Creating an Army of Autonomous NPC Pigeons!
One thing that’s never missing in cities? Pigeons! I created an entire flock of them in Unreal Engine. This system simulates realistic pigeon behavior with parameters to control flight altitude, spawn count, and roaming distance. The pigeons fly in flocks, land after a randomized time, and repeat the cycle, bringing life and unpredictability to urban environments.
This was one of the most complex AI logic systems I’ve built so far. Each pigeon is spawned and managed by a central "leader" character blueprint. The leader initiates behaviors with a 2-second delay, triggering a flock of follower pigeons that mimic its actions. Each follower pigeon has a simple state machine controlling its idle behavior, like pecking, looking around, and walking.
While still in prototype form, with placeholder animations and room for polish—the system works reliably and demonstrates the potential for realistic, interactive city wildlife.
Integration with Mass Crowd of UE5.4 - Test Level
Once the core logic was solid, I integrated the system with Mass Crowd to handle behavior in a real city environment. That’s when the project truly came to life—seeing dozens of pigeons flying, landing, reacting to threats, and moving in sync became surprisingly mesmerizing. It turned into something you could just sit back and watch for hours.
isThreat triggers the magic
When a threat (any Asset with an isThreat attribute) approaches, the leader takes flight, prompting the rest of the flock to follow. After a short time, the leader lands, and the rest of the pigeons follow suit. This loop continues dynamically, creating lifelike, reactive bird behavior.