Unity Compute Shader: Boids Simulation

About The Project

This is a personal learning project focused on understanding and implementing Unity's compute shaders. As a prototype, the primary goal was to build a functional Boids simulation, with a focus on implementation rather than exhaustive optimization.

The goal was to build a classic  Boids flocking simulation from the ground up, moving the heavy calculations from the CPU to the GPU to achieve a massive performance increase. The result is a real-time technical demo that allows you to witness the beautiful, emergent behavior of thousands of boids. I have exposed a wide range of settings for you to play with, allowing you to see how different parameters affect the flock's behavior.

Features & Settings

You have full control over the simulation. Feel free to experiment with the following settings:

• General: Control the number of boids (Spawn Count), their Speed, and reload the simulation.
• Boid (Flocking): Adjust the core Boids algorithm parameters: Alignment, Coherence, Separation, and how far they can see (Vision Range).
• Obstacle Settings: Toggle obstacle avoidance on or off and adjust the Weight (how strongly they avoid) and Distance (how far they look ahead).
• Attraction Settings: Enable a target attractor and control its Weight (how much the boids want to follow it) and the Radius of its influence.

Technical Details

This project is a technical showcase for GPU acceleration within the Unity Engine.

• GPU Accelerated: The simulation's core logic is powered by a Compute Shader (written in HLSL) that processes the entire Boids algorithm on the GPU. This allows for a massive number of agents at a consistently high framerate.
• CPU Fallback for Web: To ensure maximum accessibility, this live WebGL demo intelligently detects hardware support. It uses a robust C# CPU fallback if WebGL 2.0 compute is unavailable, guaranteeing the simulation runs smoothly for all users.
• Definitive Experience: For the full, uncompromised version, please download the standalone Windows build. This version exclusively uses the GPU path, unleashing the simulation's true potential for a truly massive and fluid swarm.

Note: The downloadable Windows version uses GPU acceleration for the best performance. A dedicated graphics card is recommended to experience the simulation with a high number of boids.

Credits

This project was developed as a learning exercise and is heavily based on the excellent "Coding Adventure: Boids" tutorial by Sebastian Lague.