Crowds fail visibly when agents stop, sidestep together or jam doors. Clear responsibility between global routes, local avoidance and animation is essential.
Separate scales
Pathfinding chooses a world corridor. Local avoidance selects short-term velocity. Unreal offers RVO and Detour Crowd methods; use the one matching your density and control needs.
Add controlled asymmetry
Vary preferred speed slightly, assign passing bias and use role priority. Small asymmetries break deadlocks without random steering that fights the path.
Design bottlenecks
Doorways need approach space and capacity. Reservation or lane logic may outperform generic avoidance. Waiting agents need readable placement.
Match animation
Acceleration, turning radius and root motion must agree with navigation. Stress-test opposing flows, mixed radii and sudden stops. Compare Crowd Densities Revisited.