Maintaining formations in high-density crowds

Abstract

As serious gaming gets applied more and more in our society, algorithms dealing with related problems get more important as well. One such problem is how characters can keep up a formation while interacting with crowds of varying densities in a realistic manner. The goal of this thesis project was to find a way to do this.

Two different methods of modeling formations were proposed. In the `formations using Relative Positions' method, regular characters take up a position in relation to a leader character. Together, a set of these characters make up a formation. Alternatively, formations can be modeled as a Dynamic Object. An obstacle is placed in and moved through the environment. Characters re-plan their paths to avoid this impassable obstacle. The user does not see this obstacle, but sees a set of characters instead. These characters are purely visual and are not taken into account for any collision avoidance method.

This paper also introduces two methods to steer the crowd away from the formations. Proxy agents can be set in front of formation agents to force crowd agents to choose a different path instead of traversing the area between two formation agents. Directional waves steer the crowd away from the formation over a larger distance. Characters adjust their paths early on.

Finally, the two methods are combined to show a simulation where crowds of low and medium density moving into a formation are routed away from and around the formation.