Representatives from AI middleware developer SpirOps have announced two new components for their SpirOps AI package, “SpirOps Graph Generator" and "SpirOps Crowd," allowing game developers to handle crowds from "a few people to several thousands." According to the company, SpirOps' new graph generator component analyzes any 3D environment and places both collision and pathing information, so AI driven characters can successfully move about the scenery. The environments can be as large as several kilometers wide and can contain several levels. The company says using Graph Generator, an AI character knows "exactly, from any position, where he can go, and how to go there." SpirOps' other new component, SpirOps Crowd, gives multiple AI characters "brains" libraries, to handle "all major mathematic calculations needed to handle a crowd" of any size up to the thousands, allowing members of the crowd to avoid obstacles and each other. The Crowd component can create sophisticated behaviors of any character in a crowd. “Handling massive crowds has become a critical challenge for video game developers” said SpirOps CEO Axel Buendia, “the new generation of games features always larger environments that need a dense life activity to immerse the player. With “SpirOps Graph Generator" and "SpirOps Crowd", this new challenge is now only a formality”.