 Coordinated Movement → done by groups of characters

 Coordinated motion can occur at two levels.

 LEVEL 1: Can result from individual decisions that compliment
each other and making their movements appear coordinated
 LEVEL 2: Can result from decisions made by a group as a whole

 These decisions makes the group of characters to move in a

cohesive way ➔➔ “ FORMATION MOTION"
 Formation motion : movement of a group of characters so that
they retain some group organization.
▪ moving in a fixed geometric pattern such as a V or line abreast
▪ Used in : team sports games, squad-based games, real-time strategy
games, and an increasing number of first-person shooters, driving
games, and action adventures.
 This formation is defined by a set of slots: locations where a character can be
positioned.
 One slot is marked as the leader’s slot. All the other slots in the formation are defined
relative to this slot.
 The formation pattern is positioned and oriented in the game so that the leader is
located in its slot, facing the appropriate direction. As the leader moves, the pattern
also moves and turns in the game.
 In turn, each of the slots in the pattern move and turn in unison.
  Fixed formations
▪ Usually with a designated leader

Line

Defensive circle Two abreast in cover

V or Finger Four
• Leader moves as an individual, everybody else moves based on leaders position
• Actual position depends on number of characters
 If a slot is located at rs relative to the leader’s slot, then the position of the
character at that slot will be
ps = pl +Ωl rs
 where ps - final position of slot s in the game,
pl - position of the leader character, and
Ωl - orientation of the leader character
 Orientation of the character in the slot will be
ωs = ωl +ωs
ωs is the orientation of slot s, relative to the leader’s orientation,
ωl is the orientation of the leader.
 The movement of the leader character should take into account the fact
that it is carrying the other characters with it.
 It should have
▪ limits on the speed it can turn, and
▪ any collision or obstacle avoidance behaviors should take into account the size of
the whole formation.
 In practice, this kind of formation is used only for very simple formation
requirements (small squads of troops in a strategy game where you
control 10,000 units, for example).
 Exact structure of a formation will depend on the number of characters that are participating in
it.
 When the number increases, it may be possible to structure the formation in several concentric
rings.
 It is common to implement scalable formations without an explicit list
of slot positions and orientations. (Homeworld-1999)
 When additional characters are added to a formation, the formation
accommodates them, changing its distribution of slots accordingly.
 Provide a different solution to scalability.
 Each character has its own steering system using the arrive behavior. The
characters select their target based on the position of other characters in
the group.
 Emergent Formations
▪ Ex: Creating a large V formation.--Character selects another target
character in front of it and select a steering target behind and to the side
 The lines in the figure connect a character with the character it is
following.
 Advantages:
 no overall formation geometry
 group does not necessarily have a leader
 formation emerges from the individual rules of each character
 allows each character to react individually to obstacles and potential collisions
 no need to factor in the size of the formation when considering turning or wall avoidance
 simple and effective

 Disadvantages:
 difficult to set up rules to get just the right shape
 number of characters often end up competing for position in the center of the V.
 Little practical use in military groups
 Geometric formation, defined as a fixed pattern of
slots, is used.
 Characters can have their own collision avoidance
behaviors and any other compound steering required.
 Initially, we will assume we have a leader character,
although we will remove this later.
 Two-level steering:
 First level of steering formation: First the leader steers
the formation pattern
 If the leader needs to move sideways to avoid a tree, then all the slots
in the formation will also lurch sideways to stay with the slot.
 But, all the slots are largely free to cope with obstacles in their own
way.
 Remove the responsibility for guiding the formation from the
leader and have all the characters react in the same way to their slots
 The formation is moved around by an invisible leader ---second level
of the two-level formation - each character in the formation steers to
stay in the pattern
 The location of the leader’s slot in the pattern will not correspond
to any character, however.
 Because it is not acting like a slot, we call this the pattern’s
anchor point.
▪ Individual characters steer individually
▪ Use arrival, avoidance, and separation behavior to reach target slot
▪ Has difficulties when characters run into obstacles and cannot keep up
with group
 Extension of coordination to more than two levels
▪ Needed for military simulation games with lots of units
▪ Slot positions now distinguish between roles of characters:
▪ E.g. Fire teams, squad leader, communication, platoon leader, heavy weapons team, …
▪ Squads in dangerous terrain collaborate with other squads
▪ One squad moves
▪ Other squad(s) provide lookout and fire cover