VARIUS Playing Cards by Montenzi (KS)

[Fenrir]

I guess we will wait and see. This is a long game April fools joke it appears.

[GandalfPC]

I think even if it was meant as a joke it still becomes law if he doesn’t recant by end of April 2nd…

[montenzi]

Ok

I tested ChatGPT

It was not me! That first text was 100% AI generated! I started a chat and then asked ChatGPT to say something silly about me designing playing cards with standard courts. End of story!

[Eric Lee]

Wow, that was an awesome April Fools! Not just any old April Fools, but an AI generated April Fool's joke! You win the UC April Fool's 2023 no prize!

UC Mods, what fabulous no prize does he get for this?

[GandalfPC]

He wins one AI generated image of a furry animal carrying carrying a small pile of swag

And yes, the furry animal is especially AI horrific

[montenzi]

US fulfillment update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mo ... ts/3777766

[Bikefanatic]

I got my deck today!

I only got the green one. As soon as I took the cards out of the plastic, I fanned them and it was so damn smooth. The fan pattern looks great and so does the cold foil on the faces.

[CourtCurator]

Looks like mine are supposed to arrive tomorrow. I’m super excited to get these. If they look as good as the pics, they may be in my top 10 favorite decks.

[rousselle]

Just got mine today. Received all three designs. Opened one of each, starting with the "Classic," then the Purple and, following that, the green.

Like CourtCurator said above, these fan brilliantly. All three designs are top notch, but as someone else noted above, Montenzi is absolutely the master when it comes to getting the best out of cold foil Hoo-wee! Loved the classic, and loved-loved the purple and green.

What a fantastic set of cards.

[hsbc]

[Adamthinks]

The visual effect he achieved with foil on these is pretty rad. For those that don't have the cards, the two card backs pictured here are different colors of the identical design. The light is just hitting them at a different angle. You can see the transition on the bottom left of the purple back. It switches back and forth as you move them in the light.

[montenzi]

...

@hsbc, THANK YOU!!!

The visual effect he achieved with foil on these is pretty rad. For those that don't have the cards, the two card backs pictured here are different colors of the identical design. The light is just hitting them at a different angle. You can see the transition on the bottom left of the purple back. It switches back and forth as you move them in the light.

I agree, but you can only see this effect exclusively on the Purple deck in foil, as the designs are distinct. It's a photo of prototypes (without foil):

two1.jpg (207.24 KiB) Viewed 13851 times

[vasta41]

Got these a few days ago. Another solid Montenzi deck!

[GandalfTheWhite]

Received couple of days ago. My first Montenzi deck. I got the green one and it is spectacular. The really like that one of the double backer side is the purple deck back

[GandalfPC]

Half brick box just as pretty

[wingedpotato]

So glad hsbc posted his pics. These decks are SO lovely. It has been a long time since a deck made me really wish I had a regular card game group to break it out on.

[montenzi]

Two video reviews

♥ The Card Guy ♥


♥ Magic Orthodoxy ♥

[rousselle]

Here's my non-video review:

VARIUS Playing Cards by Montenzi are a 10 out of 10.

Thank you for attending my non-video TEDTalk.

[redux]

I wonder what is the situation with the AI decks?

[montenzi]

I wonder what is the situation with the AI decks?

In short, we need an ad text saying "one year in the making" My fault.

I intended to post an update this month, but time got away from me Previously, I delayed this project for creative reasons, unsatisfied with the art. I aimed to complete and produce both decks by September/October, but my WJPC representative left the company, and then they provided a new prohibitive quote for printing 250 decks. Opting to launch Legendarium first and complete/print AI decks with Legendarium is now a 100% management decision. Many other things have happened since August, so now it is what it is.

What I know for sure:
1. I will produce both decks
2. The old pre-order price is still valid, so backers will not pay more.
3. Most likely, I'll need some profit from this project so for new pre-orders/retail, it will be in the $20-25 range (vs. $12). I don't know.
4. I'll also accept no-questions-asked refund requests.

I apologize for the delay.

p.s. AI decks UC thread:

https://www.unitedcardists.com/viewtopi ... =8&t=22312

[redux]

Thank you for the update! And sorry for not seeing the corresponding thread.

[montenzi]

Thank you for the update! And sorry for not seeing the corresponding thread.

Thank you for asking this question!

[montenzi]

One example of using AI in playing card design:

[montenzi]

This:

rend8a.png (792.81 KiB) Viewed 1094 times

[Harvonsgard]

No seven fingers on the hand and readable letter on the index? I'm quite disappointed./s

[GandalfPC]

it does look like the AI shaded the image as to make it one way

[montenzi]

it does look like the AI shaded the image as to make it one way

Full disclosure This system is quite good, but... it does not fully understand the anatomy of figures with symmetry, particularly the head at the bottom of the card. That's why I still need to replace this head. It's an easy fix. Otherwise, it follows the symmetry and lines very well. Heads are always an exception.

lol.jpg (123.53 KiB) Viewed 1012 times

[Evilgamer]

it does look like the AI shaded the image as to make it one way

Full disclosure This system is quite good, but... it does not fully understand the anatomy of figures with symmetry, particularly the head at the bottom of the card. That's why I still need to replace this head. It's an easy fix. Otherwise, it follows the symmetry and lines very well. Heads are always an exception.


lol.jpg

I dunno makes for a very interesting one way court

[montenzi]

Just another proof of concept—a slightly different retro style, this time with back design by AI

Unedited images without color correction but with fixed heads. In theory, the back design should be manually edited to improve symmetry and add/redraw details.

Conclusion: At this moment, AI can be used to design or improve decks based on initial line art or sketches. With some post-processing, it is impossible to tell if the artwork was created/colored by AI or not, especially if the artist is new to the community. With a more extensive and less obvious workflow, it is possible to design a deck from scratch (back design is an example).

P.S. Yes, I will produce an AI version (TBA/TBC).

[Harvonsgard]

Shading on those looks great indeed. I skipped the OGs mostly due to being Cartamundi but I might be in for the AI enhanced ones.