Honest Answer: Good for Prototyping and Indie Games
AI assets in Summer Engine are designed for rapid iteration and getting your game playable quickly. They work best for simple, clear concepts. Complex or highly stylized assets may need refinement. They are not suitable for polished, commercial AAA releases where every asset must match exact specifications.
Rapid concept exploration. Try different visual directions without commissioning art. Generate a low-poly tree, a cartoon character, a pixel-art sword. See what fits your game.Placeholder assets during development. Need a crate, a barrel, a floor texture? AI generates it in seconds. Your game is playable while you iterate on mechanics.Quick iteration on visual ideas. “Make it more weathered.” “Add a glow effect.” “Change the color to blue.” Refine in real time.Indie game aesthetics. Many successful indie games use a cohesive AI-assisted or stylized look. Low-poly, pixel art, and cartoon styles work well.Specific use cases. Basic character sprites, simple environment backgrounds, UI elements, concept art and mood boards. Summer Engine offers style presets: Realistic, Cartoon, Anime, Pixel Art, Low-Poly, Fantasy.
Final AAA production art. Big-budget games need art that matches exact specs, passes legal review, and meets studio quality bars. AI assets are not there yet.Specific, highly detailed character designs. “A knight with a scar over his left eye, wearing rusted armor, holding a broken shield.” AI may get close but often misses fine details. Human artists excel here.Brand-consistent visual style across many assets. Maintaining exact style across 100+ assets is hard for AI. Human art direction is better.High-quality promotional materials. Key art, trailers, store assets. These need human polish.
Summer Engine clearly labels AI-generated assets. We strongly encourage using human artists for final production work when you have the budget. AI is a tool for speed and iteration; human artists are for polish and specificity.
Use AI assets to prototype and iterate. When you’re ready to ship, replace key assets with human-created art if your budget allows. Many indies ship with a mix: AI for props and environments, humans for main characters and key art.
