OpenSteer is a C++ library to help construct steering behaviors for autonomous characters in games and animation. In addition to the library, OpenSteer provides an OpenGL-based application called OpenSteerDemo which displays predefined demonstrations of steering behaviors. The user can quickly prototype, visualize, annotate and debug new steering behaviors by writing a plug-in for OpenSteerDemo.

OpenSteer provides a toolkit of steering behaviors, defined in terms of an abstract mobile agent called a "vehicle." Sample code is provided, including a simple vehicle implementation and examples of combining simple steering behaviors to produce more complex behavior. OpenSteer's classes have been designed to flexibly integrate with existing game engines by either layering or inheritance.

OpenSteerDemo's plug-in framework allows a game AI programmer to quickly prototype behaviors during game design, and to develop behaviors before the main game engine is finished. OpenSteerDemo allows the user to interactively adjust aspects of the simulation. The user can: start, stop and single step time, select the vehicle/ character/ agent of interest, adjust the camera's view and its tracking behavior.