[Community Project] WIP Weather & Water Shader

[jojo8026]

How do I import into a project I am already working on?

[hugo_ar]

Hello,
I would like to animate the Global Wave Amplitude ( Manager) in the sequencer. I guess it is possible but didnt find it for the moment.
I seen the variable in the BP_Ocean but it is not exposable to cinematic. I added a new variable that I multiplied with it. I seen it has an influence but I still can’t animate it.
What is the good workflow to animate the wave amplitude in sequencer?
thank you

[jojo8026]

**Welcome to the community created Simulation, Weather, and Dynamic TOD system. The point of project is twofold. First, it aims to provide a realistic water simulation that is both highly customizable, and being as physically accurate as possible. The second aspect is in regards to the weather and time-of-day setup.

The reason the Weather/TOD is in the same project is due to how much of the itself is driven by the weather around it, to allow integration of real life simulation, both parts are necessary for such as wind, rain, and storms. The Beaufort Scale will be implemented to allow custom control of the sea state and weather in one place.**

** project is maintained by:**

List of Contributors

• • Initial Shader + Code for Buoyancy
• Nadrugal - Additions to the SkyDome
• • Fish flocking AI and a variety of fish
    and more to be added shortly, currently rewriting post.

Want your name on list? Feel free to make improvements to the OceanDemo project, and either PM me or Post in the thread below with your addition! Even if you don’t think you can help yet, that’s no problem! Any suggestions can be left by posting below as well.

Thanks!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To download (or fork) the project, use the link below.

** Link** - https://.com/UE4-/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

system uses techniques from many tutorials, however it would not have been possible without the help of the following users (Especially , he deserves a lot of credit for !):
, JBaldwin, berna , ufna, , KhenaB, gregdumb and many others. Click on their names to see the corresponding threads!

For those wanting more info on how the waves are created mathematically, ARTICLE goes over everything. Specifically have a look at the section on “Gerstner Waves” for the actual equations that produce the waves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newest Features

added in a bunch of new features during my absence, these are available for the 4.8 & 4.9 versions on .

Screens:

SSR
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ea7f/9ifotl4151ob4d2zg.jpg?size_id=6
(Click for original size)

Foam
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/03a1/octvtnvf2kpam4gzg.jpg?size_id=6
(Click for original size)

Shore
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/f095/70xpo3gp13mprlszg.jpg?size_id=6
(Click for original size)

New features:

-Screen Space Reflections (SSR)
-Planar Reflection support
-Infinite System
-Distance Blended Normals
-Configurable Sets of Panning Normals (Small, Medium, Far)
-Heightmap-based Seafoam & Foam Wave Caps (Thanks Le!)
-Cubmap-based Reflections (optional)
-Exposed many parameters to BP_Ocean. - You can now easily switch between shader versions, change textures, normals, foam, cubemap, heightmap etc.
-Underwater Distortion Effect
-Underwater Caustics

-Fixed buoyant destructible physics (too “jumpy”)
-Fixed a few other problems caused by 4.8 engine core changes

Current known issues:
SSR shader version uses 14 samplers (might not work in/… please let me know)

New Skydome Features

I’m releasing the latest code changes for the new Skydome I’m working on in stages. I want to make sure first part’s accuracy is rock solid before adding additional parts, as they will be dependent on sun/moon positions during the day & year. So is the first of a series of upcoming skydome changes.

update is the high accuracy sun & moon positioning, based on the input latitude, longitude, UTC offset, and local time. The calculations for are very complex, and boring, so I’m only going to go over the values shown in the Debug HUD.

First, what you will see when you open the project, and how to set it all up for your desired location:

When you open the project, you will be in a demo level named dcSkyTestMap, which is a copy of the Island Map level with the skydome added. (if you don’t want to use the new skydome, the Island Map still has the old one). These 2 arrows will show you the direction of the Sun/Moon (yellow/gray) and will update themselves appropriately, and the compass is set to North == +X axis (has not been rotated, default world placement).

To change the date & time, select the BP_Sky reference in the World Outliner, and expand the small arrow beside Local Time in the Default section. Here you will also find the controls for Latitude, Longitude, UTC Offset Hours, whether to allow Daylight Savings time (calculated automatically if enabled), and a Time Scale Multiplier which allows you to speed up (or slow down) time. By default is set to 10 which means 10 seconds of game time goes by every 1 second in real world time.

The values are automatically clamped in code to the maximum number of seconds in a minute (59), hours in a day (23), days in the current month (28 to 31), etc. I had clamped the sliders to not exceed these values, but for some reason it won’t allow you to change the value with it turned on, so just be aware that values greater than min/do not have any effect.

Finally we have the Debug HUD, will look very confusing to most people, but is as simple as I could make it while still providing the necessary information. Here’s what it looks like, the values are broken down below:

The best way to verify data is to use website and enter in the date/time, latitude & longitude info into these boxes (or use the map, but make sure the lat/long are correct):

With that entered, all of the other fields will populate themselves with data. The values in game vs the values on the website will vary slightly (0.1 to 2 degrees average) and are not meant to be exact, calculating the exact position is not feasible (or necessary) for a game / simulation. Using approximations allows high accuracy, without performance concerns.

Now, what these values mean:

SUN

• Time Correction Factor (TCF): The number of minutes to add/subtract to account for the variation in Solar Time within a gives time zone.
• Equation of Time](http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/properties-of-sunlight/suns-position) (EOT): An equation that corrects for the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit and axial tilt for the given date/time.
• Hour Angle (HRA): Converts Solar Time to the number of degrees the sun has moved. 0 == sun’s highest point, so the value will be negative in the east (morning) and positive in the west (evening)
• Declination](Declination Angle | PVEducation): The earth’s axial tilt for the given date/time vs the sun. varies from -23.4397 (northern hemisphere winter) to +23.4397 (northern hemisphere summer).
• Altitude Angle](Elevation Angle | PVEducation): The vertical angle of the sun in the sky measured from the horizontal, 0 = sunrise, 90 = highest point of the sun that day (time varies) **NOTE: For value to work in UE4 coordinates we need to subtract 180 from the result, is why the value differs in the actual rotator’ pitch value.
• Azimuth Angle](Azimuth Angle | PVEducation): The horizontal compass direction of the sun. At solar noon angle will be exactly due south (-180) (local time varies)
• Current Rotator Value: The current rotation of the Sun’s Directional Light.

References used for solar positioning:
http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/properties-of-sunlight/suns-position
Computing planetary positions - a tutorial with worked examples
Power From The Sun :: Chapter 3

MOON

• Approximations L/M/F: These are approximations for the location of the moon in it’s orbit around the earth, including the inclination of the orbit, orbital eccentricity, arg of perigee, and longitude of ascending node
• Ecliptic Longitude](Ecliptic coordinate system - Wikipedia): The longitude location of the moon on the celestial sphere.
• Ecliptic Latitude](Ecliptic coordinate system - Wikipedia): The latitude location of the moon on the celestial sphere.
• Mean Distance (km): The distance of the moon from earth, in kilometers.
• Declination: Similar to the solar declination, is the angle of the earth’s axial tilt, but also takes the inclination of the moon’s orbit into account.
• Right Ascension: Angular position of the moon measured eastward along the celestial equator. Both right ascension and lunar declination are found by converting from ecliptic to rectangular coordinates (x/y/z), rotating to account for earth’s axial tilt, then converting back into spherical coordinates.
• Sidereal Time: A time scale (measured in degrees) based on the rate of earth’s rotation relative to fixed stars, rather than the sun. is a constant value that varies only by location (not time), which differs from the actual definition of Sidereal Time, we only use it as a reference.
• Hour Angle (HRA): Similar to the sun HRA, however is measured against sidereal time instead of solar time. The number of degrees the moon has moved from time 0 (0 to 360 degrees).
• Altitude Angle: Same as the sun, vertical height of the moon. Value is found by converting Ecliptic (celestial sphere) coordinates to geocentric (observer to sky) coordinates.
• Azimuth Angle: Same as the sun, horizontal compass direction of the moon. Value is found by converting Ecliptic (celestial sphere) coordinates to geocentric (observer to sky) coordinates.
• Current Rotator Value: The current rotation of the Moon’ Directional Light.

References used for lunar positioning:
Astronomy Answers: Positions in the Sky
Basic of Space Flight: Planet Positions
Computing planetary positions - a tutorial with worked examples

There is an excellent video explaining the basics of how we calculate the time of day, calendar systems, and the earth’s rotation in the following video (which came out the day after I posted ). Highly recommend watching it to get a good idea how works:
watch?v=IJhgZBn-LHg

All of the above calculations are implemented in the plugin to ensure there are no performance issues. The blueprint BP_Sky is based off the TimeManager class (in the plugin) and uses it’s functions to calculate the sun/moon/moon phases in the base class. makes the blueprint much easier to read, and reduces it’s complexity considerably. These functions could be used by any actor, such as a custom skydome system, by either adding the actor as a child, or inheriting from the actor and calling the Calculate xxx functions.

Please try it out, let me know how it works for you, and whether you have any problems. I have been testing the system out and so far it seems to be working great, but feedback would be much appreciated!

Version 4.12.2 has now been released.

You can download the new release (and all other versions) from here

How do I import the into a project I am already working on?

[anonymous_user_3346bd1b]

Hello is article that explains the mathematical principle of the waves cannot be accessed.
The link cannot work

[MrWilson13]

Anyway to simulate beach waves properly? or at least change the direction of the waves within an area to go towards the island?

[n00854180t]

@MrWilson13

Anyway to simulate beach waves properly? or at least change the direction of the waves within an area to go towards the island?

There’s a setting on the object for the terrain heightmap, I believe if set it’s used to calm down the waves at beach areas.

[piontek]

Hi, first, thank you so much for great plugin and the work by all of you. The shader looks really beautiful.

Currently I’m going to try a night scene with the Plugin. But I have the problem, that it looks like (oceannight3.png).

I photoshopped picture to show you what I want to implement.

My question: Is it possible to change the settings in BPs like my photoshopped pic?

I tried a lot, tried to change BP Params, tried to change inside of materials. But I could not hide the shine at the horizont.

Please help ^^ I dont know what else I can do.

And again, thank you so much for great Plugin.

Best regards,

Dom

[piontek]

Hi, first, thank you so much for great plugin and the work by all of you. The shader looks really beautiful.

Currently I’m going to try a night scene with the Plugin. But I have the problem, that it looks like (oceannight3.png).

I photoshopped picture to show you what I want to implement.

My question: Is it possible to change the settings in BPs like my photoshopped pic?

I tried a lot, tried to change BP Params, tried to change inside of materials. But I could not hide the shine at the horizont.

Please help ^^ I dont know what else I can do.

And again, thank you so much for great Plugin.

Best regards,

​​​​​​​Dom

[ineteye]

Hi! Tested new for UT 4.17 and find problem that Wakes that generates after boats does not works fine(((

I think it cause modification of water… earlier in 4.15 Harpoon stucks in waves, sometimes… now it does not happens) but wakes works not fine(( And looks it somehow goes over lifespan time … bp_wakes… just destroying afrer creation…

[marcatzeri]

Hi, when I try to apply the caustics the editor crashes. It’s a widespread problem or just mine?

[Dihydrogenmonoxide43]

Hey, I’ve also got to say thank you. plugin is amazing
Any transparent material that I look at in front of the is getting masked by it. Is there something I can do to fix , or is it just part of how the shader works?
Thanks again.

[Zoc]

Updated project to Unreal Engine 4.18

https://.com/UE4-OceanProject/OceanProject

Oh, btw, it might be worth saying that I usually have trouble tracking issues in here. It’s usually a good idea to post the there (Sorry about that, guys!)

And, of course, if you managed to fix a bug, please, send a Pull Request (PR) to . would be very helpful to improve the project!

[anonymous_user_be78413f]

Screen Splash Effect: hi you might be familiar with the screen splash distortion effect when your player goes underwater. Right now im getting it above water! I have a huge map, literally 20 miles across but mostly just wide open . Since I noticed the location of objects (details tab) is some really weird locations, i started by selecting everything in the Island Map world outliner and changing all location coordinates to 0,0,0. So, when I press play and I get constant screen splashing effect I thought I could turn off underwter swim volume or maybe just set the Z coordinate for that 1 actor back to -43000. But everything I try does not work. If you have some ideas let me know please!

[anonymous_user_fb7f1004]

Why the 4.18 version file is bigger than 900mb? i cant download from , the download is stopped and is not possible resume, any other way to download it? thanks.

[iBrews]

Anyone have any suggestions for using to create relatively calm water for an outdoor pool?

[DavidOConnor]

@Dihydrogenmonoxide43

Hey, I’ve also got to say thank you. plugin is amazing
Any transparent material that I look at in front of the is getting masked by it. Is there something I can do to fix , or is it just part of how the shader works?
Thanks again.

I’m in 4.18… liking the ! But having exactly the same as Dihydrogenmonoxide43 above

The stencil seems to be completely masking translucent objects in FRONT of the … including particles, like the water splash from the cannon balls.

[DavidOConnor]

It seems it depends on the position of the camera. I cannot explain why it behaves like but it’s a clue. (maybe a solution would be to disable custom depth on plane when camera is outside?)

hey … yes it does depend a bit on the position/distance of the camera: I’ve futzed with it for a day or two but got nowhere due to lack of skill. I do believe it is an of one translucent thing on top of another (including fog), and/or maybe something with the depth stencil

By the way how have you done to use it in 4.18?

Sorry I can’t help, but it just downloaded the zip file from GitHub, it auto-rebuilt a plugin or two, then launched first time… couldn’t have been more straightforward.

[ineteye]

Hi! Tested new for UT 4.17 and 4.18 and find problem that Wakes that generates after boats does not works fine(((

I think it cause modification of water… earlier in 4.15 Harpoon stucks in waves, sometimes… now it does not happens) but wakes works not fine(( And looks it somehow goes over lifespan time … bp_wakes… just destroying afrer creation… Any help??? That all heppens on Island map!

[uzumi18]

I am getting the following error when when i try to launch the packaged game, anyone had the same?

[anonymous_user_fb7f1004]

Hi, i download last version (4.18) but ambient light is very very low, objects looks very dark, if i up the skylight intensity looks better but the water reflects a very high color near to white, any way to fix ? thanks.