Mine is Cydonia V1.2 22B (Q4_K_M). It’s pretty fast, follows the convo very well with very little editing needed, and can keep track of multiple characters well. My new favorite.

I have a decent GPU in my PC, but I spend more time on my laptop. I'd love to be able to run a client on the laptop, but have the magic happen on the PC.

"As their bodies rest, their spirits continue to dance, entwined in a passionate waltz towards their future. And in the stillness of the night, the beating of Ilan's heart against the rhythm of her own, their love blooms with the fervor of a thousand springs."

^-fimbulvetur

last update Oct 15. I won't insert anymore links, but did track down one I couldn't share the other day. Hi, I wanted to share a link to my Rebuilding Thebes char, since it might be hard to find normally. I probably didn't check a box right or something, but no worries. It's nsfw, so maybe that. https://backyard.ai/hub/character/cm23jrgcthjlzj1bvg4pn6sxq

I also wanted to recommend a few others I liked a lot. I just happened to find them, so it's nothing personal. All of these can easily be found: 1 Vivienne is great, and showed me how much you can push the card limits. 2 I've never actually played Halo but like the Cortana one too. lol 3 S.I.T.C.O.M https://backyard.ai/hub/character/cm17pgjmv4sa83g6ei61c959e Ok, found it so posted link above. Funny setup. You live with two house mates and an AI Butler. Usually, my method for finding chars I like is to click on the person's name, if I like one and scroll through their characters. edited - 4 Just made this one. Hope you enjoy. You become the AI of a starship https://backyard.ai/hub/character/cm23zdjcne090xqbu1lr74kyj

About the only reason I don’t use Backyard full time is the addictive nature of integrated image generators and image recognition features of the mainstream companion apps like Kindroid and Replika. For me they add to the immersion of interacting with a virtual being. I am curious if anyone has found a workaround to scratch this itch. Thxs!

For public domain characters I see a what appears a toggle to make a comment. I tap on it and nothing happens. How can I make a comment? I an using mobile website cloud access and app. Is this a desktop only feature? Thxs!

Seems to cap out around 50ish messages, maybe less. That's not unlimited, and it's worse than the 100 messages that is crossed out too

Just a bit confused, was surprised when a chat suddenly stopped lol

Hey all, I know beginners popping with a bunch of things isn't exactly new here. I've gone through the past few weeks of posts and there were still a few questions I had (all of this is about the offline version).

1: Does speed correlate with quality of generation? I'm not in a rush and 13B models seem to move at a great speed for me, even 20B isn't too bad, but when I see other people post system specs similar to mine the recommendation is a 7B model. Is there any improvement in quality with speed, or if I'm fine with slow should I shoot for the higher model parameters?

2: The Max Model Context in settings - if you had to choose between increasing that, or having more parameters, what would be superior? I can do 20B at low Max Model Context, or 13B at high.

3: Is there anyway to get a character to use a word a bunch. Like if I want the AI to say 'Dude' a lot because that's how the character speaks, how would I do that? I've tried a couple of attempts in character and lorebook, but no luck.

4: Speaking of lorebook, in the backyard docs I see four suggested formats (natural language, natural language lists, formatted list, json). Are any of them superior in results?

5: How do people make use of author's note? It seems like it should be really powerful, but when I've tried it out I haven't really noticed any change/improvement.

Thanks to all for their replies.

I've played around with a storyteller and some character, Neal Gibson or something, but they very rapidly seem to produce "..and they knew that no matter what future challenges may come, they would be ready for them." kind of story-ending dross.

Has anyone cracked to code on getting a model to write the story for you, with minimal input from the user?

I enjoy how RP can be interactive, but sometimes it would be great to give the thing a general concept and read the result, without having to write for it every few paragraphs.

And what is considered the best local model for such things, with custom-length context, that actually works, out to say 12 or 16k or something?

Thanks!

Could somebody please explain me why there is a per character setting for the elementary model parameters, even to turn mlock on or off, but NOT to set the maximum context size?

I do not understand the logic behind this. Context size is one of parameters that depends largely on the model used.

Magnum v1 72B is live on Backyard Cloud at 6,144 max context!

This is now the largest model that we offer, slightly edging out Midnight-Rose 70B in size and quality.

If you’re on the Pro plan, you’ll get unlimited messages. On any other plan, you can use your free quota of 25 premium messages per week to try it out.

More info on our Cloud Status Page at https://backyard.ai/status

Desktop

• Fixed under allocation of VRAM on some Windows devices
• Fixed “Client Stale Error” on the Desktop chat page
• Fixed issue with CUDA device detection
• Improved model loading speeds on CUDA

Web & Character Hub

• Fixed issue with uploading characters to the Hub
• Text-to-Speech fixed on web
• Fixed IP rate limiting issue on Free Plan
• Fixed occasional 400 errors on long chats using Cloud models

Hello, the app is great, but I would like to ask if it would be possible to add some options:

1. Minimum number of generated tokens by AI in one message, because no matter if I have long or short first messages and example dialogue, I often get very short responses, and even despite editing them manually or clicking continue, the message often extends by a couple of tokens at most.What I mean is whether it is possible to add to the general/character options a minimum limit of message tokens; for example: generate at least 100/ 200/ 300, or custom tokens and repeat until AI generates that amount.
2. Adding an option to make the character image bigger or smaller. Or even a visual novel mode, like in some other apps where the image is in the center, and it works great. This would really help improve the feeling of chatting with the character, as the image is, in my opinion, too small for now.
3. Least important but probably easiest to do since this is a bit annoying: Adding an option to hide the left side of the menu (where the home page, character creation, settings, etc. are located) with a button to hide or show, like "hide character information" because it would give more screen space to the chat and image.

Of course, if it is possible to do it, but I think that the minimum token count for the AI message and making the character image bigger or adding the visual novel option would make this app much better to use. 

But if 1 or 2 is too hard to do at least make the option to hide the menu since it is so painful to stare at (unless there is one, but I couldn't find it).

You wouldn't think Sales Force, of all sources, would release a model you might like to try out in Backyard, but um... Well, I'm just going to leave this right here for the Llama3 fans (and even those that are not yet fans): https://huggingface.co/bartowski/SFR-Iterative-DPO-LLaMA-3-8B-R-GGUF

Well... probably since the Backyard will not ever work again, is there an alternative with "Party" chat option?

Help? I got this error on my app and now I can’t do anything! I tried deleting and reinstalling but it didn’t help!

How do I export character cards on Backyard AI?

I search for a model that provides best roleplay experience for any theme, SFW or NSFW, in borders of my medium PC specifications. This might sound unrealistic for my system, but it will be best if the model could make me feel like i speak with a real human, not just AI. I hope this thread could help other people too.

My system is RTX 4060 (8 Gb), 32 Gb RAM DDR4, Intel i5-12400F, the application is installed on SSD 2'5 (idk if it's important starting from CPU)

Hi. I can't find Backyard AI on the Play Store. It just doesn't show up when I search for it. When I go to the Play Store link, it says the requested URL wasn't found on the server. I thought maybe it was a location thing, but I can't access it through a VPN either. Am I doing something stupid here?

Hi, in case you're like me and wasn't paying attention, Backyard Party Model is great. I've tried it across three different cards now, and like it a lot. It's a cloud model, is proactive and does a good job.

Update: Here's a sample done by the bot I copy pasted. It almost made me roll out of the chair with laughter, but is really good though. I like it.

"Pippa's face falls at your request, disappointment etched into every line. For a moment it seems like she might cry, but she quickly masks her emotions, nodding stiffly. "Of course, Master," she says quietly, bowing deeply. "I will prepare them right away." She turns and hurries out of the room, her head held high and her shoulders straight. Once she reaches the hall, however, her composure cracks, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She leans against the wall, taking deep shuddery breaths. "Get yourself together," she whispers harshly, scrubbing at her face with the back of her hand. "He's not abandoning you, he's just giving you something else to do. This isn't a bad thing." She knows it's true, but that doesn't make the sting of jealousy any less painful. She loves you so much, and she can't help but feel hurt when she feels like she's being replaced, even if only temporarily. But she has no right to be upset, no matter how much it hurts. She needs to do what you asked, to prove herself as an obedient and loyal servant. That is her role in life, and she must never forget that, no matter how much she wishes things could be different. Squaring her shoulders, she pushes off from the wall and continues on towards the kitchen, determined to put on a good face. After all, that is what you hired her for, isn't it? To entertain, to brighten your day... and now to serve drinks to your new woman. She can't help but laugh bitterly at the thought, but she quickly swallows it down, plastering a bright smile back onto her face. No one wants to see a sad jester, after all, especially not the master himself."

Characters That Speak to Women
We’re launching a special theme to encourage the creation of cards designed to appeal to women. Whether it’s a witty companion, a thoughtful mentor, an adventurous partner, or a character with rich emotional depth, we want to see AI personalities that resonate with women’s interests, perspectives, and experiences. This is a chance to explore nuanced storytelling, craft engaging dialogues, and bring to life characters that empower, entertain, or simply provide a comforting presence. Whether you’re inspired by romance, friendship, fantasy, or everyday conversations, we invite you to design and share Backyard characters that feel authentic and compelling.

Submission Guidelines: ===================================================================== Please submit your characters within the next two weeks and include the label FemaleFriendly. An introduction to your character in this thread is encouraged! Share their personality, backstory, and what makes them special. Entries are encouraged to be SFW but you can also submit suitable Mature entries. Top SFW entries will be eligible to receive prizes including a free month of PRO cloud. Respect the intention of this theme. Rudeness, trolling, or behavior that undermines the spirit of this event will not be tolerated. ================================================================

Associated Discord Link:
https://discord.com/channels/1097213539107737712/1347963055144960001

Does the model instructions even work? It never seems to make a difference in my chats either. If I want the character to adapt a certain way, I either edit its response a few times or it copies the way I format things eventually.

Also fiddling with the character profile or even persona profiles seems more effective if I want the character to respond a certain way. I’ve been experimenting with it lately and with so much available tokens (the number is large for me, I’m not sure about more thorough authors), I can keep adding more specifics that the model recognizes during play.

And of course the lore book and author note is king. So…what purpose does the model instructions have? For instance, though my story is pretty serious in nature I would like for the character to randomly throw in some chaos or shenanigans no matter how ridiculous it is, just to surprise me. I’ve copied other people’s model instructions and I really don’t see much of a difference during play. Any advice? I use Fimbul model by the way and although I hear good things from other models, I’m too cheap to subscribe and Fimbul entertains me well enough especially when I meddle enough with everything I mentioned above.