Seattle’s Charmed is gearing up to release a new AI-driven game design tool this month, aimed at enabling the swift creation of 3D character models from the ground up.

The startup recently secured over $500,000 in fresh funding, with Tacoma Venture Fund leading the round.

Under the leadership of founder Jeremy Tryba, Charmed’s ambitious vision is to develop “the first comprehensive 3D AI platform,” streamlining the game design process from initial concept to a working prototype.

“Charmed is crafting tools that enhance the efficiency of 3D artists, significantly cutting down development time,” Tryba explained in a communication with GeekWire.

Charmed’s latest innovation is a three-part tool: a Geometry Generator, a Texture Generator, and a Character Animator. Combined, these allow users to generate a character model through simple prompts, apply textures for clothing and detailing, and then animate the model with pre-set motions.

These generators add to Charmed’s growing suite of tools, which includes Dream Dungeon for quickly creating isometric mazes with customizable textures, a quest generator for easy mission creation, and an AI texture generator that adds vivid skins to 3D game objects.

In a July interview with GeekWire, Tryba emphasized that Charmed should be seen as a toolkit for rapidly producing game concepts, blueprints, and prototypes, rather than a complete solution for no-code game design.

“If you come with a solid idea and creativity, our tools can help amplify your ability to create more intricate and exciting projects faster than doing it solo,” Tryba noted. “However, the quality of output depends on what you input. If the input is poor, the output will reflect that.”

Tryba launched Charmed last year after it was spun out from Madrona Venture Labs, which also provided the initial funding for the venture.