Companion AI for Starbound Game Using Utility Theory

Abstract

Starbound is a popular video game that has player companions as one of its features, but its AI lacks awareness about the player’s state, the enemies’ state and its own. This study aims to solve it by implementing a new companion AI which is based on utility theory. The AI was developed, and the user study was conducted to evaluate its ability to assist the player. The fighting ability was assessed by measuring AI’s ability to stay alive during the battle and dealing damage to enemies without the player’s interaction. As a result, the majority of user study participants did not notice the difference between the built-in AI and the one developed in this study. The participants that noticed the difference enjoyed each type of companion in equal measure. However, the fighting ability test showed that the utility-based AI stays alive longer and deals more damage compared to the built-in agent within the game currently.