Bannerlands Replaces AI Art with Hand-Drawn Illustrations After Community Feedback

The developer of the upcoming strategy card battler, Bannerlands, has announced a significant shift in its art direction, moving away from AI-generated assets in favour of hand-drawn illustrations. This decision comes after the developer, known as darkinertia, initially explored AI art for the game’s hundreds of unique cards, only to reconsider following passionate feedback from their community.

Bannerlands is slated as a sequel or reboot to a previous strategy card game released in 2017, which, despite a tight budget, amassed over 200 cards with a mere nine unique illustrations. Recognizing the impact of low production value on player perception, darkinertia initially turned to generative AI as a seemingly viable solution for the new game's expansive card count, estimating 300+ unique pieces would be needed. A demo and trailer featuring AI art were released, accompanied by a detailed blog post explaining the rationale behind this choice.

While some players were receptive, a vocal segment of the community expressed strong reservations about the use of AI art, urging the developer to seek alternative solutions. Despite initial skepticism regarding the affordability of hand-made art for such a large volume, darkinertia committed to a thorough search. This led them to WorkWithIndies.com, a platform designed to connect indie developers with talent.

The search proved fruitful and surprisingly efficient. Within three days of posting a job, darkinertia received over 500 submissions, necessitating an early closure of the listing. By utilizing a structured application form that detailed art style suggestions, portfolio samples, and pricing, the developer was able to filter the extensive pool down to 40 affordable artists whose styles aligned with their vision. Eight finalists were then commissioned for test illustrations, which were subsequently put to a fan survey to gauge preferences. In just four weeks, a suitable artist was selected.

darkinertia acknowledges that this new direction will incur a greater investment of time and money than initially planned, though less than originally feared for human-crafted art. Crucially, the developer reports feeling “1000% percent” better about the project’s direction and has since removed the AI art declaration from the Bannerlands Steam page. This experience is shared in hopes that it may encourage other developers, who felt similarly limited to AI solutions, to explore alternative paths for securing hand-drawn assets.