I wanted to build a project containing steering behaviours since it is a common practice in creating convincing movement systems for autonomous characters and to build upon the behaviours explored in my 'Shark Cage' project which focused on the boids algorithm, responsive agents and procedural algorithms. This project shocases a heavier focus on the basic steering behaviours for both predatory and temperate agents within an underwater 3D environment. I also expanded upon the theme further by attempting to implement behaviours fitting the predatory agents by adding some characteristics portrayed in real instances and observations of shark social structures and interactions such as intimidation techniques. Setting the game within an underwater setting also meant that I had to create a seperate navigation system from Unity's built in Nav Mesh system since that doesnt account for movement and navigation within mutliple axis to quite the extent I was aiming to replicate.
I added a basic gameplay element involving the player act as an underwater drone with the goal of collecting sunken treasures. This also coincidentally provides a good opportunity to observe the exhibited behaviours close up. I enjoyed working on this product as I carried out my research and implemented the steering algorithms in a way that made sense to me so I could build up an understanding at my own pace. I plan on developing this project further by adapting it into a fully functional tool with a flexible repository of behaviours that can be controlled and customised by the user.
