In a press release published on March 12, Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games was announced to be in partnership with Scotland-based Moon Collider, the company behind an artificial intelligence platform named Kythera, to unveil the AI that underpins Star Citizen’s ambitious universe. Kythera is the software that’s touted to be a groundbreaking next-generation artificial intelligence platform dedicated to help out videogame designers, and it is said to be implemented into Star Citizen as the guiding hand for the NPCs and spacecraft throughout its universe.
Moon Collider officials were thrilled to finally unveil its once-kept secret, and the company states that Kythera will soon be seen in a range of titles and that it was pleased to have chosen Star Citizen to showcase the AI.
“You’ll soon find Kythera in a range of titles, from an indie hack-and-slash to a point-and-click adventure, but we couldn’t have a better showcase than Star Citizen ,” said Moon Collider founder and CEO Matthew Jack. “We call Kythera the dynamic AI, and our ambition for it is to step up to the next level of creative gameplay and immersive worlds. So it’s a perfect match for Star Citizen – this generation’s most dynamic and immersive PC game.”
Those who have backed Star Citizen’s seemingly unending crowdfunding campaign will get their first glimpse of Kythera in the game’s upcoming Dogfighting Module, a small demonstration of what the Star Citizen has to offer in terms of combat. In the Dogfighting Module, players will be able to fight against each other and the AI. With Kythera implemented, it is touted that players will meet computer-controller opponents with their own individual and recognizable flying styles, each with a weakness to be taken advantage of and a strength to not be taken lightly.
“Kythera’s AI is exactly what we need for a game like Star Citizen ,” said Cloud Imperium’s founder Chris Roberts. “The dynamic nature of the technology allows for more realistic dogfights, but at the same time it delivers a very true-to-life universe where planetside environments will be able to display very large scale city simulations all going on at once. Kythera will give Star Citizen a true world AI rather than a less dynamic scripted AI which you may find in other games.”
Star Citizens crowdfunding campaign still receives contributions every day towards its development, and it is currently 16 percent into its $41 million stretch goal at the time of writing–gaining over $3 million since January, 2014 . The game is anticipated to open up for Beta sometime in early 2015 , with many features to the game being unlocked in a modular fashion.