Basefount ships Miarmy 6.2

Basefount has released Miarmy 6.2, the latest update to its crowd-simulation system for Maya, adding new flocking, auto-fight and cache editing options, and support for layered caches.

New tools for simulating flocking behaviours
New features in the update include a dedicated flocking system for simulating flocks of birds or schools of fishes, on top of the flocking effects already possible with the 3D path following options.

Crowd agents can mirror the orientation of other nearby agents, leading to more realistic results.

There is also a new Geometry Defined Spot option, which enables 3D crowds to follow random points distributed within 3D target geometry, rather than a single point in space.

Again, the result can be plausible flocking or schooling behaviours, as shown in the demo above.

Updates to crowd logic and simulation caching
Miarmy 6.2 also introduces a self-descriptive Auto Fight system powered by the Direct Logic engine introduced in Miarmy 5.0.

Maya 2018 users get a new Qt-based Transition Map View and Brain View showing the decision-making network for agents, helping to debug simulations.

There are also new tools for editing simulation caches, making it possible to make minor changes to individual agents or small groups of agents without recalculating the entire cache.

In addition, Miarmy now supports layered caches.

Other changes include the option to randomise geometry and colours assigned to agents in the real-time preview. Redshift support has also been extended: the renderer should now read all of Miarmy’s shaders.

Pricing and availability
Miarmy 6.2 is available for Maya 2014+ on Windows XP+, Linux and Mac OS X 10.6+. A single node-locked licence costs $2,750; a site licence costs $5,250; and there are a range of rental options.

Read a full list of new features in Miarmy 6.2 on Basefount’s website