This project implements autonomous agent steering behaviors for character animation, commonly used in games and crowd
simulations. It's based on Craig Reynolds' influential 1999 paper "Steering Behaviors for Autonomous Characters" — the
same foundational work behind the flocking behaviors seen in many games and films.

The system enables virtual characters to navigate environments in a lifelike, reactive way without scripted paths.
Each agent operates as a simple 2D vehicle that can accelerate, turn, and respond to its surroundings in real time. A
feedback control system smoothly adjusts each agent's speed and heading to match its behavioral goals.

The project includes 11 steering behaviors split into two categories:

Individual behaviors control single agents:
- Seek: Move directly toward a target
- Flee: Move directly away from a target
- Arrival: Approach a target and smoothly decelerate to a stop
- Departure: Push away from a position with stronger repulsion when closer
- Wander: Generate natural-looking random meandering motion
- Obstacle Avoidance: Detect and steer around obstacles in the agent's path

Group behaviors create emergent crowd dynamics:
- Separation: Prevent agents from crowding together
- Cohesion: Pull agents toward the center of their local group
- Alignment: Match velocity with nearby neighbors
- Flocking: Combine separation, cohesion, and alignment to produce classic "boids" behavior
- Leader Following: Create formations where agents follow behind a designated leader

The system uses a sense-control-act loop — a classic reactive control pattern. Each frame, agents sense their
environment (target position, nearby obstacles, neighboring agents), compute a desired velocity based on their active
behavior, then apply forces to move toward that goal. This creates smooth, responsive motion that adapts to changing
conditions.

Built in C++ with OpenGL visualization. The standalone viewer allows real-time behavior testing with adjustable
parameters and debug visualization showing current vs. desired velocities.

Tools Used

C++, OpenGL, CMake, Eigen (linear algebra), ImGui