[FacelessJim]

I did something very similar some years ago while learning metal [1], I recall them being called "boids". I spent days just playing with the various parameters, luckily my implementation was not as pretty as the one offered in the OP, otherwise I would have lost weeks instead.

[1] https://github.com/ghyatzo/metalplay?tab=readme-ov-file

[_0ffh]

The original boids, or "bird-oid objects", was an algorithm and program to simulate emergent flocking behaviour from simple rules in birds. It has spawned a kind of genre, or at least a multitude of copies/derivatives, often collectively referred to as "boids".

[stirfish]

I've been vibe coding boids implementations because my toddler likes to look at them. Here's one where the attributes of the boids (alignment, etc) are hooked up to frequency generators like a sequencer: https://neuroky.me/boidsine.html?boidCount=1700&hue=sine3&se...

I can move them to GitHub or something, but they are currently hosted in my pantry. Please be gentle :)