About a year ago, when I started developing Calradia's Borderlands for Mount&Blade Warband, I initially planned to follow some of the (excellent) tutorials available on Taleworlds to create my own Mod, in which I originally intended to add only three factions. As I progressed, I ended up installing a plethora of tools created by the community, like OpenBRF, Thorgrim Editor, Morgh Editor, Bloodpass editor, and even a save-editor. I also briefly tried Gimp, which definitively proved that I am a terrible graphic designer. Apart from Python 2.7 and Thorgrim's map editor, I initially didn't think I would need to install any of the other tools, as I initially had very modest ambitions for my mod.
But as the new factions and characters from my imagination came to life, I wanted to give them more depth, more originality, and as much as possible, create the illusion of an extension of the original game. The myriad of textures available on ModDB and NexusMod, provided by the modding community, was an invaluable asset. However, to achieve and perfect this goal, I needed two final touches:
- Good stories for the claimants and the sixty or so recruitable new characters (actually around forty or fifty as ten of these characters already had a unique backstory, and ten of them were also partially written).
- Illustrative images that corresponded to the new factions, preferably in the same style as those of the original game.
For point 1, it worked out perfectly because I have always enjoyed designing and writing stories, especially when it involves exploring antagonistic and perfectly defensible viewpoints (By the way, I am currently writing a serie of books in this kind of mindset but did not find any serious editor :/ end of the parenthesis. Litteraly!). I hope the players of the mod enjoyed the stories of the claimants, as those were the texts where ChatGPT was put to the least test. And yes, I didn't hesitate to include some obvious nods to certain well-known stories.
However... Forty minor characters. 40. All with a unique backstory, which, let's be honest, will probably be read very little by the players. While I had a lot of fun with the claimants, the 40/50 characters quickly made me want to give up and leave the dialogues identical by default. That's where ChatGPT came to the rescue. 😄
As for point 2, I believe I already mentioned my graphic design skills earlier. Thank you, Bing Image Creator.
Using ChatGPT to generate NPC dialogues + correcting + formatting + translating
ChatGPT is a very powerful tool for generating almost any type of text, but it also has its limitations, which I have experienced:
- Generating too much text can take time. In my case, I chose to segment the writing process to ensure optimal responsiveness.
- Be as specific as possible and provide all the contextual elements you can! ChatGPT is familiar with the canonical universe of Mount&Blade Warband, so simply specifying that these characters exist within that universe helps avoid generating texts about elves, mages, or cryptocurrency traders. On this point, my real-life work experience has been helpful. As a consultant for IT departments in large companies, I have repeatedly encountered the vital necessity of clearly specifying requirements to avoid misunderstandings with colleagues, collaborators, or clients. This aspect of communicating with ChatGPT came instinctively to me, but it may not be intuitive for everyone.
I retrospectively think I should have given more context for the characters, and not only their ingame name. I was exploring the possibilites and was just impressed by the final result. Maybe for a next version :)
As you can see, I initially did not precised that it's for M&B Warband. ChatGPT later proposed some backgrounds with elves and dwarves, and I corrected it by precising that we are in Mount & Blade with no fantasy, only imaginary medieval world.
- Maintain a critical mindset! Consider what ChatGPT provides as a starting point rather than a final output, as it still has room for improvement in various aspects (cheesy dialogues, occasional repetition).
- It is a good translator and a precious integrator. Moreover, it is perfect for translating text embedded within code without altering the existing code (invaluable for someone working with numerous lines of code, as it significantly reduces the chances of errors). I initially wrote the claimants' dialogues in my native language, French, and then translated them into English (and integrated them into the code, as M&B is originally coded in English).
Reverse translation : from the translation file (FR) to the code format (EN)
- ChatGPT has inherent limitations in its way of thinking, likely due to both political and ideological reasons. Forget about most forms of violence in your texts, especially those handled by ChatGPT (even if you ask for a simple translation or spelling correction).
Bing Image Creator: Infinite possibilities but still a bit random
Two words sum up my experience with this tool quite well: trial and error. Unlike ChatGPT, if you are too specific, the tool may interpret some of your additional information on an equal footing with others, resulting in unusable images. Unfortunately, I didn't save the prompts I used, so I won't be able to show you much of the successes (which are already integrated into the mod anyway 😄) or the funny failures. Keep in mind that for each illustration in the mod, there are easily twenty failures or can-be-really-better tests.
Very good, interesting or frankly disturbing results
Here are a few tips to summarize my experience with this tool:
- Lower your expectations: You will NEVER get exactly what you had in mind. However, you can get close to it or even be pleasantly surprised by the creations of the tool.
- Experiment and iterate: Don't be afraid to try different prompts and adjust them until you find something that works. It may take a few attempts, but you can discover interesting and usable images along the way.
- Consider the "connotations"! When I asked for illustration images for the dark knights, I wondered why some results kept showing knights with funny ears on top of their helmets. Then I saw an army of Batman, and it all made sense. Curiously, "evil knights" worked better afterwards. Another example is when, for some reason that escapes me, "cataphracts" gave Dall-E a strong urge to show me tanks (I still don't understand why, so if anyone has any ideas, please share). Thus, the Sudestrians were generated by requesting "Persian" infantry images (apologies to the players for the strange spear in the middle; it was the best image I had).
- Expect the unexpected: Sometimes, the tool may generate images that are unexpected but still intriguing. Don't hesitate to explore these possibilities and incorporate them into your mod if they fit the overall aesthetic or theme.
- Hide the flaws with artistic styles. What's sadder than a beautiful image ruined by a strabismus epidemic, three-fingered hands, or trunks instead of ears? Thanks to the impressionists, Michelangelo, and Van Gogh, it is easier to mask those imperfections.
To the players, I hope you enjoyed the dialogues and illustrations in the mod ! 😊 I know it's far from perfect (a few cheesy dialogues or strange images), but I believe it has reached a level that is sufficient for use in the game. Feel free to customize your own version of the mod, and if there are any graphic designers out there who want to contribute, they are more than welcome. I’m still on discord and this site to bring some patches and minor updates, but I don’t think to develop a V3 before at least one or two years.
Developing this mod was a highly enriching experience. Each addition provided an opportunity to learn more about modding, but I also realized just how time-consuming it could be—time that became even more precious as my daughter's birth approached. These new tools, however, allowed me to accomplish tasks much more efficiently, saving me countless hours that would have otherwise been required.
AI tools can be frightening in their effectiveness, and it's legitimate to have concerns about being replaced in certain domains. It's possible that this article will become obsolete within a year or two due to the rising performance of these tools. It's hard to predict what the future holds, but I believe we need to adapt to AI and develop the ability to utilize them effectively. Being skilled at using AI, like being a "pro-prompter", will undoubtedly be a sought-after value-add in the future (pretty cool, I prefer this option), or maybe on the contrary something really common like knowing how to search stuffs on Google, and not having this "skill" will be seen as a handicap (not cool, life is hard enough for most of us). Who knows.
And note how careful I was to be polite with ChatGPT in my captures: you never know, I prefer that it remembers me when it decides to switch to Skynet mode.
To be honest I don't think trial and error-ing into a successful prompt is a skill, it doesn't take real effort like learning, practicing and refining one's writing, painting or drawing skills, or even all of the effort that goes into developing such tools, a profession like a "pro google searcher", for example, doesn't really exist, if someone claimed to be that we would all laugh at them, and any attempts at making money out of it, because it's rather mundane. They just typed in some words and tried again until they found what they wanted.
Nevertheless it is good that these tools served their purpose and made it possible to achieve your goal with this mod, in light of all of the changes happening in your life, that is a very positive outcome indeed. Thank you for sharing your insights.
You just don't know that there are many many jobs which are based on the sole skill of one individual at searching and browsing internet. Look at what a SEO is. Military have OSINT, there's modern journalism, and I'm pretty sure most work sector have a version of this as of today. So yeah, knowledge of how to use a digital tool, be it a search engine, a 3d creation software, or AI prompt, are all valuable asset employed professionally. The people you would laugh at probably have a higher salary than you, maybe not, but statistically probably, and more than me also. Just to say what the work industry value isn't really what you think is worth something.
I agree with many things said,. There isn't a google-searcher job per se but only because it's so basic a skill that it's assumed if you need to google something work related then you can do so efectively. It will probably be the same with AI in some time. If you can't prompt yourself out of what you don't know, you'll be obsolete. Much like someone nowadays who couldn't google something quickly and had to get up from work and consult a book.
Thanks for your interesting insight here. I will share your article at the M&B Modding Discord.
Thank you, it really was an interesting read. :-)
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