The band analogy actually hit different I get it now. Thanks for sticking around and explaining instead of just moving on. Hope you give it a shot someday.

Just to clarify I didn't delete the other thread, it was removed by AutoMod for spam. I'm still figuring out how Lemmy works and didn't realize posting in multiple communities at once was an issue. I understand you, and the cover question is fair I'll fix it. But I want to be honest about one thing. I understand why AI is a deal breaker for some people. What's harder to accept is when it becomes a reason to completely abandon everything else the code, the mechanics, the dialogue, the story. I've put over a hundred hours into this project. The writing is mine. The systems are mine. The design decisions are mine. I'm not asking you to ignore the AI ​​issue. I'm just asking that one aspect of the project not erase everything else that went into it. You may decide not to play it that's perfectly fair. But "I won't even give it a chance" based solely on the cover is like judging a book by its literal cover. In any case, I'll fix the image. Thanks for your honesty.

I want to thank everyone in this thread for the honest feedback. I hear you on the AI art — I understand it's not just an aesthetic preference but a matter of principle for many of you. This conversation genuinely helped me realize the issue runs deeper than I expected. I acknowledge the problem with AI-generated images — that's fair criticism. But I'll also be honest about something else: my native language is Ukrainian. If I had replied to you in Ukrainian, or posted this thread in Ukrainian, none of you would have understood a word — and I suspect most of you wouldn't have gone out of your way to translate it either. AI is what makes this conversation possible at all. I'll be more transparent going forward. Appreciate the patience.

The game text itself is fully written by me in my native language. AI helped with structuring and translating it into English and the other languages. So the writing, ideas, and story are entirely mine. Thanks for being understanding about it.

You're right on all points. To be transparent about the plan: the AI art is placeholder. The goal is to replace it once the game gets enough traction to work with a real artist. I'll add a visible note about it in the description. On translations that's actually a great idea. A community-driven translation approach would be much better than what I did. I'll look into setting something up for that. Thanks for the honest feedback, it's genuinely helpful.

Totally fair, I respect that. Hope you'll give it another look someday if the art situation changes

That's genuinely good advice, and I appreciate you taking the time to write it out. You're right that placeholder art + real funding → real artist is the more honest path, and I'll seriously consider it. And thank you for the offer — I might actually take you up on that one day. For now I just want to see if the game itself resonates with people before investing more into it. Really glad the concept seems neat to you. That means a lot.

You're right, I don't fully understand the depth of it. I know it's about artists whose work was used to train these models without consent or compensation — and that crediting the AI tool doesn't address that at all. I wanted to make games — it's something I genuinely care about. But I'm a solo dev with no budget, and hiring an artist simply isn't an option for me right now. AI was the only path I found that made this possible at all. I understand that doesn't make it okay for everyone, and I'm not trying to pretend otherwise.

You're right, I should have mentioned it upfront. The visuals were generated using Nano Banana Pro. I understand that's still a sensitive issue for many people and I respect that.

Totally understand. If you ever feel like giving it a shot anyway, it's there whenever. No pressure

Fair point on the AI art. The translations were also done with AI assistance — I'm not a polyglot. I reviewed and edited them, but I won't pretend it was all manual work. As a solo dev with no budget, AI was the only way to make this happen at all. If that's a dealbreaker for you, I get it