The Time Travel Game

Dreaming of a time travel game.

 Fun with Time Travel. Back in 2022, I blogged about my practice of frequently saving turn-based video games so that it becomes possible to load saved games and "travel back in time" with the goal of avoiding bad game play outcomes. I explicitly stated: "I don't think of this as cheating". Then, in 2023, I spent some time fantasizing about the possibility that time travel could intentionally be made a major part of Civilization VII.

Here in 2024, I decided to get the help of WOMBO Dream to make illustrations for an imaginary video game called "Time Travel". One of my favorite parts of using stable diffusion for generating images is that I can start with a reference ("input") image that is completely unrelated to my goal and still obtain a useful image.

Figure 1. The continental USA,
rotate 90 degrees. (input image)

 Weather. I began with the "input image" that is shown in Figure 1. This is a map obtained from the National Weather Service. I asked for, "colorful marketing material for a computerized video game called 'Time Travel', a time travel machine, a cute girl time traveler dressed Victoria's Secret style in futuristic sparkling clothing".

Figure 2. A time traveler.

Using the "whimsical v3" style, the resulting image (shown in Figure 2) was not entirely coherent. Particularly outlandish is the "third boot" at the bottom of the image that is not connected to a leg. There are other issues such as 1) her asymmetrical hair, 2) the fact that most of the sparkles were not on her clothing and 3) Mr. Wombo's never-ending love of knee pads. "Mr. Wombo" is my pet name for WOMBO Dream.

With WOMBO Dream, there are three settings for determining how much weight the reference ("input") image is given while generating the next image. For Figures 2-10, I used the middle setting, "normal".

Figure 3. Repeated; whimsical.

As an indication of how much random variation there is in the stable diffusion algorithm, Figure 3 shows a second image that was generated with the same reference image, style, and text prompt. I'm not sure what is going on with her eyes in Figure 3. It looks like there might be some additional very small human figures in the background: Mr. Wombo will often create a city street scene if the setting of the image is not specified. Notice that this is the first image in this series for which Mr. Wombo generated a patch of skin for one of her legs, a strategy that was developed to a greater extent in other images (see below in Figures 9, 15, 28 and 34).

Figure 4. HDR style

The well-equipped time traveler. With WOMBO Dream, there are a large number of pre-programmed styles. The image shown in Figure 4 was generated by the "HDR v3" style. I wonder what she is carrying under her left arm. There are some additional images below (see Figures 24-30, below) that were made by using Figure 4 as a reference image.

Figure 5. Mechanical v3.1

The image in Figure 5 was generated by the "Mechanical v3.1" style, which is often reliable for generating futuristic devices. It looks like she might be floating off of the ground in this image. It appears that Mr. Wombo was tempted to include a clock face in the image (in the upper left).

Figure 6. Mechanical v3.0

 Robots in Time. The image in Figure 6 was generated by the "Mechanical v3.0" style, which seemed to want to include what looks like a robot in the scene. If that is a robot, I'm not sure that it is walking on the floor, but maybe it is a flying robot. Mr. Wombo also has a tendency to put helmets on human figures. Her long black hair seems to have escaped from under the helmet and formed into finger-like appendages.

Figure 7. Robot style.

Originally, I was not thinking about the possibility of including a robot in this time travel scene, but after I saw Figure 6, I intentionally tried using the "Robots v3" style. The image shown in Figure 7 illustrates how the "Robots v3" style tends to turn everything into a robot. In this case, the girl has seemingly been transformed into some sort of cyborg, or maybe she is wearing a Hi Tek™ power-assist body suit. The "Robots v3" style also often inserts wires and power cables into the scene.

Figure 8. Dreamland v3.

It often seems that Mr. Wombo prefers scenes with multiple humans. In Figure 8, there is a second girl added into the background and I can imagine that the girl in the foreground is actually adjusting the controls of the time travel machine. All too often, AIs such as WOMBO Dream will generate images of people who are seemingly just standing around doing nothing, so it is a pleasant surprise when I get an image depicting someone using their hands to accomplish something. 

The image in Figure 8 was made using the "Dreamland v3" style. Shown below (Figure 11), is a new image that was made by using Figure 8 as a reference image.

Figure 9. Monster v3.

 Monsters. I often want to include alien creatures in my science fiction scenes and the WOMBO Dream "Monster v3" style is sometimes useful for generating alien creatures. The image in Figure 9 shows what is often the default type of "monster" with a dragon-like head. Once again, we also get what looks to me like a companion robot for the girl (compare to Figures 6 and 7, above). Also, in this image the clock returns in the upper left quadrant (compare to Figure 5, above). 

And what busy time traveler should not be wearing high-heels? Mr. Wombo loves ladies in short skirts and high-heels.

Figure 10. Ride that robot.

The "Festive v3" style usually generates wintry holiday scenes. In this case (Figure 10), I'm reminded of Isaac Asimov's positronic robot story "Runaround" that included very large robots that could be ridden by humans. Maybe in the future, holiday shopping will be done by riding a robot along the snowy streets. See Figure 23, below, for an alternative version of this winter shopping scene.

Figure 11. Time Travel Machine.

I took the image that is shown above in Figure 8 and used it as a new reference image along with this text prompt: "a futuristic machine with fractal complex controls, Meg Ryan and Kate Jackson are scientists who are dressed Victoria's Secret style in futuristic sparkling clothing, Meg Ryan has long blond hair and is reaching one hand to the machine controls, Kate Jackson is in the background, Kate Jackson has long black hair". The resulting image is shown in Figure 11.

Figure 12. Text only.

For comparison, Figure 12 shows the kind of image that was generated using only the text prompt with no reference image. Mr. Wombo really "enjoys" generating images of women with shoulder pads. Maybe wearing protective shoulder pads is an aspect of time travel that is not widely recognized by those of us living in the pre-time travel era. By starting with the random reference image (Figure 1), the final image is more interesting than the image in Figure 12. Figure 11 looks more like the kinds of science fiction book covers that I grew up with in the previous millennium.

Figure 13. Book cover.

 More fun. After I am satisfied with a scene as generated by Mr. Wombo, it is always fun to set the strength of the reference image to "weak" and see what alternative scenes emerge. Using Figure 11 as the new reference image, Mr. Wombo generated the image that is shown to the left. By inserting some text for a title and an author, I turned Figure 13 into an imaginary book cover. In this image, Mr. Wombo did not bother trying to include two people, but I was intrigued by the mysterious devices. The small hand-held device in her left hand was pasted into the scene by me to hide her deformed hand. Mr. Wombo still struggles mightily to correctly form a human hand.

Figure 14. Two time travelers.

The image in Figure 14 again has two time travelers, but in a cleaner, more abstract setting than for Figure 11. Here, the time machine is also considerably altered, but in an interesting way. Sometimes Mr. Wombo spontaneously adds in gloves or sunglasses as fashion accessories for time travelers.

Figure 15. "I swear I did
not take your pants leg."

I was amused by the image in Figure 15. Maybe during a trip through time, the blond woman somehow injured her leg and she is now getting medical treatment! It seemed to me that this scene was missing something, right at the center where their two hands are close together (see Figure 18, below, for a modified version of this scene).

Figure 16. Please be seated.

As shown in Figure 16, Mr. Wombo often gave up trying to generate a woman with black hair for this scene. One of the time travel themes explored by Isaac Asimov in his time travel novel, The End of Eternity, was a time traveler who meets themself in the past or the future. Maybe what at first appears to be two blond women in Figure 16 are actually two copies of the same time traveler, arriving from to different points in time.

Figure 17. Time machine.

In Figure 17, there are some additional human figures in the background, but only one major "time traveler", shown standing beside an interesting version of the "time machine". Sadly, Figures 16 and 17 illustrate the tendency of Mr. Wombo to depict people as just standing around with their hands hanging there, doing nothing.😴

One of the major challenges in illustrating my science fiction stories is how to visually depict processes such as time travel, telepathy and teleportation. Using AI-generated images such as those shown here from WOMBO Dream can result in some unavoidable frustrations. When working with WOMBO Dream, often a single color dominates and diffuses through much of the image (pink in Figure 16 and gray in Figure 17)

Figure 18. Reality Viewing.

Mere mention of wanting a "machine" in a scene can lead to the human figures being converted into cyborgs, as can be seen in Figure 17. In many cases, the "diffusion" process is too pervasive and the AI-generated images become bland and uninteresting (se Figure 12). Using random references images such as Figure 1 is one way of introducing some diversity and surprises into the image generating process.

Reality Viewing. A technology that is particularly useful for time travelers is Reality Viewing technology. The image shown in Figure 18 is a modified version of Figure 15 in which the two time travelers are viewing an alternative Reality before traveling through time to bring a new Reality into existence. To make Figure 18, I manually inserted some hand-held Reality Viewing equipment into the center of the scene along with a holographic semi-transparent image of a woman that is hanging in mid-air. Figure 19, below, is also manually enhanced with Photoshop.

Figure 19. Image by DALL-E3.

For comparison to the images by Mr. Wombo, Figure 19 was generated by DALL-E3. The first annoyance when using Microsoft's "Copilot" image generator is that you cannot request images of real world people such as Meg Ryan. I initially tried using this text prompt: "a futuristic machine with fractal complex controls, two female scientists who are dressed Victoria's Secret style in futuristic sparkling clothing, one scientist has long blond hair and is reaching one hand to the machine controls, the other scientist is in the background and has long black hair", but Copilot claimed that text prompt would result in an unacceptable image (NSFW). After taking the phrase "Victoria's Secret style" out of the prompt, I got three images that I turned into the composite image shown here.

Figure 20. Noÿs viewing Harlan.

In both Figure 18 and Figure 19 I can imagine that Reality Viewing technology is being used. Imagine a scene from the fictional world of Isaac Asimov's time travel novel, The End of Eternity, in which Reality Viewing technology from the far future is used by Noÿs Lambent. I asked Gemini to suggest how to visually depict Noÿs while she is using Reality Viewing technology to observe Andrew at the exact moment when Andrew meets himself in Time. Below is a some-what edited reply from Gemini...

Gemini: The temporal Viewing chamber is bathed in soft blue light. Noÿs Lambent, her face is etched with lines of sudden shock. Her eyes, usually pools of deep wisdom, are wide with disbelief.  Her grip on the Viewer controls is tight, knuckles turning white.  Her usually immaculate white tunic is askew, hinting at the suddenness with which she has turned away from the Viewing screen.

Figure 21. Viewing the Primitive.

The Reality Viewer's large screen dominates the wall, humming with temporal energy, but at the center is a scene from a future Reality showing Andrew Harlan, a young man standing frozen in the center of a room in a private residence.  He is not alone.  Facing him, his mirror image – another Andrew Harlan, clad in similar garb, with the same defiant expression –  stands equally frozen.  The two figures are separated only by inches. Each copy of Harlan wears a Physiotime Generator, a device for protecting those traveling through time.

Figure 22. An alternate Andrew.

The Reality Viewer screen crackles with tremendous energy,  the image of the double Harlans straining against the confines of the single Reality. Is this a tear in the fabric of time itself caused by a temporal paradox? Noÿs' composure has shattered.  Her eyes dart between the two Harlans, searching for a clue, a flicker of difference that might indicate which is the one from the future.  Is there a hint of fear in her expression, originating from her realization of the dangers inherent in manipulating time?

Figure 21 depicts Noÿs and Harlan Viewing possible futures while preparing to travel past the downwhen terminus and visit the Primitive Era of Earth's timeline. They are using Reality Viewing technology to view ancient New York City.

Figure 23. Shopping robot.

I returned to Figure 10, simply because I was pleased that Mr. Wombo had spontaneously generated an image of a robot that could be ridden. Last-minute holiday shopping would be easier with robots that could navigate icy streets. Maybe this is an alternate Reality that Noÿs and Andrew carefully avoided bringing into existence when they traveled back in time to the Primitive Era. The image to the left was generated by using Figure 10 as a reference image and this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of a very young Kate Jackson, Kate Jackson is riding a robot, Kate Jackson has long black hair, Kate Jackson going shopping on a snowy evening, photo-realistic, intricate detail, Kate Jackson is happy, Kate Jackson is smiling, snow-covered city street in the background". The shopping bags in this image were pasted in from other similar images (originally, this robot had empty hands).

Figure 24. A Time Portal.

I made use of Figure 4 as a reference image and had Mr. Wombo make Figure 24.  I liked the pink devices that she is wearing on her belt and carrying at her side. I like to imagine that she has just passed through a Time Portal.

Figure 25. Overnight bag.

The image shown in Figure 25 has her carrying a more conventional item, possible a bag for an overnight visit to another time. Mr. Wombo seemed to struggle with the decision about what kind of footwear she should have. If one belt is good, then why not two or three belts? Also, Mr. Wombo seemed in the mood for making control panels, even on the floor.

Figure 26. Time Portal
by Rylla Onway.

I turned the image of Figure 26 into an imaginary book cover for a story called Time Portal. For this image, I manually altered the floor that she is walking on.

Figure 27. Reality Viewing.

When I changed the setting from "normal" to "weak" for how closely Mr. Wombo should follow the reference image (Figure 4), I got images such as the one in Figure 27 where there were large display screens. As discussed above for Figures 18-21, I like to imagine that this could be Reality Viewing technology being used by a time traveler. Sometimes Mr. Wombo liked to dress the time traveler in shorts. The image on the display screen was manually pasted into this scene by me.

Figure 28. Two Views
of alternate Realities.

For Figure 28 I manually pasted in two additional images. This could be a time traveler Viewing two different possible Realities. This image was made using the "Botany v3" style, so there is a plant there on the right side of the image beside the time traveler.

Figure 29. Bare foot.

Mr. Wombo seemed to think that the lady in Figure 4 should be depicted as having bare legs. In Figure 29 she even even got bare feet. Also, in that image it looks like a city can be seen in the background, through what I imagine to be a Time Portal. Sadly, Mr. Wombo abandoned the idea that she should be carrying futuristic devices on her belt and at her side. Maybe that is a portable Reality Viewer in her right hand.

Figure 30. Hand-held device.

One last version of a time portal in this series of images is shown in Figure 30. Mr. Wombo is always tempted to generate images that look like a fashion model from 2024 with a smart phone in hand. I was pleased that Mr. Wombo finally found it possible to show what looks like a floor under her feet and Mr. Wombo did not insist on providing her with extremely long heels.

Figure 31. Hand-held Viewer.

I modified Figure 30 and tried to make it look like she was using a hand-held Viewer to observe an alternate Reality (see Figure 31). To make this new reference image I pasted in part of an old image.

Figure 32. Wombo Viewer.

I then had Mr. Wombo make a new version of this scene using Figure 31 as the reference image and this text prompt: "A very young Meg Ryan is dressed Victoria's Secret style in silk clothing, Meg Ryan is twenty years old, Meg Ryan is very tall and slim, Meg Ryan has long blond hair and is holding a crystal viewing device that contains the image of a man, a mysterious portal in the background, Meg Ryan is reaching towards a control panel". As shown in Figure 32, Mr. Wombo was able to make an interesting "crystal ball" Viewer for her to hold.

Figure 33. Two crystal balls.

 Being a Pirate. I next used Figure 32 as a new reference image with the "weak" setting for how closely the reference image should constrain new images. As as illustrated by the example shown in Figure 33, Mr. Wombo generated quite a few new scenes where there were multiple "crystal balls". I'm not sure what Mr. Wombo was trying for in Figure 33 with her sleeves, but it reminds of the infamous puffy shirt.

Figure 34. Mysteries of Time Travel.

The most dramatic such image is shown in Figure 34. This is one of the rare images where Mr. Wombo spontaneously generated a nipple. Originally, there was was a small amount of blue fuzz near the floor, so I decided to force Mr. Wombo to exaggerate that effect. Some additional images like the one in Figure 34 are shown at the bottom of this blog post.

Is any advanced technology going to seem like magic? If Figure 34 is actually an accurate depiction of a time traveler from our future, then I have been thinking about time travel in the wrong way for decades. Who knows, maybe crystal spheres and mysterious blue mist are the true secret of time travel.

Gemini's book-scroll

Back in 2022 I wrote about a time travel mission to ancient Sicily where Empedocles was depicted as an "isolate", a human being not under the control of a nanite endosymbiont and actively altering the historical timeline. Today, I happened to ask Gemini to generate an image depicting a Roman book as it would have looked 2,000 years ago. Gemini immediately provided the image shown to the left. Gemini told me: "Ancient Roman books were not bound in covers as we know them today, they were often kept as rolled scrolls. The scrolls were rolled up and stored in a leather case or a wooden box."

Adventures in ancient publishing.

 Time Travel Recursion. I was charmed by Gemini's concept of a book-scroll and I began having Mr. Wombo generate some additional images of imaginary ancient publishing methods. I put one of the other AI-generated book-scroll (or is it a scroll-book?) images on DA. One of the other "mission to Rome" images is shown to the right. Imagine this intrepid time traveler going into the past with her Reality Viewer disguised as an ancient book. 

Reality Viewer, disguised as a book.

If you click on the image to the right you can zoom in see a nested image within the image that she is holding. The full sized image is here.

Next: Part 1 of "The Fesarians".

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