Hi guys i have been looking for a good way to create a flowing river preferably one with particle systems that creates spray when the water hits the rocks etc … i have watched a few tutorials but they always seem to use the default lake or ocean materials which i find terrible … i am quite new so if this is an advanced request please let me know and i will concentrate on something else… also my river has many bends i would like the river to follow the path if at all possible … does anybody know a way to accomplish this effect or could you point me to any tutorials or anything you think may help thanks guys …
The easiest and most performant solution is to use flowmaps, which is a basically a 2d texture that tells a scrolling texture how to move around objects and bends. There’s ways to generate them dynamically in UE4 using distance field (there’s been a few threads on it), you can paint them by hand, or generate them in another application. Particle effects would probably have to be placed by hand.
Distance field flow map: Distance Field Flow Map - Rendering - Unreal Engine Forums
I guess the part in brackets is a polite way of saying do more research you muppet? Ok i get the hint lol thank you zacD that sounds like the exact thing i need i will search harder for answers next time 
I just meant it as there’s a lot more information in those threads than I’d be able to explain in one post.
I understand it’s hard searching for things when you do not know exactly what to search for, because there’s a lot of potential topics and issues with rivers.
Flowmaps is definetly the way to go for nice looking texture movement at a cheap calculation cost. Valve made a nice presentation on how they made it for Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead.
errrrm wow thats a lot of detail my head hurts lol … thanks guys im sure i can figure it out given enough time
Nothing wrong with asking a question mate, and you’re only asking for advice, its what the forums are for.
You can’t be expected to know everything, unless you’re the missus (don’t get married) in which case winning an argument usually depends on distance rather than logic.
hahaha no plans on getting married but iv been living with my missus for 13-14 years now bud and believe me i know exactly what your talking about … i also have 4 kids and they are always right too . but i digress lol those tutorials you gave me are going to be priceless in my understanding of flow maps thank you bud
Haha, is it bad that my reaction is just uv map the river as a straight line and then bend the mesh so that the stretched uvs make it follow the river’s shape? Lol, I know a lot of you would probably yell at me for that. I just get so lazy about things like this.
i might secretly do it that way at least whilst my game is so young at least lol (not so secret now)
That’s perfectly acceptable. You can also stretch areas to make the water flow faster or slower.
Whew!! Now I feel much better 