Army of One Games has released a new scattering plugin for Unreal Engine 4. Simple Scatter has been designed to bring scattering workflows familiar from the scattering plugins found in 3D DCC packages to Unreal.
Features include the ability to scatter on surfaces including Terrain objects and Static Meshes including the ability to control the density and scale of objects using attributes of the surface such as height, slope angle and more. In addition to surfaces, areas can also be controlled using Unreal’s built-in spline primitives (both open and closed) as well as being able to exclude object from a scatter if they are under an object.
As you would expect, the transforms of scattered items can be randomised and the scene can be optimised using techniques such as distance-based culling and fade. The developers warn that the plugin is currently “primarily for editor-time visualization and cinematic purposes.
While it should work with packaged builds, it has not yet been thoroughly tested in production scenarios”. They advise caution if you are using the plugin for this purpose during the beta period. Find out more on the Unreal Engine marketplace.