Population exceeds limits bug

[Mr_Lamppost]

The new population controls are a vast improvement which will allow  for all kinds of interesting scenes from crops to orchards and even marching armies. 

However there is a problem in that the instances cover an area larger than the defined population's limits.  The attached example scene is just the default with a population added.  The stick figure is available from:

www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/downloads/objects.htm

[neuspadrin]

i've actually noticed this before, usually triggered when you change the object spacing/sizes.

[dandelO]

Aye, it's true. The populations, especially at smaller sizes are usually outside of their bounding boxes. I find this when I want a really small area population. It always needs to be re-aligned to centre the instanced objects. It's never straightforward where I can create a population and expect it to be within its own bounding box, again, this is mostly with small-scale populations, it seems.

EDIT: Small scaled, like this one, Mr L. It's only 10x10, that's where I have problems, too. It's not really annoying because it's easily centred but, it still isn't right.

[dandelO]

You should really have only 100 objects in this setup, if it was doing as it says on the tin, not this 16x16=256 instances example.

[Mr_Lamppost]

I should actually have 121 objects, 11 X 11.  I have come across the instances past the limits before but was surprised that it isn't fixed with this new version of the populator.  I imagine that the increased control of object placement will greatly increase the use if small populations.

[dandelO]

I should actually have 121 objects, 11 X 11.

Excuse me, yes. Sorry.

[Mr_Lamppost]

I should actually have 121 objects, 11 X 11.

Excuse me, yes. Sorry.

That depends on how the total area is divided and whee the objects are placed within each part of the divided area.  If the area is 10 X 10 metres and the objects are 1 metre apart then if the first object is placed at the very corner then you will get 121 objects as the eleventh object in any line will be 10 metres away from the first.  If the objects are centred on the squares of the divided area then you will get only 100 objects as the eleventh object in any row is 10 metres away from the first but this first object is half a metre from the edge of the population area making the eleventh object half a metre outside the area.  Tests I made yesterday make me think that TG places the first object at what it thinks of as the lower left corner of the populated area.

Here's the army standing on the 10metre grid from my grid pack.

[dandelO]

Yes, I think you are correct, they're placed on-point. I'm not sure why the extents are crossed but the 121 number is what I should have said, if I'd had my brain on.

I think it would be more correct if the objects were centred between points, making populations of 100mx100m@1 equaling 100 instances.

Still, the 16 columns x 16 rows in a 100m population at spacing of 1m is wrong.

EDIT:

Actually, here's a question relating to this but not about the post's issue: How are you regimenting these instances? I thought I'd read before that the populator couldn't properly calculate that each instance be placed in a specific point, it was more a random point spacing, I thought. Every one of these guys is lined up on a point exactly 1m from the next.

[Dune]

Just make the spacing variations 0 or 0.1. I also found this phenomena, it's quite handy, although I didn't yet figure out how to decrease/increase the distance between the rows. Probably impossible. If you use a fractal or distribution shader you can have two pops each using the (inversed) fractal, within the one grid.

---Dune

[Mr_Lamppost]

This topic was intended to cover a specific issue, that of populations extending beyond their defined bounds.  As it has developed into a more general discussion of the new population settings I have started a new topic to contain those discussions.  Please use that for any non support related comments;

http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=8302.new#new