Unity just announced that its Muse AI platform is officially available as an early access build for general use. Originally unveiled back in July, Muse is a package of AI-powered tools intended to streamline the game development process, particularly for those who lack the time or patience for intensive coding. It costs $30 per month.
The platform lets you source usable code by interacting with a chatbot. This bot will also answer any questions you may have about what to do next, as it has complete access to the platform’s resource library. These types of bots are becoming a key tool in the game designer’s arsenal.
There’s also a tool designed specifically to streamline the creation of 2D sprites, which is perfect for all of you budding Metroidvania designers out there. It’ll automatically generate sprites that match predetermined parameters and will give you several variations, allowing you to pick the best match.
Muse offers a similar process to generate textures appropriate for use in both 2D and 3D projects. The sprite and texture tools have been trained entirely on data and images that Unity owns or has licensed. This ensures the platform won’t accidentally run afoul of any copyright law. Unity says Muse results will never contain any “people, logos or recognizable artistic styles.”
The company says that the sprite and texture tools are just the beginning. In the coming months, Muse will boast AI mechanisms for animating characters and for setting NPC behaviors, among other tasks. You won’t need to code to do any of it, which is becoming something of a trend in the industry. Muse subscribers also get access to a rapid-prototyping and collaboration platform called Sketch.
The availability of Muse wasn’t the only announcement at today’s Unity Unite conference. The company also provided more details on Sentis, a forthcoming AI-powered neural engine that goes well beyond sprites and textures, as it can solve complicated coding problems and even create new in-game features from scratch. Sentis is currently in open beta and will launch to the public sometime next year.
The company also announced a set of cloud-connected tools to further assist with collaborations and it offered up some availability details on the long-awaited Unity 6.
