Tricoart

Another social post about the ongoing development/construction process of WoO, this time focused on "Munchkinland". (Credit: Movie World's Instagram) Also, seeing as it hasn't been posted yet, the base structure of what is assumedly Emerald City's facade has begun construction. (Credit: Jaggs Journeys' Instagram)

If that were the case, looking at the site on the Wayback Machine, it has previously had a segment dedicated to hinting at things they're working on that they can't show off just yet, and their most recent park project before this (New Atlantis) only seems to have got it's own page when Vortex was constructed & operational, and they could get their own physical images to fill out the page at the time (granted, New Atlantis was something they solely designed, so physical images would more-or-less reflect the work that they did for it, whereas physical Rivertown images mightn't). So, in the best case scenario that AI has only been used on their listing & nowhere else, and everything that they've supplied to Pico was never tainted by it anywhere in their pipeline, they still chose using it over not using it. Also, aside from the many things they've worked on before this that were just fine without bringing AI into it, I'll also (re)mention the concept art that Dreamworld themselves have shared, the more likely to be human-made art on their page that are at least early drafts of the entirety of Jungle Rush's ride building & sketched theming elements for Murrisippi, and the concept art for WoO that the individual artist shared well before the details in those artworks were announced by MW. So is it being used on the project or not, then? 'Cause what you're describing here is their exact involvement in the project, to 'communicate the look and feel they want'. Also, saying that AI, which is fundamentally a program fed other people's work to spit out something similar that also vaguely matches the prompt it's been given, would cause something to not be a ripoff of someone else's work, is very ironic. Must be some pretty accurate stock photos that didn't influence the progression of the areas' theme in any direct way, then. Like, even if the AI image of the car was generated afterwards to look like the car that's seen in the actual concept art (as would the plane and the temple have been in this scenario), images had already been publicly released well before the page on their site was made (and, for the temple, more detailed concepts are directly on the same page), so their generation would have been completely unnecessary. Unless, of course, these artworks were done by someone else further down the line, using the mockups that they had been supplied, after having to turn them into a more realistic idea of what the area itself could look like.

Yeah, it was their job to do initial planning/concepting, and Pico’s to turn that into the area itself. On other projects (New Atlantis, Penguin Encounter, Arkham, Green Lantern, etc), their list of roles generally include ‘Creative Direction’, ‘Construction’, and/or ‘Project Management’, and those’d be the instances where they’re the sole design/creative team hired for the project, unlike here.

I don’t like what they have done on this project judging by what is known of their involvement, and view their company less positively than I did before (they’ve worked on a lot of projects for VRTP & Ardent in the past, which were generally good)

If you must know, yes it is. The ride behind it (Max Adventures Master Thai) seems to be loosely connected to a linked movie/show series they did for a while, and Algida (different name for Streets, who do the Paddle Pops here) are the park's main sponsor (their ferris wheel has/had their logo at the center as well, like 7 on the wheel in brisbane).

‘When there is no line drawn for where & how this technology can be used… the technology is the problem’ Or, phrased differently: Until there is regulation, the technology is the problem. Which is quite literally what I have been saying, it’s being used and causing problems, but stating that is against innovation, discrediting the company, or making a mountain out of a molehill. And, until there is legistation that hinders these companies from doing all of this so rampantly, all that can be done is criticise its use when it’s used, especially when the company using it is selling creative expertise, the main industry/group being affected by AI. Both of which being other prime examples of needing (at least) significantly stricter regulations, but not getting them because it’s anti-consumer or anti-innovation, which is again the exact same sentiment you’re putting on AI. All I did to start this was point out that Earthstory used AI, and them being the company that they are, selling the service that they’re selling, turning to that is a bad sign for their involvement in projects, and a bad look for them as a company.

When there is no line drawn for where & how this technology can be used, and therefore it is rampantly destroying jobs (not to mention making objective criminal behavior significantly easier for anyone to do) in a matter of minutes without the perpetrators needing to disclose it's use or face repercussions for using it in those destructive ways, the technology is the problem. I really don't see why y'all feel the need to defend the company so rampantly, you seem to at least agree to the fact that it's destroying creative jobs, so unless you somehow believe that'll have a positive effect, it should be rather obvious how a company such as Earthstory turning to it is an open example of that uncontrollably spreading, and/or at least understand how some would believe it's a negative turn for Earthstory to have taken.

Vintage Car Image: Totally realistic, humanly designed toucans. Watercolour (styled) Temple Image: Person? Second Waterfall? Rock? We may never know. Pretty sure that isn't how physics works. This, whether you know it or not, is the exact same sentiment stated by those who are actively, knowingly, and purposefully stomping over actual artists via their AI models/images, and more often than not doing it proudly in the name of efficiency (replying to someone's original, meaningful art pieces by feeding it into a model & generating something kind of similar at first glance, then gloating about how it only took them 5 minutes to do so & that their method of actually attempting to express human emotions & feelings is archaic & dying is something I've come across way too often already). It's existence doesn't mean anyone who dislikes it should just need to 'get with the times' 'cause it's gonna steal their livelihoods anyway, that is a monumentally bad sentiment to hold. And, once again, it's especially bad to see that the company relying on it in this instance is effectively an art/design firm, contracted to make art & designs, meaning it's usage directly correlates to less opportunities for their artists & designers, eventually turning into those artists & designers losing their jobs. Which is not a singularly Earthstory thing, it's been happening & will keep happening the more this plague spreads without any control or regulation, this is just the first instance that it has so obviously infected the amusement park industry (at least, the Australian subset of it).

*3 images, at least. I’m not forgetting the other posted images (I actually directly mention them as instances of AI not needing to be used in an earlier post), nor am I claiming that Earthstory using AI means that the entire project has definitively become riddled with it. For what seems like too many times to count: The fact that Earthstory, a creatively driven company who was contracted for that exact reason, used AI in their part of the process at all means that it’s just not known where they’ve drawn the line (pun somewhat intended) at its’ usage, and that reflects poorly on their part of the process as a whole IMO. And, for the last reiteration before I give up once i’m inevitably misinterpreted again, this is all about Earthstory’s part in the process. Which was, according to the website, effectively to ‘moodboard’ the project for Pico Play to then flesh out into the actual areas’ design that we’re getting. So, no, it’s not outdated, it’s reflecting their early part in the process. And no, I’ve never said the entire project was done by AI, only that Earthstory’s involvement is now soured by specifically their use of it. If you want to demean what I’m saying, please actually look at what I’m saying next time.

I admire your optimism, and will reiterate once more that I do hope the area itself is good, as well as saying that none of this seems to be the fault of any company but Earthstory. But them openly using AI, let alone doing so as a contracting business that’s effectively selling human creativity & trying to pass AI content off instead without disclosing it, demeans the project & them as a company, no matter the reason or extent that it was used (which can’t be judged solely by the images, but y’know, “where there’s smoke, there’s a warehouse filled with thousands of CPU’s burning down the Amazon to process your slop”).

Their literal contracted job for Rivertown was to design its concept, and every single project pre-2020’s managed making & releasing concept art without AI just fine (as Movie World is seemingly doing right now with WoO).

Looking at them closer, these images specifically are pretty obviously AI generated, with some of the ’sketch’ images having weird parts/details that could show they’ve at least been partially generated, too. And, assuming that they indeed are, the extent of their AI usage in the project could go any degree further than this, which worries me & severely lowers my expectations/anticipation for the project in general. They haven’t explicitly stated their AI usage, which (arguably) makes it worse, as they were essentially contracted for their creative expertise, and have never stated they’ve used AI during this.

I'm not petty enough to become an engineer/designer just to prove their use of AI wrong to you, it should be rather obvious. Again, I hope the area itself will still turn out okay, but knowing that they've used AI & not knowing how many aspects of the project it's infected puts a poor taste in my mouth.

Not when 'your ideas' are created by ChatGPT

Movie World has allowed the original concept artists to show versions of the area in multiple stages, including the almost current stage that included things like the barn & cow before it was constructed. Dreamworld has released art done for a now inaccurate idea of what the area could look like, as has the original artist of those pieces. Earthstory themselves included some of what seems like early, actually creatively influenced concepts (e.g. the ride building model/sketch). It's not Dreamworld stopping them from showing their actual process, it's them showing their process. These images could definitely be changed once more is shown from the area/the area itself opens, but the further along images are no longer work done by them. They don't have control of what the area is constructed to be, they're talking about their processes & ideas whilst making the concepts to then influence those who do. Even if they aren't directly talking about that, and instead about what they assume/hope the area will be designed to be, pushing a return to non-digital solutions whilst relying on AI in their concepting of these is disingenuous enough.

It doesn't read/make sense that they pitched to Dreamworld, moreso that they were contracted for their creative team to flesh out themes and stories to then guide Pico to design & construct the area itself, not for some guy in a basement to generate some images for them to go off of. They're not talking about the ride itself, they're talking about the processes they used to develop the theme/story for it ('design philosophy'), which by definition wasn't what they state it was. This is true, and I am also hopeful that the area itself is done well, but Earthstory being disingenuous with their part of the process & choosing the laziest method possible shows that they dropped the ball, at least during the early stages of development.

Not when this is an exact quote from their page (which I wouldn't put past being 'aided' by AI in of itself):

Looking at these images again, it’s a shame how much of this is just AI generated slop. Like, at least the inaccurate concepts we’ve seen from WoO were done by a human & informed by actual ideas for the area in its’ early stages. Half of these are just someone chucking ‘jungle plane’, ‘jungle temple’, or ‘jungle vintage car’ into Midjourney.

Also, it looks as if there'll be (likely faux) plants placed over this, thus adding further depth

Wait, so the structure has been rebuilt by now? Last I remember hearing about it/seeing it, it was more-or-less completely torn down.

If it were the case that a $25 price tag was/is a necessity to maintain one spinning seat, adding a second makes even less sense. It's not like doubling the seats doubles the demand, and even if it were to, the demand was barely there for the first anyway. They clearly want/expect more people to be using the spinning seat, and I don't see how they expect that to happen without making the gimmick seat both easier to purchase & more enticing to ride.

Sea World has released a video about Trident's extended closure, and what they've done in that time. According to the video, these include: - A secondary maintenance platform on/above the ride gondola, as to negate the need for cherry pickers during ride inspections. - Updated circuitry/software for the rides' sensors to hopefully lessen downtime caused by them. - Updated seatbelts. (From Sea World's Instagram)

Yeah, the only thing DW does for weight on SV is even out the gondolas (fill in from the middle, with lighter people/empty seats on the edges)

To be fair, most people who are visiting MW spend their time in the queue talking to who they came with (or, soon, looking at their phone), not paying negative attention to the outfit that the ride op's wearing. Parade characters having good costumes matters, ride ops significantly less so. Yes, standardizing staff uniforms is/was a step into the direction of prioritizing efficiency over experience, but it's a step that's been followed by many more detrimental ones.