Water Bodies#

Oceans#

By default Crest generates an infinite body of water at a fixed sea level, suitable for oceans and very large lakes.

Lakes#

Crest can be configured to efficiently generate smaller bodies of water, using the following mechanisms.

  • The waves can be generated in a limited area - see the User Inputs section.

  • The Water Body component, if present, marks areas of the scene where water should be present. It can be created by attaching this component to a Game Object and setting the X/Z scale to set the size of the water body. If gizmos are enabled, an outline showing the size will be drawn in the Scene View.

  • The Water Body component turns off tiles that do not overlap the desired area. The Clip Surface feature can be used to precisely remove any remaining water outside the intended area. Additionally, the clipping system can be configured to clip everything by default, and then areas can be defined where water should be included. See the Clip Surface section.

  • If the lake altitude differs from the global sea level, use a Water Level Input to change the height of the water to match. It is recommended to cover a larger area than the lake itself, to give a protective margin against lower mesh densities from LODs in the distance.

Another advantage of the Water Body component is it allows an optional override material to be provided, to change the appearance of the water. Since this feature cannot be applied partially to a water chunk, and a water chunk can overlap two water bodies, this feature does not work well with bordering water bodies. If you use this feature and want to still have an ocean, then disable Water Renderer ‣ Surface Renderer ‣ Culling ‣ Water Body Culling.

Streams#

There are several ways to accomplish streams. The most pertinent data is flow for the current and height for the stream gradient (optional).

Flow & Height Map#

A river being a large stream, often without a visible gradient, can be implemented with just a Flow Map. The water level can also be adjusted to make a stream gradient by using a height map or a mesh with the Water Level Input.

Splines#

Splines are a great option for creating streams. They can direct flow and create gradients.

Please see Rivers.

Shallow Water Simulation#

The Shallow Water Simulation can simulate streams and bake the final output to a texture.

Please see Stream Simulation.