Wobbling Passengers Overtaking!

Excellent! Today I spent another evening tinkering with my latest airport simulation in Unreal Engine, and as always, you never quite know what’s going to challenge you next. So airport simulations really are just like a box of chocolates, Forrest: you never know what you’re going to get.

Tonight’s mission: make passenger movement feel more lifelike. I dialed down the average walking speed to about 4–5 meters per second, with a little random variation for each passenger. Transfer passengers got a tiny boost—they’re in a hurry to make that connecting flight, after all. It’s all in the little details!

Variable speeds alone didn’t make them overtake each other, so I turned on RVO Avoidance (Reciprocal Velocity Obstacles). Success! Passengers now overtake—but they wobble like overexcited teens right before passing someone. Funny to watch, but not ideal—definitely something to fix. You can spot the wobbling here if you look closely:

On the airplane side of things, I improved how departures trigger. Before, I was calculating turnaround time and adding a delay—but it was unreliable. Now I check the simulation clock every second to see if it’s past offblock. More efficient, much more dependable, and no more random hiccups.

A few other tweaks went in too, but for tonight, that’s it. More updates coming soon!