Flocking in Unity

A Unity implementation of Craig Reynold's boids.

20,000 boids simulated entirely on the GPU, running at 60 fps (watch on Youtube).

About

Includes CPU and GPU implementations.

Both are naïve O(N²) implementations. The CPU version can handle about 150 boids at 60 fps, while the GPU version can handle about 20,000. (As tested on a Ryzen 5, Nvidia GTX 1060 machine. Your mileage may vary).

The GPU version requires a graphics card that supports Compute shaders and GPU instancing in Unity.

The CPU version includes a script to visualize some of the parameters of the boids. (Nearest neighbors, forces, and path over time).

To-do

• Implement vertex animations for swimming fish and flying birds.
• Improve performance with some kind of spatial data structure.
• Add environmental awareness / obstacle avoidance.