This program uses three simple rules for each BOID, which when applied in the correct proportion produce emergent flocking behaviour. This program is entirely based on the work of Craig Reynolds (http://htm.com/cwr/boid.htm). I developed this program after a debate with a c++ programmer, who said that VB wasn't up to the job. See what you think.
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Excellent work! I'm also a huge Craig Reynolds fan. I've been working on my own boids for a few months now and was having trouble with making Collision Detection work in a fast enough way. Hopefully your code will help me fill in some blanks. Haven't looked at your code yet, but your EXE looks great! (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Note : You can also add more obstacles by clicking in the picture !!! I Should have mentioned that somewhere.... (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
About 5 years ago I wrote a program in VB that was very similiar to this. (I was 14) In many ways this is superior. I always had problems with the boids flying through complex objects too. Keep up the great work. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
"I did this when I was 14" or "It was my Year 1 work" is, not only irrelevant, but a bit distasteful; would people refrain from doing that. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
A marvelous piece indeed. To me it has the kind of beauty of Kevino's 3D Mathematical Plot(beyond my grasp though, as I come from a different profession). (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Well I did make this in the past and if you dont like me saying so then dont read my comments. And i didnt say it before because i was being nice, but mine was actually much better than this one! (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Jeffrey. I did not take offense to your comment, in fact I was quite impressed that you did this at the age of 14. I would be interested to see your version - please post it on this site (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Wow! Although I don't know much about boids, I am still very impressed with what I am seeing. This is very cool. Great work!!! (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
After visiting Craigs' web site on boids, I have a better understanding of boids. All I can say is that this is probably beyond my skills at this time; however, I am motivated to research more on this. I think this is really great stuff! (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
(1) Re: Jeffrey's comment - This time it is not distasting, it has become disgusting now. (2) What make Richard's posting outstanding is that it has refresh input, hence it has live, forget about technical aspect for a moment (look at the many repeated old topics every day on this site). 3. Richard: Would you please take a look of "Clear" button; a minor point though, seems not working? (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Thanks for all the great comments guys. The Clear button does work - but only when the boids are running - a minor bug I know.... Please mail me with any other bugs, suggestions.... I intend to implement some of the other grouping behaviours discussed by Craig reynolds (seek, avoid, dock, etc) in the next version.
(If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
I think I have found something interesting in this boids simulation. This is what I have discovered:
When I place more than a dozen circular obstacles in a way similar to a bowling pins placement tightly with only a little room for the boids (30 of them) to manuver, some of boids actually would go through the obstacles close to the curve area of the obstacles (basically the boids would go inside the obstacle a little bit and come out quickly)! Is this suppose to happen or is this because I have not given them enough room to avoid obstacles? If you can give me some hints, that would be great. Thanks.
Andrew (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
I sincerely did not try to be distastesful. If you took it that way (which Richard didn't) it is your problem.
After rooting around for a couple minutes, I actually DID manage to find the code along with an email reply I got from Craig Reynolds, a very nice guy. I was wrong it was only 4 years ago. As right now it doesn't compile, cause it was written for VB 4.0 (I have VB 6.0 now), and my EXE requires a VB40032.DLL.
If I get time, I'll try to get it to work in 6.0, and upload it.
Also, if you think it runs slow on your computer with lots of boids, I originally had to write it on a 486 66.
Jeff
(If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Andrew - It is quite possible that the boids will go into an object. The Calculations TRY to make them avoid this - but if other obstacle or boids get in the way - BANG. This is also true in Nature - birds, fish etc will try to avoid hitting and obstacle - but don't always succeed - If you read the multitude of documentation on the net about boids - you will find this is very common. If you change the maths to try to ensure they boids avoid the obstacles - the flocking behavoiur falls apart.
Jeff - glad you found the code - look forward to seeing it - let me know if you need any help in the conversion.
(If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Jeff - Thanks for the code - It looks great. I too was inspired by Steven Levy's book Artifical Life - a great read. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
What an incredible piece of work - I am fascinated by these "BOID" things and have begun to research them. Sadly I didn't even realize such a thing could be done in VB - not to mention it being done in so very few lines of code. GREAT JOB! (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Guys, Apart from any bug, I think MANY congratulations go to Richard by implementing such algorithm in VB. This is EXTREME DIFFICULT, I know what I'm talking about... Richard, parabéns!!!
(If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Despite the fact that it was almost a year ago that Richard Lowe told me about his VB boids implementation, I am just now getting around to updating my boids page to include a link to this page. (BTW after two domain changes my page is now at http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/) Sorry for the delay, and happy flocking!
(If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
Wow! a celeb! BTW - I recently re-downloaded this program and am currently implementing my own version, with added AI attributes... Oohhhhh I'm so excited about this. (If this comment was disrespectful, please report it.)
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9/27/1999 7:05:00 AM: 
