The topic of AI art is rife with controversy. Some consider it stealing from artists, while some worry about their jobs being displaced with AI. But hidden behind all the (admittedly valid) protests, there’s one thing that most people fail to notice:
Potential.
Imagine everything we can do with AI art. And no, I’m not just talking about making money with it. I’m talking about something bigger — something that can change an entire industry for the better.
That’s what Scenario is doing for game development. In this article, I’ll be walking you through what Scenario is, who it’s for, its wide range of features, pricing, and most importantly, if it’s worth investing in.
What is Scenario?
Scenario is among the first generative AI platforms designed specifically for the game development industry. This toolkit offers a complete suite of features that benefits large studios and indie developers alike to capitalize fully on the power of AI in their creative processes from character ideation to creating industry-ready game assets.
At its core, Scenario enables users to use and even create consistent custom AI models tailored to their specific needs, making generative AI a viable option for game development. This is something that other models like Midjourney have yet to offer, as their character and style consistency features are still updates away from becoming reliable.
However, what sets Scenario truly apart is its seamless integration options. Available as both a web application and API, it can be easily incorporated into popular game engines like Unity and Unreal.
Backed by industry giants and respected venture capital firms like Riot Games, Blizzard, and Oculus — Scenario is poised to transform how games are conceived, produced, and marketed.
If you’re interested in a more in-depth discussion of Scenario, I highly suggest checking out their YouTube Channel
Who is Scenario For?
Scenario is ideal for game studios of all sizes, from indie developers to AAA powerhouses. It caters to artists, designers, and producers looking to streamline their workflow. Anyone involved in game creation can benefit from Scenario’s AI-powered tools for asset generation and style consistency.
Scenario also has potential for enthusiasts beyond game development. Dungeon masters and tabletop RPG creators can use it for their campaigns. Graphic designers working on game-adjacent projects might find it useful for creating themed assets. Even amateur game modders could leverage Scenario to produce custom content that matches a game’s style.
Scenario’s Features
Image Generation
Scenario’s most important feature is its image generation capability powered by Stable Diffusion. This tool allows users to create game-ready assets with remarkable speed and consistency using a simple prompt. With image generation, users can generate a variety of images, from character concepts to environment designs.
What makes Scenario’s image generation industry-ready is that it’s hyper-specialized for game development. You can choose between a large library of models that are already fine-tuned for your need or train your own model using uploaded images. It also has a field for negative prompts so you can list down objects you don’t want appearing in the images.
You can also use the generated image as a reference for a different image prompt, which means you can reuse the character and recreate it in different environments, poses, and styles. This is especially important for making assets in game development.
Enhance
Scenario also has an enhanced feature which, staying true to its name, allows you to enhance images up to 16 times its original resolution. Developers can breathe new life into older assets, improve textures, or create high-resolution versions of concept art. Having high-resolution assets also gives designers a lot more leeway in personalizing AI-generated art.
Scenario’s enhance tool lets you upscale the images creatively (a lot more liberty in the added pixels) or precise (copying the original image’s structure and style as much as possible). You can also choose balanced if you want the best of both worlds, or use their slider if you need more upscaling control.
Here’s a quick rundown of what each slider does:
- Prompt Strength: How closely Scenario follows a prompt if one is inputted alongside the upscaler.
- Image Fidelity: How closely Scenario follows the style, subject, and structure of the original image.
- Creativity: How likely the upscaler adds additional elements.
- Fractality: Adjusts the coherence of the upscaler. Lower values means slower but more precise, while higher values means faster but more AI hallucinations.
- Detail Intensity: Changes how much the upscaler focuses on the details.
Pixelate
If you’re working on 8-bit or 16-bit games, Scenario’s pixelate feature is a (pun intended) game-changer for developers. This feature lets creators easily transform high-resolution images into authentic pixel art. With customizable pixel counts and color palettes, developers can achieve the perfect look for their intended visual style, whether it’s emulating 8-bit classics or creating a unique pixelated world.
Their pixelate feature’s ability to reduce noise and remove backgrounds also ensures clean results. Custom color palettes can be saved and reused, which is another plus for Scenario’s consistency.
Canvas
This is, in my opinion, the feature that sets Scenario apart. Similar to Photoshop, it provides a flexible workspace where users can manipulate, generate, and refine assets with ease. The Canvas allows for seamless expansion or inpainting, where artists can selectively regenerate or modify parts of an image while keeping other areas intact.
Users can also generate entirely new images within the canvas, integrating them smoothly with existing elements. This feature is particularly useful for concept artists and world builders which allows them to iterate quickly on ideas, blend different visual elements, and create cohesive game environments all within a single interface.
To fully appreciate this feature, here are two relevant YouTube videos. One tackles character design while the other shows how to create an industry-ready game background — both of which are made with Scenario’s Canvas.
Isolate
Scenario’s Isolate feature is a time-saving feature for game developers and artists. With just a few clicks, users can remove backgrounds from images, leaving only the main subject. This functionality is invaluable for creating transparent assets, character sprites, or UI elements — allowing creators to focus more on creativity and less on tedious editing tasks.
Vectorize
And lastly, Scenario’s vectorize feature transforms images into scalable vector graphics. This is essential for creating crisp, resolution-independent assets that can be resized without losing quality. Game developers can use it to convert concept art, logos, or UI elements into versatile vector formats, and eventually, video game assets.
What Else Is Coming?
Being a pioneer means having a few shortcomings that can only be fixed by newer updates. Here are some features that Scenario has on their roadmap:
- Textures: Creates incredibly detailed textures for assets.
- 3D: Using AI, Scenario will generate a 3D object based on a 2D input.
- Image-To-Video: This will allow users to input an image and Scenario will generate a video based on it and an optional prompt.
How Much Does It Cost?
Scenario offers a flexible pricing model that caters to everyone from curious hobbyists to professional game development teams. Let’s break it down in a way that relates to different user types:
- If you’re just dipping your toes into AI-driven game asset creation, Scenario’s free Starter plan is perfect. It’s like having a trial version of a professional tool at your fingertips, allowing you to experiment without spending a dime.
- As your projects grow, the Creator plan at $12 per month ($15 per month if paid monthly) offers a significant boost in capabilities. It’s priced similarly to a few coffees a month but provides tools that could save you hours of work.
- The Pro plan at $36 per month ($45 per month if paid monthly) is where things get serious, as it equips you with priority processing and increased creative units.
- Large studios or teams with ambitious projects will find the Team plan at $120 per month ($150 per month if paid monthly) to be a game-changer. When you consider the potential time and resource savings, this plan could easily pay for itself many times over.
If you’re still on the fence, the team offered our audience a code for 30% off your first subscription with the promo code #NEWENHANCE30. Be quick — as only 20 people can claim this code.
Pros and Cons of Scenario
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AI in Games Is Quickly Approaching
Scenario is one of those companies that knows how to seize an opportunity. They saw an opportunity to bridge AI art and game development and took it — quite convincingly too, if I may add.
In my opinion, no platform right now is as industry-ready as Scenario. Sure, it has a few shortcomings, but those could always be fixed with time. What matters is that they’re already capable of this at an early stage. If you’re a developer without any conflicted feelings about AI art, then this is a worthwhile investment.
And don’t forget — you can use the code #NEWENHANCE30 to get 30% off your first payment. Good luck!
