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I have ~20 or more enemies and they need to follow a target and avoid to go on top of themselves. I mean follow a target and avoid to collide with each other. Area, on which they are walking, is just a rectangle plane in 2D space. What would be the most simple and efficient algorithm for this? Thanks.

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This is frequently referred to as flocking or a boids simulation. It's an algorithm that combines three behaviors to simulate the motion of a group:

enter image description here Separation: steer to avoid crowding local flockmates enter image description here Alignment: steer towards the average heading of local flockmates enter image description here Cohesion: steer to move toward the average position of local flockmates

The combination of those three will create a good approximation of a group moving together. These behaviors are described well in the GDC99 paper Steering Behaviors For Autonomous Characters (Craig W. Reynolds). Additionally there's a few Java demos of flocking and some other steering behaviors in action here. The other behaviors include a path following steering behavior and a follow the leader behavior that can be useful to you for having a group move along a path.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Very good explanation, and the pictures are helpful. +1 \$\endgroup\$
    – feralin
    Jun 26, 2013 at 17:49
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I think you want steering behaviors, specifically Flocking. This enables you to have entities that will flock towards a certain point / target - if you can combine this with Avoidance behaviors you should be able to achieve what you want.

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