MindsEye Dev Says Development is About “An Idea, a Dream,” Not AI Slop

Taking cues from both current world events and a grounded futuristic angle, MindsEye is a cinematic third-person action title set in a fictional city where greed, technology, and government corruption—coupled with extreme climate change—rule over its citizens and threaten to destabilize society.

MindsEye‘s Redrock City resembles a classic cyberpunk dystopia in many respects, but nearly all of its aspects are more firmly rooted in ideas and applications already present in daily life. Others, while not to the degree depicted in the game, have the potential to become so. One of these, AI, is a key thematic and gameplay element in MindsEye. And its rapid rise in the real world, particularly in how it may be used in game design, has striking parallels to core parts of MindsEye. Game Rant recently spoke with Build A Rocket Boy developers about how AI factored into development and world-building, as well as their approach toward AI and the studio’s overall vision.

MindsEye Dev Talks Human Imagination and the Use of AI

Embracing a Philosophy of Creativity and Intention

Speaking on the driving principle behind how Build A Rocket Boy views AI in making games, the team stated:

“We want our players to access experiences that have an intention, a design. Ones that are made because somebody had an idea, a dream, not generated slop. We will continue designing our products with that philosophy. We believe in AI that supports human creativity, not replaces it.”

It’s also been eight years since MindsEye‘s inception, and as development on it progressed alongside reality, they pointed out that it was reassuring that the choice of story and themes had only become more relevant. “Everything that has happened since we started closely resembles what MindsEye is about, and we feel that many of our characters are not far off from their real-life counterparts.”

How MindsEye Devs Use AI to Bolster Their Human-Driven Vision

On the development side of things, they noted that the studio’s use of generative AI tools for concept art and in-game assets was limited, with AI use for code mainly kept to IDE-enhancement rather than generation. Elaborating on how precisely BARB incorporates AI, they explained that, “We are, of course, integrating it into our design philosophy to support creation, but not to replace it. We have an extremely talented team of artists and programmers who know how to use AI to support their work, and we can’t replace them with it in our particular field. We believe in and are about the pleasure of creating and sharing.” Summing the situation up, BARB developers said,

“Think about it: would children have more fun if AI built their Lego creations for them? Wouldn’t they miss the tactile experience of building? Or would they be better off with an AI that proposes construction plans but lets them be the masters of their own creation?”

By balancing the practical applications of AI in games with the essential elements of human creativity and ingenuity, MindsEye is set to showcase Build A Rocket Boy’s conception and depiction of the technology both within and outside the setting of its debut title.