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Hi Mr Sanlo,

Hope you're well,

Again, thank you for doing this project.

I'm very much of the opinion that you did an amazing work here, and that there's no need to continue further.

Just one question, have you considered using a trial of the new Claude Fable AI model, or Codex Astra, and having it fine comb the unfinished Barkley 2 game files,

in order to check for remnants of those deleted areas/dialogues/quests that you mentioned (Cuchulain fight, Brain City)?

I'm hearing that these AI models can now find some really unusual things that are left hardcoded or compressed inside games. 

TCRF.net users are using AI to find very hidden unused content in games, and translators are using them to decrypt files that wouldnt be normally accessible by us humans at a game's inner-code level.

This is not me asking you to apply AI to your work. Your project here is excellent. This is just me asking if you've considered using AI as a tool to peek and maybe discover some really interesting things inside B2 that cannot normally be seen without heavy decryption/machine intervention.

Thank you again for reading my thoughts.

Kind Regards,

I also wantd to mention, Chat GPT supposedly now has access to Adobe Photoshop, meaning you could ask it to modify a texture to your liking.

Like say, add metal/electronic/organic details that look like they belong in a Serious Sam game?

And I've read that Claude can prepare 3d model objects, if you ask it, or connect it to Blender?

Meaning you can ask it for any additional model you are needing for your mod, and then request textures for it.

Wow!! You are amazing, thank you so much!
I thought I was the only one who knew about Rayblade haha :)

Please tell me you've heard about this amazing tool?: 
https://github.com/closedsockets/dreamcast-translation-kit

Yes, you can ask Chat GPT to use ESRGAN and Real ESRGAN. Please see my test results here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nASW3QDngzz2w-KDyQ_6e-4B5-LBdmLK/view?usp=shari...

And it seems it has several more models available, you only need to ask it what it can do and upload the texture or image you want it to work on. Very useful.

Claude might be the same.

ChatGPT even recommended more advanced models ( ESRGAN 4x+ / UltraSharp  and DAT, among others - see my post above for its explanation)

Hey! I thought all your new weapons were amazing,  the only thing I would recommend is giving them a bit of a visual enhancing,

Here's what I did: I asked ChatGPT to use Real ESRGAN (and there are better options, see below) to upscale one of the new enemy textures of your mod, and the results were outstanding. Check out this comparison of the enhanced texture vs the base one: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nASW3QDngzz2w-KDyQ_6e-4B5-LBdmLK/view?usp=shari...

Looks good, no?

You do have to save the image into PNG or JPG before giving it to Chat GPT.

And ask it to give you the image in 1024 x 1024. You can then scale it down yourself if you wish.

I would recommend applying the process to your new weapons like the Lava Gun or the cool new cannon, or the Minelayer and Plasmalauncher. They look great, but this extra art pass can do wonders for them.

And the same goes for some of the classic enemies (Biomechs, Reptiles) which really need a new coat of paint after many years, 
New enemies (Cyclops, Kamikaze Mk 2) 
And any old or new level textures you would like to give a better look to.

And, Chat GPT actually told me that for games like Serious Sam, Real-ESRGAN is no longer the best option, because while its good as a general purpose upscaler, it says newer models preserve texture detail much better and introduce fewer artifacts.

Its own recommendations were 

1. ESRGAN 4x+ / UltraSharp (Best all-around)

✅ Excellent for diffuse textures

✅ Keeps edges crisp

✅ Less "AI painting" effect than Real-ESRGAN

Good if you're batch processing hundreds of textures.

2. DAT (Detail-Aware Texture Upscaler)

✅ Specifically trained on game textures

✅ Preserves brick, cloth, metal, wood grain

✅ Much less hallucination

3. CCSR (CodeFormer team's restoration model)

Better than Real-ESRGAN for damaged or compressed textures.

Doesn't invent as many fake details.

4. SUPIR (Current state of the art)

Fantastic quality.

Can reconstruct missing detail.

Slow.

Sometimes changes the artwork too much, which isn't ideal for faithful remasters.

5. Flux + ControlNet Tile

If you want a remake rather than an upscale.

Can produce nearly modern AAA-quality textures.

Not suitable if you need the UV layout to remain pixel-perfect.

For old Serious Sam textures

It then gave me a recommended workflow:

Original 256×256

        ↓

DAT or UltraSharp (4×)

        ↓

Optional denoise

        ↓

Sharpen slightly

        ↓

Downscale to 512×512 if desired

As upscaling to 1024 and then downsampling to 512 often produces cleaner results than directly generating a 512×512 version.

Hi Mr Sanlo,

Your work and ideas are amazing, and its always inspiring to read what you're thinking of programming next. Thank you for including us in the process.

I had a thought: Several of the later, unported game areas in Barkley 2 seem tasteless and don't interest me at all,

But, everytime you show us Brain City with its colours, cool music and unfinished quests, I get really interested.

You mentioned that there was a possibility that the beta Brain City was more finished/complete, 

Have you thought of contacting the sprite artist Frankie to see if he still has any unused Brain City assets, quests or WIP versions of the game? You can show him your excellent work as proof that you're the real deal with the right skills to use the assets. 

I remember he did a lot of sprite work for the city that isn't included in the Demo they released (I think)

Kind Regards,