open) @jamestdg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Say hello to the new #Halloween #PFP for this year! This one is based on Castlevania's Dracula, though its a mix of the Netflix and SOTN designs. #pixelart

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