The "Horde" addon leverages Geometry Nodes to create crowds of people, zombies, and more with just a few clicks. It is available on Super Hive Market.
Getting Started with Horde
Installation is straightforward: download the addon zip file from your Super Hive downloads and install it via Edit > Preferences > Extensions (without unzipping). Once activated, you'll find the Horde menu in the N-panel of your 3D viewport. (Update: in newer version of the addon, the assets and addon are separated. Please refer to the addon documentation for precise installation instructions).
The add-on categorizes humans into several visual styles, including professionals in suits, characters in swimwear, and both bare or clothed zombies. After choosing a look, you can select one of three behaviors:
- Idle Crowd: For stationary groups.
- Walking Crowd: For people moving at a steady pace.
- Running Crowd: For high-energy scenes or pursuits.
Adding a Crowd
Adding a crowd is as simple as pressing the "Add GN System" button and drawing a path using the Grease Pencil tool.
Fine-Tuning and Performance
The Horde interface offers several intuitive sliders to customize your simulation:
- Density & Spacing: Control how packed the crowd is.
- Randomization: The "Randomize Path" and "Random Scale" sliders prevent the crowd from looking unnatural by adding variation to their movement and size.
- Speed & Offset: Adjust how fast characters move and randomize their animation start times to avoid synchronized "stepping".
One of the most powerful features is the Randomness Curve. By adjusting this graph, you can control where the “shape” of the crowd: for example, keeping them tight while walking through a narrow passage and then letting them spread out as they reach an open area.
Using Custom Characters
While the default characters are great, you can easily swap them for your own models to gain full control over the look and feel of the crowd. Refer to the addon documentation or the video guide below to learn how to add custom characters.
Horde is a robust tool with good performance even with dense crowds. It can be a great aide if you’re looking to populate your scenes with characters quickly.