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Emergent effects in massive agent swarms in real-time game environments
conference contribution
posted on 2013-01-01, 00:00 authored by O Knight, Tim WilkinTim Wilkin, Shaun BangayShaun BangayComputational efficiency and hence the scale of agent-based swarm simulations is bound by the nearest neighbour computation for each agent. This article proposes the use of GPU texture memory to implement lookup tables for a spatial partitioning based k-Nearest Neighbours algorithm. These improvements allow simulation of swarms of 220 agents at higher rates than the current best alternative algorithms. This approach is incorporated into an existing framework for simulating steering behaviours allowing for a complete implementation of massive agent swarm simulations, with per agent behaviour preferences, on a Graphics Processing Unit. These simulations have enabled an investigation of the emergent dynamics that occur when massive swarms interact with a choke point in their environment. Various modes of sustained dynamics with temporal and spatial coherence are identified when a critical mass of agents is simulated and some elementary properties are presented. The algorithms presented in this article enable researchers and content designers in games and movies to implement truly massive agent swarms in real time and thus provide a basis for further identification and analysis of the emergent dynamics in these swarms. This will improve not only the scale of swarms used in commercial games and movies but will also improve the reliability of swarm behaviour with respect to content design goals.
History
Event
International IEEE Consumer Electronic Society Games Innovation Conference (5th : 2013 : Vancouver, BC, Canada)Pagination
114 - 118Publisher
IEEELocation
Vancouver, BC, CanadaPlace of publication
Piscataway, N.J.Start date
2013-09-23End date
2013-09-25ISSN
2166-6741ISBN-13
9781479912445Language
rusPublication classification
E1 Full written paper - refereedCopyright notice
2013, IEEETitle of proceedings
IGIC 2013 : Proceedings of the 5th International IEEE Consumer Electronic Society Games Innovation ConferenceUsage metrics
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