Creating Kohinoor, the Hero of Light

Introduction

Recently, I’ve found a lot of joy in documenting how I explore ideas using generative AI. I’ve found it interesting to do so because I see these AI models as scaffolding for future technologies across the sciences and arts. While there’s a lot of debate, confusion and uncertainty about AI generated art, I express my creativity by pushing the thoughts in my head to the model.

Today, I’ll be working on “Kohinoor”. A character designed by Michael Morgan for the game “Paragon” back in 2016. Michael and I met in the Paragon forums before all the devs working on the game moved over to Fortnite. Great decision for Epic, less so for us Paragon fans. RIP. 🪦

Michael had these well thought-out ability breakdowns for his characters and my ability to sketch complemented this perfectly. Fast forward 8 years and I have Michael’s permission to again create some his original characters.

Here’s a screenshot of what his description looks like, with some of our comments on the side.

There’s a public link to the doc below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11F9YWPXhCMlNEFXdNA1Hamr7P2bSKqArWbRlcyqm9hE/edit

A screenshot for Michael’s breakdown of Kohinoor, in 2016.

This project is less about the prompt engineering aspect and more about creating what I believe to be an interesting character. It’s a chance for me to record how I move from vague to concrete and hopefully a chance to find ways to improve my process. As with Cheshire & Uno, I won’t be “drawing” elements, everything I want to add will be done with GenAi. First in Dall-E, and then Midjourney & Photoshop for the finished piece(s).

I’ll be playing the role of creative director and will flesh out the direction the AI will take this character (while staying true to the details we have).

The Character

I mentioned before that Kohinoor was originally designed for a game called Paragon. Paragon is a MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena) set in a distant future. It has machines, hHumans, Aliens, guns, magic & enough mysticism to satisfy any RPG & Sci-fi fan. There are no limitations to what characters we can create/how they function.

Here are some of Paragon’s characters. All of which exist in the same world. ⬇️

Morigesh: voodoo priestess.

Grim.Exe: Alien with a bot

Grux: Rhino warrior

Aurora: Ice Queen

Sevarog: Lord of the under

Crunch: battle boxing bot

Iggy & Scorch: imp & dragon

Wukong: Monkey King

Rampage: Angry monster

Fleshing Out the Character

We have a brief for Kohinoor - detailed in Michael’s ability overview.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11F9YWPXhCMlNEFXdNA1Hamr7P2bSKqArWbRlcyqm9hE/edit

I was curious how a generative model (ChatGPT), the SOTA (State of the Art) Model as January 7, 2024 might interpret this. My plan was to move from ChatGPT to Dall-E and get initial ideas based on “their” interpretation of the Michael’s document.

The Actual overview is quite ling, so I’ve only included the visual elements in this write up.

Breakdown of the Character after feeding in the details to ChatGPT:

<aside> <img src="/icons/robot_blue.svg" alt="/icons/robot_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Conceptual Design Overview

Visual Aesthetics:

Theme: Kohinoor, named after the "mountain of light," should embody a radiant, luminous aesthetic. Light and brilliance are central to his design.
Colour Palette: Predominantly white and gold, with hints of fiery orange or red to represent the "Blazing Light" ability. The colours should give a sense of purity, heroism, and ethereal qualities.
Armour: Lightweight yet elegant armour that suggests agility and speed. The armour could have crystalline or gem-like elements, reflective of the Koh-i-noor diamond, adding to the theme of light and brilliance.
Wings: As a character with a flying mechanic, prominent wings are essential. These could be ethereal, light-based wings, glowing with a spectrum of colours, symbolising his mobility and aerial prowess. </aside>