Hi, I want to make a group of fairy following the player in the 3D game world, and the form of the group is flexible to avoid collision what is the possible way of doing it to balance the efficiency and performance?
The player has its own bonding box for collision, thinking of adding a big bonding box for the group as a whole, but again, how to reshape the form of the group when collision happens?

Any good algorithms/books/articles I can look at? Thanks

Flocking with an additional rule. You generally attracted to the player, but also a serious ramp-up repulsion rule when inside a certain radius. The result is a toroidal area around the player.

Or at least some form of steering forces (flocking is probably a good place to start).

This site is a good source for understanding the algorithm and coming up with ideas:

http://www.red3d.com/cwr/steer/