^this.

The pathing is calculated as though the object isn't there.

I tested this and the results are not confirming the theory.

I put a platform set to disappear up in the air right next to a platform that doesn't go away. The BOs spawn easily (in the published map) on the platform that is set to go invis.

I'm thinking maybe the pathing has more to do with walls than with the floor.

Is this new behavior, because it definitely did not used to work like this?

This is how it has always worked. I may be explaining it poorly, but no changes have been made to that system.

Or I wonder if it is because there is a building that eventually occupies the space where the original spawn point is. The BOs auto path around buildings, so the spawn pushes them to a spot in the holodeck where they are outside of the building. Perhaps it's not related to the floor then.

Time for yet another hare brained test on my part.

Well, I saw all sorts of flaky behavior, but I couldn't replicate what happened with Kirk.

Number one flake? Spawning outside the object I set to cover the spawn point even though it wasn't there yet.... Once I spawned standing in mid air on top of the object that wasn't there yet......

This must be what is happening to me. It's strange that it's pushing my boffs out but not me.

Hmm... Maybe. It USUALLY didn't do it to me. Usually.... Also it only seemed to do it when the spawn point was elevated. Or maybe it was most noticable then..... I tried it on ground with a giant foundation cube and got nothing. It didn't affect me or my Boffs. But a raised platform with Klingon barrels got different results. It may be related to geometry though. The way the game determines if you're 'inside' soemthing is odd. it seems to look primarily at the location of your feet, but also sometimes ignores hollow objects. The barrel pile I used has a lot of internal geometry and a clearly defined bottom.

The confusing part is that it isn't consistent. It doesn't always work the same way twice. But, it doesn't really seem random, but as if an unknown variable is involved. *scratches head*

One of my tests involved using very large buildings to cover the spawn point. This had no effect, but that was on the ground only. I didn't think to try it in the air. Oh yeah... for whatever reason I only noticed the really flaky stuff when using an elevated platform that was set to disappear. An elevation of 1 produced no difference, but at an elevation of 39 it did weird stuff.

for a demo of what I mean by semi-random, try the demo mission I published named "movement testing"

The first map has a simple setup, run straight forward, when you hit the trigger(it's a really small one) a giant stone cube appears on top of you. Around 50% of the time you get relocated to the top of the cube, the other 50% you get pushed by the way you came. Why? What makes the difference? The speed you moved, the precise location where you reached the trigger? I can't seem to find an answer.

I guess the thing is it doesn't seem consistent with what I've witnessed. Boffs in my experience have trouble navigating door - walls, even if the walls are hidden at some point in the mission. They just get stuck in the door. If pathing were just ignoring them you'd think they'd just jump through.