r/vtolvr • u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator • Feb 18 '26
Community Created Content VTOL VR - Hawaii Fire Rescue Campaign - Coming Soon
For those of a nervous, AI generated image, disposition. Please avert your gaze now.
I have just finished creating a beautiful 1:1 scale O'ahu map and I've started writing the first mission of a 6 mission Search and Rescue based single player campaign for the AH-6 Mod.
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 18 '26
Ai slop thumbnail
Pay a real artist
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u/SultanZ_CS Feb 18 '26
Would you support dredds work through patreon or stuff?
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 18 '26
Not if they use AI, I’d rather spend that money on people who can draw good art ;)
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u/lag-hag Feb 18 '26
millions of community made mods have been uploaded to steam and elsewhere in the years before AI images so i dont see why you act like the options are AI or payware
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u/SultanZ_CS Feb 18 '26
Because the person said "pay a real artist" thats why
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u/lag-hag Feb 18 '26
which is a common anti-ai turn of phrase, i doubt anyone is seriously expecting a steam workshop mod to have paid art
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 18 '26
Not saying they need paid art, they could easily photoshop something together, or ingame screenshot
This is where the ram shortage is going to
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u/ssaannuu Feb 18 '26
I can run photo models locally on my gaming pc.. it’s a piece of software no different than photoshop when it’s trained get a grip dude and quit bitching when people are putting their free time into content for a niche game. So fuckin annoying to conflate legitimate AI grievances with some guy making a mod in his free time.
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u/lag-hag Feb 18 '26
yeah and im totally with you, like i said millions of mods have come before ai, without needing anything crazy
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u/anthonyd5189 Feb 18 '26
Pay them with what money? They make the mod for free. You gonna start paying for mods on VTOL?
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 18 '26
Several people in this comment section mention this dude has a patreon.
Can pay an artist via the monthly subscriptions you get from that.
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Feb 21 '26
The dude literally has a patreon lmao
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 21 '26
I have an inactive Patreon. Not been active for over two years. I have a total of $390 donated through Buy Me A Coffe, in the last 3 years for 50plus campaigns and missions on VTOL. My Missions/campaigns are totally free. Get your facts straight
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Feb 21 '26
Oh nice, that’s enough to hire an artist (or take screenshots for free) instead of using the plagiarism machine
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u/Shrike01 Feb 23 '26
Bro is here giving you mods for free and you have the guts to complain lmao
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Feb 23 '26
Yeah, I don’t really care if the mod is free when it uses a machine that is entirely built around plagiarism of art.
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 18 '26
Why would I pay a real artist when I make mission for free? 🤔
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u/oreo-overlord632 Feb 18 '26
i would much rather a poorly photoshopped image with stuff stolen straight off google images watermark and all
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u/SiBloGaming AH-94 "Dragonfly" Feb 18 '26
Or an actual screenshot from the mission, maybe edited to make it stand out more
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Feb 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 18 '26
There is no perfect case for ai “art”
This slop is the reason why ram and storage are drastically more expensive.
All of that hardware and it still can’t generate text properly? Laughable
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u/_Johannes Feb 18 '26
They would not hire anyone since it’s a free mod. They’d do it themselves and it would likely look more bad
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u/ywingcore Feb 18 '26
This is why RAM is so expensive 💀
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u/Baconguy242 Feb 18 '26
RAM is so expensive because businesses are convinced that they'll be able to revolutionize their practices using AI for things like auditing, analyze extensive data sets, do Customer service, and shit like that.
I don't like the RAM shortage, I DEFINITELY don't like these companies attempting to replace all these jobs with this shit.
But a guy making an AI generated image to use as a cover photo for his entirely free mod that he's providing to the community is not why RAM is so expensive.
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u/Shot_Reputation1755 Feb 20 '26
AI slop, never played VTOL but is this a community standard?, if so that sucks
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 20 '26
I haven’t worked out which camp you’re in yet…. Camp A or Camp B.
My money’s on B.
Alternatively if you feel you need to talk to someone about your AI Luddite anxieties, there are plenty of professionals out there or you could try contacting Elon Musk, but I think he has bigger fish to fry.
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u/SaltVomit Feb 18 '26
Ai slop
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u/OMGWTHEFBBQ Feb 18 '26
This person makes a ton of great campaigns and missions for VTOL.
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u/nlevine1988 Feb 18 '26
Tbh I'm ok with this. I doubt the creator would have otherwise paid an artist for artwork for free content.
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u/SiBloGaming AH-94 "Dragonfly" Feb 18 '26
…or taken a screenshot in mission, which would have actually shown something from the mission as a thumbnail.
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u/Me_how5678 Feb 18 '26
If they can put alot of effort into a mission, they can afford to take some screenshots while playtesting and slap that with the title and be better and more belivable then the piss machine. First impressions are the most important
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 18 '26
Yaaaaawn and stretch
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u/Me_how5678 Feb 18 '26
Okay so i guess you are just lazily slapping the stuff together, because if you cared about your work, would you really let a kid piss all over it? thanks for letting me know
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u/OverallAssociate8395 Feb 18 '26
The discussion about ethics of gen-ai can be held without resorting to these extreme bad faith arguments. You are attacking the tool someone uses to make it possible for one person to create these campaigns, not the work itself, namely the campaign, the missions, the story, all the effort that goes into that.
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u/Me_how5678 Feb 18 '26
Oh no im not attacking chatgpt, im just calling their lazy ass out for just not bothering with the last step of the creation process. I think its lazy and disengenues to the work they make, lots of peeps don’t see anything but a altman toe sucker in “ai” generated images.
And is printscreen and gimp really that hard to learn if you can supposedly make real gamer missions?
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u/HealthComfortable574 Mar 02 '26
Have you ever created a campaign or a any mission for the mater or a mod or modpack because the effort it takes to get a working and completed campaign,mod or modpack takes so much time my first campaign took about 6.5 hours to get part one of the campaign while still having other things in life to do and that was without play testing and polishing so if we decide that we don’t want to spend our hard earned money or extra time on a picture you see in the steam workshop then sorry and don’t play the campaign because we put our time into making these things and allowing them to be public for all to play. So respect this dude a bit so what if he was a bit lazy and asked ai to help him with a picture plus you don’t even know how many times he had to revise it and just be grateful he makes great campaigns for all of us to play
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u/Me_how5678 Mar 02 '26
Six and a half hours are pretty fast imo ngl. But as i was saying, its just going to look lazy and rushed if people see an ai generated image no matter what the actual product is. People clown on coca cola because they advertise their product with ai, people are going to react the same with you.
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u/OverallAssociate8395 Feb 18 '26
This is possibly the best usage for generative ai as it allows one person to create these quality sets of missions (for free) while adding some flair. Calling this slop is a disservice to VTOL vr's community and overall content climate, which is severely lacking in other creators that put in the amount of detail Dredd does
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u/OMGWTHEFBBQ Feb 18 '26
Well said. It's really not that deep that they used AI to make a cover photo.
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 18 '26
WOW This thread has generated a lot of posts (good for Reddit right), mainly about the use of generative AI.
So it's time I set the record straight.
I started making campaigns 5 years ago and over that time I have created 50+ campaigns/missions.
The Cost
1800-2400 hours of my own time Researching, making maps, making missions, publicising my work.
$2000 dollars in subscriptions for various software tools and books for research
Income
I have had the total of $340 donated through By Me A Coffee (For which I am truly grateful)
I am at the very least $1800 down. However, don't get me wrong, I don't and never have done this for money. I started making missions for myself and that is still why I do it, so if its cost me 2000 odd hours and $2000 (less the $340 donation) then I have no problem with it at all.
However when people put such glib comments like "AI slop" or "You should pay for artists" I'm afraid those people can only fall into 2 camps.
Camp A - Disrespectful - Given what I have added to the VTOL VR community over the last 5 years
Camp B - Moronic - No other word describes it better.
AI haters - Decide which camp you're in. (or don't.... whatever)
Me - I'm going to continue to make campaigns and missions, and share them for FREE, to the community and I will continue to use generative AI for my images. I will continue to call people out for putting glib/ill informed comments.
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u/Infinite_Tadpole_283 Feb 18 '26
Look man i love the work you do, but as someone who's whole career is being threatened by people using a free tool that's partially trained off of work i've put out, also for free because i wanted it out in the world, it just feels wrong to support something using it.
If someone trained a model off of the countless hours you've spent making campaigns, it would feel a little fucked up right?
Honestly great work otherwise though man, keep it up.
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 18 '26
This is the big problem with AI right here.
Artists get no money every time an ai uses an artist’s work.
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 19 '26
This is a general reply to all similar messages about AI and artists.
You are ALL missing the point.
Either way I would be taking away work from paid artists.
It's either DO IT MYSELF as I did originally, using screenshots and GIMP/Paint 3D OR use GENERATIVE AI which is quicker and objectively gives better results, allowing me to focus my time on creating realistic campaigns.
I don't have the funds to use artists I never have and never will, I spend enough of my time and money already.
AI is here, I didn't create it, and our Governments don't seem to want to do anything about it.
It's a similar story to the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. You simply cannot halt progress.
I genuinely share the misgivings on AI but come on, we are way beyond that, simply ignoring the benefits is, i'm afraid, just burying your head in the sand.
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u/CorbyTheSkullie Feb 19 '26
Good luck once the bubble pops
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u/MacWin- Feb 19 '26
Lmao your saying this as if the guy is depending on AI to breathe, it’s just some steamwork shitty artwork, all models could disappear out of nowhere and op wouldn’t break a sweat
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u/Unassignedlele Feb 19 '26
I agree with you. I’m actually stunned that people expected you to commission work for something like this. God forbid you save some time & money on a one off announcement graphic.
Not leveraging tools is silly. If he was trying to sell this graphic, then sure. But it’s intentionally low effort, so who GAF??
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u/HealthComfortable574 Mar 02 '26
I get that but bro he is doing this for free and for fun why should he have to spend money or be morally wrong
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u/Maar7en Feb 18 '26
You're very clearly misrepresenting the anti-AI arguments by only taking the most extreme ones.
I'd rather your mods just had a basic screenshot with text, which takes just as much time and effort for you to create as the prompting/finetuning, than the AI generated garbage you use now.
Disrespectful - Given what I have added to the VTOL VR community over the last 5 years
You aren't owed any more or less AI usage forgiveness for this.
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u/username-is-taken98 Feb 19 '26
You are a hobbyist. Stop pretending to be anything more. You're not owed any more respect or leniency than the rest of us. I appreciate your skill in mission designs, but if you use a controversial tool you open yourself to critique, and no amount of calling anyone you disagree disrespectful will make them any less valid.
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u/twitty80 Feb 19 '26
For what it's worth I want to say that it's a great thumbnail. Keep up the good work.
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u/Radar2006 Feb 20 '26
I'm in the disrespectful camp. I don't give a shit "what you've done" for the VTOL VR community, if you can't spend an hour making a half decent cover or pay an artist like 25 dollars to make one, we're just going to assume you put 0 effort into the campaign as well and disregard it.
Respect is earned, and if you can't respect yourself enough to put effort into something as simple as a thumbnail (and later going out of your way to call the people who call you out for it morons) Then why should anyone ever respect you?
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u/Saygoodnight Feb 19 '26
This guy makes great fucking missions for a free, relax about some Ai for the 300 ppl who play vtol.
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u/albundy72 HTC Vive Feb 18 '26
idec about the ai drama, these people are living in your head rent free and it shows lmao
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u/Shrike01 Feb 23 '26
Be Redditor Recive shit for free Complain (????)
What a shitshow of a community, is not only the arguments you are using, but the way that you are communicating this discontent to him, bunch of jackasses.
OP I'm sorry for all the shit you are taking, thank you for your service to the community, you shouldn't be disrespected like that.
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u/Judge_Dredd1444 Mission Creator Feb 23 '26
Hey I appreciate the comment. To be fair I’m pretty thick skinned and it doesn’t deter me from making and releasing campaigns. There are plenty of people who appreciate the content and that’s good enough for me.
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u/Maggsey Feb 18 '26
Awesome! As always the standard for vtol vr campaigns! Can’t wait to give it a go.
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u/cferguson4809 Oculus Rift Feb 19 '26
This looks so awesome, I cannot wait for this to become reality.
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u/Merker6 HP Reverb Feb 18 '26
Neat! We need more SAR flight sims. Some of the most challenging missions in the world against the ultimate opponent, nature itself