Life-like shapes, navigating using a flocking behavior

I stumbled at this old GIF on my computer, thought it was interesting so I shared it.

I created this 5 months ago, I wanted to create a simple flocking behavior. Each shape has unique stats and a cute name.

• Squarel : Very slow, steers well and has a strong repulsion.
• Circloid : The all-rounded shape (No pun intended)
• Tribloid : Very fast, does not steer well and has a weak repulsion

Every shape moves to the cursor, however it pushes the other shapes away from it, this simple mechanic adds a lot of life.

You could also place walls, however collision does not exist. Everything works with force vectors and steering vectors. If you approach a wall you are pushed away from it instead of being limited by it's boundaries. In the GIF, we eventually see a Circloid going slightly into a wall.

A normal flocking behavior follows these three principals :

• Separation : Each agent tries to keep it's distance with other agents.
• Alignment : Steer in the average direction your neighbors are steering.
• Cohesion : Steer at the average position of your neighbors.

However mine is a bit different, because the mouse position is the target that the agents are seeking. Usually they would "go with the flow" and be steered in a direction like fish thanks to the 3 principals. A fun fact about the GIF is that alignment is done by shape. Squarels align with Squarels, Circloids with Circloids and Tribloids with Tribloids!

I hope this old GIF from my computer managed to spark your interest in flocking behavior! Let me know if it interests you, because I could explain in greater detail how this works.