Only the introduction is from Ghandy: In this statement, the graphician Critikill responds to the accusations made by the C64 Scener CopAss. It’s still about artificial intelligence and how the demoscene should deal with it. We from the Diskmag would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his willingness to speak publicly on this issue.
by Critikill (CK) of Brainstorm, Haujobb, Rebels & SWEET16
Images (from CK)
BACKGROUND + HISTORY
In 2020, during Corona I used DPaint on Amiga 500 again for the first time since 1992 for nostalgic reasons and dedicated myself to try again on „Demoscene“ pixel art. I deliberately say “Demoscene“ pixel art because, ironically, it was historically created from the intros of game cracks and copies.
Traditional “demoscene“ pixel art was largely based on the use of references. Many of the best and most famous „demoscene“ pixel artists still use references as a basis today, whether they are illustrators, photographers, art directors etc. …
And yes, the conditions have changed from handmade scans to the internet to AI and fortunately also enable new possibilities. So every creativity expression has its time and for myself I loved the era Amiga OCS 1989-1993 the most.
Excuse me for nostalgy
If I have offended anyone by using references, and other new opportunities I am very sorry to go with the time and dive into the past at the same time. Making mistakes is human and I’ll have to be more transparent in the future and read the rules of compos more accurate. It was never my intention to deliberately break rules. I have absolutely no problem if the compo positions or prizes are revoked, because I don’t do it because of any placement or fame, I just enjoy the pixeling itself.
If I use references I always try to incorporate a lot of originality in the form of idea, composing, dither diversity and colour restrictions into the motifs. And if you look at the works in Dpaint or GrafX closer you can also see that they are not just simple conversions.
If you can’t see that, perhaps I should skip this and don’t need to spend any more time into retro “Demoscening”. Anyone who believes that pixel art is easy to do these days via AI or conversions is missing the big picture.
An example: I have created the motif “Plague Dr” by Christopher Lovell with his approval and communicated it as such. He loved the twist on the idea + and the pixel interpretation. People discussed this picture back in 2022 and still some people try to spread hate speech about it.
The setting and the bird on the picture (which was actually hanging on the chain) took on a different meaning. So it was a statement of the (corona) time “Freedom comes back”. But most people didn’t even recognise and understand that.
Speaking about the subject of plagiarism – by the way, some of my work has also been copied, which didn’t offend me by the way, but somehow even made me proud.
Real compo rules
As the rules differ quite much from event to event, a good experienced compo team of experts and clear general democratic rules would be best for everyone involved. It would be much better to have general rules for everyone and each place, rather than different compo rules depending for which party you’re going to create your picture. The present situation makes it quite difficult to take part at compos.
In my opinion 8 bit, 16 bit should still be enough. Also showing works for example on native hardware + zoom into the images is much more important to me than a video of the making of, which in the end doesn’t match the interest of the majority of viewers, but only the competitors who also contribute with pixel art.
Art vs. (demoscene) pixel art
Demoscene pixel art as such does not prohibit the use of references, just as in other art genres. If you draw with pencils or paint with oil-color, you are also allowed to use light tables, projections, etc. to copy/trace references. Copying/tracing references is also a common tool. Matte paintings are also largely based on references. So pixel skills are not just about classic drawing talent and know-how, but much more about the technique.
So it is of little value to sketch with a pencil, scan it and present it as a making-off video. In the end, it’s not pixelated by hand, it’s just converted.
The result matters! No other “art form” in the world works with such a moronic proof, because the viewers want to see a finished result. Or do you always watch „the making of“ from every Hollywood movie, video game or from other paintings etc. ? So the proof of concept and the making of is generally only interesting for a few other artists and die-hard nerds in my opinion – not for the crowd.
“Demoscene pixel art” is more of a technical art form, which in essence has always been about idea, composing, restrictions such as colours, format and especially the dither-technique.
Passion, not hate – please ban the haters!
In my opinion, witch-hunters and haters have absolutely no place in the demoscene. I’ve noticed that toxic sceners (I won’t mention any names) avoid talking privately via PM and just start a rant without knowing the person or the background or asking someone directly:
For me and many others a no-go.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a peaceful person and can do it without that kind of rubbish. As I mentioned above, it was certainly not my intention to deceive others or fake things. So I will have to be more transparent and can only hope that most of you will put your energy into ‘making’ in the future – makers gonna make – haters gonna hate.
Toxic nostalgia:
This is the way that reminiscing prevents you from being happy. I really can’t listen to that sentence anymore. “Oh, in the past everything used to be better.”
Cheers CK
love. peace. demoscene.
What do you think? Please leave a comment below this article!
Related topics:
The no-copy debate now extended to artificial intelligence – an analysis
Graphic compos 2025: survey to party crews
the Diskmag
The one and only!
Submit your own article, or contact nukleUS!
Back to the Diskmag #1 (online), Back to the Diskmag (overview), back to Diskmags (main)
Amiga online magazines (home), Nukleus (home)
this is by far the most stupid pile of crap I’ve read this decade.
Thank you for your comment, which you have not substantiated at all.
If all kinds of tools are banned, like CopAss demands, why shouldn’t the creation of a demo be banned? But they would have to, if you follow CopAss’s logic! Even with the old Amiga classics “State of the Art”, “Hardwired”, nobody wrote which tools they’ve used.
And if you’re going to criticise me, at least have the balls to use your pseudonym, which you usually use in the demo scene. Or am I asking too much?
Or why is what Critikill wrote so bad in your opinion? I find his text very conciliatory. I don’t understand why people react so aggressively.
Read this article two times now. I’m having a bit of hard time to understand where Critikill stands on the use of AI, still. Wasn’t that the main topic?
The mention of references is also a bit vague and unclear.
I think we can all agree on that everyone uses references in some form or way. As life goes on you mental library grows bigger and bigger and maybe if fortunate you can rely to a great extent on you skill to memorise how things looks. Everything from how the proportions of a face, hands, how feet looks, etc. Kim Jung Gi being a good example being able to use his mental library not even having the need to sketch before hand. He just started with the inking.
But most of us needs a bit of external tools to remember how a hand looks for an example so what most of us do is use image libraries with poses of hands trying to understand how the hand looks in certain angles and poses. After doing this for several years you start to remember how the hand looks and works so maybe you don’t need those image libraries anymore, for hands. But then you want to draw a dog and need that image library again. And so on. This has been the tools for artists for ages, as long as artists and painters has walked on this earth. That is how references are used.
Most often the image reference is a study which you recreate to fit your own art piece. Sometimes, very rarely, you trace it. You should really learn how to recreate the hand just by looking at it and making your own version of it. Tracing should be avoided if possible. After all we all want to be better at creating art in the complete process relying only on yourself to bring out your best work.
Now this new shiny AI thing has entered the scene and turned everything upside down. It empowers the artist and make us free, they say. While it’s quite the opposite. Freedom is being able to use your own mind coming up with ideas, draw with something as simple as a pen and a piece of paper. Having to rely on expensive hardware with subscriptions that does the work for you is not freedom. It’s also hampering the mind, you don’t evolve being a better artist, you devolve. You have stopped learning the trade, outsourced the creativity to a machine and paying to do art.
For competitions there has to be rules so everyone competes on the same terms. I see many compos says no AI is allowed which is a good thing. I think most of us wants to see pure art from the creators mind. I prefer to see an honest effort looking really crappy and not an awesome looking AI based image which means nothing.
So I don’t think it’s hard to compete in several competitions. Just do honest art and you will qualify in all. Pretty easy.
There is an easy solution to this.
Follow the rules of each compo. If your image does not meet the compo requirements, do not enter.
The “haters” are people who have been cheated out of a win where you participated with a piece that did not follow the rules. If you entered a bicycle race and got cheated out of a win because someone used an electric bike against the rules. Would you not get pissed off?
You can do AI pixelart on your own time and no one will question it, but if you feel like you want to publish it, just say who did the original art. AI, a friend etc.
It´s not that hard.
Simple:
. strip them from every prize they won
. redo the charts for every democompo
. suspention for 5 years from the democompos
This for him, Facet (another one good one to be put in the same pot!) and everyone else that did the same.
Plain and clean justice for whoever tried with the sweat, and time of their life, to compete against this loosers.
Winners don’t use AI! They follow rules and respect others with honesty!.
Quote:
I really can’t listen to that sentence anymore. “Oh, in the past everything used to be better.”
Reply:
I really can’t listen to THIS sentence anymore. “Oh, in the past everybody copied Vallejo.”
The point is- if you use AI just like references- vague shapes, base for further work, collage, etc. is should be accepted and not hated. The problem is with pipeline where picture as a whole is based on AI and mostly “processed” to pixel art. Some done it and its lame. Does CK done that?- I see no such evidence.
Probably some do not see the difference, marking all content created with AI tools as a support as something evil and smth to be banned. By the other side if compo rule states 0% AI allowed, people should follow this rule or look for another party 🙂
read and watch: https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=101869#c1014943
pixelperfect copy the woman head:
https://i.ibb.co/py4sQyt/escapfrommetaverseevidence-ezgif-com-optimize.gif
Let’s leave the nonsense…
1. background+history:
you’re mixing something up. Reference is a learning phase. you look at the picture and draw it, over and over again. then if you’ve been doing it for a long time, your own style has developed.
not that you redraw the reference, that’s copying!
there’s no such thing as “demoscene pixelart”!
pixelart. period.
nocopy is there! it was bad back then, it’s still bad now.
2. sorry for the nostalgia:
you made fake work phases, so there’s no need to argue!
graphic designers who are light years more talented and successful than you, just don’t enter competitions because they’re tired of cheaters like you winning in a row!
So “I’m really sorry” won’t be enough here.
Lynx said it well: your prizes will go to the next place winner (not facet/jade…), you will remove your rankings from everywhere and disappear from the scene…because you are not worthy of it.
you fooled people!
reworking an existing image is “no big deal”!
it’s like ordering food, serving it, throwing vegetables, cheese on the side and saying you cooked it!:D
the added value is minimal because everything is already ready.
a 1:1 reworking of the Lovell image with very minimal changes. without informing anyone who the original author is. I was at the party, it wasn’t written down… you folded this afterwards… so you’re lying again!
who would copy you?!:D stop kidding.
you throw things next to each other, they look left, they look right, they look together, AI converted shit. there is no composition around…
3. Real compo rules:
you cheated, got caught and now you start being smart here!:D
every competition has a list of what is allowed and what is not, if you are not sure ask. so this is also a pretty weak excuse.
with the work phases, against timelapse you are the only one who has an excuse! how strange. The Sarge, Joe has no problem with this.
you come with all the nicer crap on this original hardware…
Fun fact: on my shitty little channel the most viewed and most commented videos are: drumroll please!!! the timelapse videos
yeah and this trend is also with other pixel artists.
because people are interested in how the picture is created from nothing, they like to watch the process.
but you only say this to justify yourself and look for excuses.
Your friend Jade also makes timelapses, but he always leaves the beginning with some pathetic excuse and you only see the dithering, which even a dog doesn’t care about… everyone wants to see how you draw a human figure from scratch.
4. Art vs. (demoscene) pixel art:
again, this reference topic is a fallacy…
whoever makes a big painting draws it in small size first…but there are those who immediately sketch and paint it in large size.
you’re mixing in nonsense that you have no idea about…
me and a lot of other people watch the makingof.
this is demoscene, not hollywood.
if you’re not original, you’re a “lamer”!
the workflow should be transparent, that it’s really your work. not a collage of other photos or a cut-out detail from a movie with a filter. (you had some joker picture like that that you stole from a movie)
you really don’t like this pixel art topic…don’t force it in my opinion.
5. Passion, not hate – please ban the haters:
feel free to mention it, I’ll tell you what will happen: the big stinking nothing!:D
this pointing at the hoarders is pathetic and boring too…
maybe you should do a little self-examination first and then you would understand what is happening around you.
if you don’t have to cheat and create real value, then people will love you!
all my contact information is public, no one has contacted me…oh wait. jade referred me on atari discord, but she didn’t expect them to show up!:D she was hysterical until she “shot herself in the foot” and the atari people questioned her. she admitted that she cheated…just like you.
you forget that the internet brings good people together…
it’s because of petty cheaters like you that the scene is where it is. you’ve flooded the scene with these lame collages, AI generated trash…
which no one is interested in, because people are interested in how you can draw…
you should finally understand this.
if there was a guinness record for “most use of clichés” then your name would be next to it!:D
Why didn’t you submit a picture for revision? It’s a long time to fake 10 pictures, right?!:D
“love. peace. demoscene.”
I know clichés like that too:
hate! war! demoscene never die!
My two cents? My two cents. I think we must distinguish between using AI as a tool, and using AI as a replacement for skills. The good analogy wouldn’t be copying, but scanning.
Back in the day, in the 1990s, when scanners were new and rare, many artists were accused of scanning. That is, to simply scan an image and pretend they drew it pixel by pixel. This was a very common accusation, but I don’t remember anyone who, in fact, fully scanned any piece of artwork. After some debate, the debate settled at this: it’s OK to use a scanner to bring a hand-drawn sketch, or even a reference picture into the computer, if you rework it significantly, and it loses its scanned nature.
Copying, as Critikill correctly wrote, was a side debate. You may remember many pixel art pieces from around 1990 marked “NO COPY!”, to indicate it was original content. However, many great pixel artists still did copies. Examples are Fairfax’s famous OCS copy of a Motörhead album (with the screaming locomotive), Made’s Boris Vallejo copies (ironically, Vallejo himself was accused of cheating for using a projector while painting) or Rendall’s Assembly winner image ‘Vanishing Point’. I remember Blala of Byteam telling us that he went home from Assembly, and found “Rendall’s picture” on the fridge door, as his roommate found it in a magazine and liked it.
The same debate was reignited when tablets and Photoshop were introduced. The first Photoshop artists were often decried as “cheaters”. For example, Ward and Kal of Astroidea were both attacked by traditional, or shall I say, puritanist pixel artists. Yet their form of art did not go away, and now it’s just another genre, distinct from oldskool pixel art.
The way I see it, AI is just a new way to create something you can copy and turn into pixel art. What’s the difference between copying a magazine or album cover, or copying something DALL-E created following a prompt? What matters is the result. Why shouldn’t you write a prompt, something like: “Draw me a pair of cute moe eyes” or “Draw me a car from this and this angle.” Then you use this as a sketch to implement a part of your artwork. You won’t end up using the result as is, unless you’re really sloppy and woefully untalented.
Haters tend to forget that the point of being a demoscener is have FUN, preferably with friends. So you created a picture? Did you enjoy doing it? Are you genuinely proud of what you’ve done? Good for you, and welcome!
I understand what you’re saying, but that’s not the case here.
Critikill didn’t use it as a reference, he pixelated other works 1:1 or an AI generated image.
( https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=101869#c1014943 )
He puts together an image in PS from any sources, converts it, pixelates it, creates fake work phases.
This is no category, kindergarten coloring level, just with pixels.
“Reference” means something very different to him.
He got caught, now he’s explaining himself and trying to make it seem like he had no idea about it and we’re the stupid ones because we insist on originality…
The demoscene is about self-realization, what “you” can create.
Drawing a human face is very, very difficult. Anatomy, geometry, light/shadows. And even if it works, it’s just a copy.
there is no individuality, no style in it. these are the results of long, long years of practice and learning.
that’s why AI is nothing to me, because it’s boring, mass-produced, cliché.
but whoever makes the most of it, do it. but then move in their own league. just like the Assembly party has had an AI wild category since then.
you can go there, but it’s not that prestigious…
the fact that the revision has been tightened is exemplary.
it seems that none of the cheaters started, who have always won in the last few years…
Honestly, I’m not old enough yet for such a drama, so I offer no comments on whatever Critikill did or didn’t do. I’m sure if he did something wrong, he understands it himself, as an established artist. A creation process such as you described here is indeed unacceptable.