generate a piecewise-linear function (or spline) in each dimension with steps taken from the PRNG, then generate uniform random points and apply the function to them.

That's sounds like a real possibility -- or rather looks like it having done a search for "spline" and seen a few images. I'm imagining sticking a few (2 or 3 or 4 decided at random) sticks, of random length, into a square of ground at randomly chosen points; and then draping a tarpaulin over them. The height of the tarpaulin at any given point then "influences" the randomly generated xy pairs such that they tend to concentrate around the sticks.

I haven't a clue how I'd go about it though :( (Offers?:)

You more or less have it.

I haven't a clue how I'd go about it though :( (Offers?:)

For my standard consulting rate? ;-)

Basically, you want to take a uniform distribution between 0 and M, and map it to a non-uniform one between 0 and N, so that X+I < X+J when I < J. One way to do this is to generate a step-functionpiecewise linear function, then translate values through that step function. In Matlab, it looks something like this for a 10-step function:

fx = [0,cumsum(unifrnd(0,1,1,10))];
tmp=unifrnd(1,10,1,1e5);
ix=floor(tmp);
dx=rem(tmp,1);
values = (fx(ix) + (fx(ix+1)-fx(ix)).*dx)./fx(end-1);
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Using a spline would be more complicated, but would be smoother.

In Matlab, it looks something like this for a 10-step function:

Great, thanks. Now all I gotta do is translate that from matlab, a lingo I am not familiar with.

Darn it. Fell at the first hurdle. I cannot sense of your parameters to unifrnd()?

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