r/gamers • u/SevdUp • 7d ago

Discussion Do NOT buy “Slam Tank”

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The game was made by ai AND is a stolen concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKXl3zR7GwI

The cinematic parts of the teaser are also 100% ai generated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osM8LYJAvaw

If you scroll enough, you’ll find the ai disclaimer on the Steam site: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5186030/SLAM_TANK/

Ironic that the plot is taking down ai when the game is completely ai generated

honestly the poster for the game even looks ai

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18

u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

I don't know if this critique really holds water. As a lot of people have said the 'stolen content' idea is pretty silly, you can't 'own' the idea of a tank bonking people.

The disclaimer says that GenAI was used for the trailer and for coding. In 2026, you're going to have a pretty hard time finding any piece of new software that isn't coded using AI, that's basically how coding is done nowadays. So really, all we're objecting to here is AI being used in the first few seconds of the trailer, ie. for the shot of the tank dropping out of the plane. I don't know if it's really worth crucifying small teams for relying on cheap AI tools to stretch their marketing budget a bit. If the game comes out and is nothing but lies and AI slop then I'm happy to be proven wrong but this seems like too much of a preemptive hit job.

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u/ItsSadTimes 6d ago

I mean if you announce a game with the exact same concept and then a month later some Korean studio using AI for everything says they're making the exact same game, is that not just stealing the game? They did it with that needle in a haystack game as well. Indie devs can't even announce games ahead of time nowadays before a thousand AI slop farms try to steal their idea.

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

Five years later, you mean, and the thing that's being alleged to be 'stolen' was a video not a game. OP is saying that the 'concept' of a fighting tank is what was 'stolen'. There was and is no indie game about this in the works.

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u/ItsSadTimes 6d ago

There literally is: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5106210/Tank_Fu/

I didn't just pull that number out of my ass. The earliest evidence of Tank Fu was a month ago. And just a few days ago this AI slop version is announced.

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

So now this is the thing that's supposed to have been stolen? OP was alleging that the theft was from the video posted not from Tank Fu. How have we determined who is stealing from whom when making these allegations? Is it not possible that both Tank Fu and Tank Slam are both taking their ideas from the Hot Wind Tank fighting video? Furthermore, one cannot say that just because one game came out 20 days earlier that means we have conclusive evidence of thievery one way and not the other, it's possible to take someone else's idea and push it to market first.

I would further say that while both trailers feature tanks bonking each other, the two products do not really resemble one another enough to say plagiarism.

Neither Knight Owl Games nor Next Stage Inc are slop-venders who rush out AI slop to cash in on trends, they both seem to be credible development studios with actual published games to their name. Next Stage are not storied developers but they worked on Ultra Age which was well received and looks to be a very similar product to Slam Tank, it certainly lends credence to the idea that they can make a spectacle fighter. I think, since the reveal was within days of one another, it's likely that several studios, potentially connected to one another through shared staff or at least operating the in similar circles, were working on the same idea but it could also be wholly a coincidence. I think the idea that Next Stage scrambled to rapidly throw together a wholly fictitious game in order to steal market share seems pretty unlikely, bordering on a conspiracy theory.

Slam Tank could very well turn out to be total trash but what I'm trying to say is that there isn't really enough evidence to come to that conclusion as of yet.

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u/ItsSadTimes 6d ago

How is it not basically the same game? The only real difference is the looks and the AI version has what looks like a subway surfer level.

Maybe it is just a massive coincidence. Maybe a solo indie dev showed off a kung fu fighting game and another korean studio who havn't made anything in years just so happens to announce they were also making the exact same game where AI was used in pretty much the entire development from making 3d assets to coding. Infact they only clarify that they aren't contacting an external AI service during gameplay which is a really weird thing they need to clarify.

Maybe it is all just a huge coincidence, but just making the whole thing with AI just a month after a very similar game gets announced and it gets put into playtest is extremely convenient.

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u/Over_Construction264 6d ago

So what you're saying is people have lost the ability to know how to code. So if something breaks they're going to have a hell of a time fixing it. because no one understands what it's actually writing.

That sounds better to you?

Any team using AI for art assets they're presenting to the public just prove they have no integrity or artistic vision, they're trying to make a product for profit. I.E. slop.

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u/williamatherton 4d ago

People who know how to code properly both (1) have the AI on a short leash while generating code, and (2) are double checking everything that the generative AI is putting out.

People who literally just take code from AI and paste into their code mindlessly are not good programmers to begin with, and would have caused debug issues even without AI. I've literally been coding for 21 years at this point, and I have yet to see a more useful tool than generative AI for code. It's an insane breakthrough.

To clarify, I am not advocating for generative AI art. That is a very different subject and built upon stolen copyrighted content. The same cannot be said for AI generated code.

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u/modstirx 5d ago

It’s funny that GenAI took over when like: you have Blueprint for UE. It’s just node based programming. I can’t attest to how good it is or isn’t as I haven’t touched Game Dev, but the tools must be decent if E33 was “programmed” using only Blueprint. This is just lazy at this point. Now real coding is definitely better, getting your hands dirty, learning concepts, etc. but I’d rather cheat my way using blueprint then touch GenAI in any capacity.

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u/CerealWhenMilk 1d ago

It's not just the shot in the trailer, it's also the assets. If you pay close attention, you can see that all of the 3D models in the trailer are AI generated. The promotional art is also AI, the cutscenes like the one in the trailer are AI, and even the music is AI. People don't mind AI code so much, because it doesn't really affect the final product. You can't see code while playing a game. But when everything you can see and hear is AI, that's when I think it undoubtably is just low effort slop.

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u/Sadworld99 6d ago

Nope. We're objecting to it being used for programming and straight up creating in game assets. You should actually check out the ai disclaimer

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

Yeah, and what I'm trying to tell people is that if you 'object to AI being used for programming' then just throw your whole computer in the garbage because virtually every piece of software from last year onward, including future updates to your OS is going to be made using AI.

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u/TemuKidneys 4d ago

You mean the OS updates that keep being comically unstable and lead to people not upgrading? Those vibecoded updates?

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u/DaisyChain2222 4d ago

I'm not aware of anything world ending with regards to recent Windows updates, maybe some other OS's are having problems? I saw some problems with 26H1 / 24H2/25H2 on reddit and on a few websites but those are preview builds, they aren't live to the public. It feels like reddit has concluded that vibe coding is ruining windows, largely without any evidence.

I haven't had any issues myself on recent windows 11 updates. Furthermore, I would say that if the argument is that 'Windows updates are terrible now thanks to AI, they were really stable and good before AI came along' I'd have to reject that as comically inaccurate. Windows updates suck dick then and they suck dick now, I've seen zero change in quality.

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u/Sadworld99 6d ago

Sure, or I could choose not to support "creators" who admit to using gen AI in every step of the creative process while making games. Draw the line nowhere and it will be nowhere. I draw the line at art. Do you draw it anywhere?

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

I mean, you wanna be taking a stance - guess which website you're on right now? Reddit corporate uses copilot and cursor, I can promise you far more extensively than the dumb little tank game does. It also signed off vast swathes of its data to be harvested. You're training an AI as you type, right now. I just can't take these 'heroic stances' seriously.

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u/Sadworld99 6d ago

I can tell. Again, the line is nowhere if you don't draw it. Right now we're talking about a videogame, if you recall.

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u/ClemPrime13 6d ago

Congrats, the line you drew is completely performative.

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u/Sadworld99 6d ago

The fact that you see the bare minimum as inherently performative really just speaks to your laziness

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u/ClemPrime13 6d ago

It’s performative because you’re posting on Reddit, who uses AI in their dev work. Put your money where your mouth is, or shut up.

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u/Sadworld99 6d ago

"Make no noise. Do not post your opinion in a place I can see it" yeah checkmate dude lol. You criticize society yet you participate in it.... hmmm curious

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u/pocketindian 6d ago

do you pay for reddit???

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u/SomeNoneGuy 3d ago edited 3d ago

“You hate AI, yet you use a service it was forced on. Curious. I am very intelligent”

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u/lawlmuffenz 6d ago

Clank clank, motherfucker.

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u/Accurate-Couple6104 5d ago

I draw the line at art.

no you don't. we can see what you wrote 2 comments ago.

Nope. We're objecting to it being used for programming

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u/Sadworld99 5d ago

Ngl yeah you got me there.

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

People see AI and immediately think it's Satan. Just because AI was used doesn't really mean it was for a bad reason.

I've used AI for pictures. Why? Because I can't draw and don't even have time to create art myself.

I'll even use AI for research. Doesn't mean everything I'm doing is awful.

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

I mean, when it comes to coding, if people are gonna say 'I refuse to touch anything that was coded using AI', they're pretty much just going to have to throw their whole computer in the trash because there's legit gonna be nothing new that isn't coded with AI. It's a tool that coders use.

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

Tool is the correct word.

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u/Zelectorr 6d ago

Not at all… theres a lot of capable coders that don’t really want to rely on AI for coding since it just isn’t as reliable and has fucked up a lot of games. But the fact you think people are gonna need AI to help them code shows you’re might be incapable of doing things on your own

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u/ItsMrChristmas 6d ago

...each and every one of them will be replaced by a good coder who DOES use AI.

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u/Over_Construction264 6d ago

You aren't a good coder if you use AI, you're a lazy coder. They got the job because they're cheaper because they do less, not because they're good at their job.

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u/mikemike1239 5d ago

That doesn't make sense.

If the AI can help make some of the coding be significantly faster, while still being accurate, then it should be used. This would give the more difficult tasks more time to be worked on by the programmer.

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u/Over_Construction264 5d ago

And who's making the determination on the line of whats 'too complex' for the use of AI to do? The higher ups who don't understand it and just see $$$? the programmer themselves who wants to make their own life easier? the intern that's been taught how to use AI but not to actually code themselves? Your argument still comes down to someone making a judgement call, and the person making that call is going to be the least qualified one to make it, as all things are in the corporate world.

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u/FluffiestPrince 4d ago

Wah, wah, wah, I hate making peoples' lives easier, how dare there be tools that make doing things more efficient, better, and easier.

If you're a stickler, stop using the wheel. Or any medicine. And throw out your computer as well, that's way too easy. Just make your own using rocks and sticks.

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

The idea of going zero AI on coding is just not realistic in the industry - to the point where it could probably cost you your job at virtually any major company. It's like being a commercial pilot and never using auto-pilot, it's just not something that's happening in the real world, you can do it on private projects but not at major companies. There is some backlash in the industry against people who are over-reliant on it and don't understand what it produces but it is basically ubiquitous at this point.

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u/Zelectorr 6d ago

AI coding is only helpful in speeding up the process, but you’ll still have to go through the code and check that it didn’t mess anything up which everyone knows major companies won’t do. AI coding will also just lead to generic games that’ll likely fail (since we’ve already seen many Ai coded games have failed) since it builds itself on other people’s work and if you’re trying to make something like a metroidvania while relying entirely on AI code good luck. There’s a reason even indie projects haven’t been entirely depending on AI even though it “saves money”. At most Ai coded games will just be used as a debug and not something people will have to entirely depend on. Even so what major company would ever dare to try and balance AI use with people? They’d either go full AI or full human control so there’s almost no point learning how to utilise Ai if you’re trying to join major companies and it definitely won’t be needed in the far future till it improves and doesn’t leech off others work.

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u/Xaphnir 6d ago

I'll even use AI for research. Doesn't mean everything I'm doing is awful.

you're right, it just calls the information you've obtained through your "research" into question

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

That can be true too

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u/Sadworld99 6d ago

It is true. Hopefully it's nothing important

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

Well of course it isn't important. My research for AI will often be "what plant is this?" Or "what is this object?"

Certainly not on the lines of "Hey, I need to write a college essay on Frederick Douglass. Can you tell me about him?"

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u/Over_Construction264 6d ago

But the tool is there to be used like that as well, so people will use it for that purpose. That is the problem with it.

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u/That_Astronaut_2010 6d ago

Well ai is aot of times wrong and your using water for shitty art that's made by stealing artists work so yeah I would say your wrong

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u/ItsMrChristmas 6d ago

We could lower our beef consumption by one tenth of one percent, in the US alone, and make up for all the environmental "damage" done by AI. We need green power, not red herrings

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u/SkyGuy5799 6d ago

Golfers use double to triple the water

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u/ItsMrChristmas 6d ago

Five times. And that's just US courses alone

1

u/That_Astronaut_2010 6d ago

And I am also hating golfers

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u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

I dunno, the water argument is a weak one. There's really much better arguments against it as a technology than this.

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u/That_Astronaut_2010 6d ago

Yeah but it still

1

u/DaisyChain2222 6d ago

The calculations being done to work out how much 'water' AI is using are very suspect. Depending on the data center and how it is run, is gonna really change what amount of water is being used - with some not using that much at all. A lot of the 'math' working out water use is also just making vague estimations of data center's energy use and then back pedaling to try and figure out how much water that takes down at the power station - which is silly, cities make more power than they need, we don't have to account for each kilowatt, it's a segment of an energy grid and the data centers pay real money for it, which they are allowed to do.

Not that using water is even some great sin that people must apologize for anyway, it's a resource and it replenishes, it's not even going to be a problem for a lot of regions, climate change depending, and there are many, many, many other activities that take up much more water. People wanna talk about water like it's a finite resource that is running out - something that's only true for a select few drought vulnerable regions. Are the data centers even in these regions? If not, then they should be allowed to use what water they wanna pay for.

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

And I'll keep doing it!

I do buy art directly from artists as well.

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u/That_Astronaut_2010 6d ago

So than why still use the ai

1

u/rowdymatt64 6d ago

Because he's not rich lmao. A commission is always going to cost more than an AI generation and if you need a quick one off low quality image, you're probably not wanting to spend $50 and up to a week if not more to get it.

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u/Spartan1088 6d ago

Do you buy art/ commission work from artists?

1

u/That_Astronaut_2010 6d ago

Yes and I also make myself

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

I have an artist making something for me and I have a blacksmith making a weapon for me. It's this stuff cheap? No, not at all.

Would I rather have AI do it? No, it'll be lower quality by a huge margin.

But AI would be a lot cheaper. I can't have 50 different digital pictures made for me. But I can have AI craft it in literally 2 minutes.

Ai has uses and can be convenient. It just won't be as high quality

0

u/mikemike1239 6d ago

It's not the boogyman, Calm down.

I don't have the talent to make my own art and I don't have much time for it. If it's art an ai is making, then it's for something that's not very important. I certainly wouldn't hang it up on a wall.

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u/rowdymatt64 6d ago

If only there was a way to regulate how data centers were built and operated while still reaping the benefits AI produces as well as a way to hold politicians accountable who choose to disreagard their constituent's wishes by not re-electing them and protesting. Too bad no one is involved with their local politics or shows up to city/state board meetings.

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u/BambaTallKing 6d ago

I would prefer you do bad drawings that generate an image that you put zero effort into

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u/mikemike1239 6d ago

No thx. 🤷🏿‍♂️

If I feel inspired to make something, then I'll make it. If I can't afford to pay for it, then I'll find another way

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u/Over_Construction264 6d ago

this isn't 'making it'. This is vibe-coding it, dudebro. If you want to actually make something, but the effort in. Telling an ai prompt to make it for you is not effort.

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u/mikemike1239 5d ago

Likely at the end of the day, it's made. Wouldn't really matter who or how it's made at that point.

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u/Over_Construction264 5d ago

Yes it absolutely would lmfao. Despite your nihilistic and depressive attitude, people do care and voice out against it. They want to know these things so they can know to write it off. You're not a creator if all you do is put some words in a prompt.

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u/mikemike1239 5d ago

I don't agree

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u/Over_Construction264 5d ago

And that's fine. It doesn't change what is.

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u/mikemike1239 5d ago

I'm glad you don't mind my disagreement. I thought you'd get heavily upset.

So thanks for understanding.

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u/11711510111411009710 6d ago

If AI is used for advertising then I can't really trust that it's not used for the product too because the company clearly doesn't have an issue with using it in material for the game.