So I’m sure many of you have seen, in Skyrim, how there are ripples on the water behind you when you swim. I’m wondering: how did Bethesda do that, and how could such a thing be duplicated in Unity?
Does the mesh itself ripple, or is it a texture? (Haven’t played Skyrim myself, not sure which effect you’re going for)
Maybe could try to use this kind of displacement map,
as in: iWave + Dynamic Paint! (blender)
similar wave test
http://unitycoder.com/upload/demos/mwater2d1/
(this one doesnt use the waves as vertex height…but it should work,
jsut not sure how to use it on the bigger water plane, since its now drawing the waves with Setpixel()…)
I’m not really sure how Bethesda did it, which is why I put forth the question. You can see the water ripple when the player enters a little in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdsJInDWqHE
You can also see the effect a bit better in this video, starting at 0:35: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIgTx_2-69c
It honestly looks like a projector of some sort, projecting onto the normalmap (it that’s even possible) of maybe a mesh with a normalmap movie playing based on what the player is doing…
I’ll look into that second link, mgear. I’m assuming that the number at the top is a framerate counter?
There are different methods for this. If using DirectX11, there are functions to actually deform the meshes. Usually, however, in most modern games, they use particles with a refraction effect applied that simulate the effect (and look more or less just as good).
Edit: Oh, and I don’t know if it’s possible with Unity. I am uncertain what result you would get by applying a refractionary shader to a particle effect.
For what it’s worth, you could have your character generate actual meshes with that type of shader applied when they enter the water, and through some creative sorting get it to look the same, but performance would take a hit.
I’ll mess around with the particle effect, see what I can do. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try the mesh idea. Expect pics soon!
In Skyrim, it’s a normal map.
yes.
Made one quick test with the wave map and vertex extruder,
not very useful in real life, but anyways…
The biggest problem with that is that the source code isn’t available, meaning that there’s virtually no way I can duplicate it.
It’s available, but requires you to install an evil toolbar:
Rather than vertex displacement why not using normal map? and because the OP asking about skyrim, bethesda always using normal map ripple since Morrowind it’s a similiar technique like in this thread http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/4285-quot-Sweet-arse-quot-water?highlight=arse+water
^^ …or by making a donation instead… : )
yes…
closeup how it looks in skyrim:
The biggest problem with your link, rea, is that I am about USD 1000 short of having Unity Pro. As soon as I have the cash I’m getting it, but until then I’m stuck with the free version and whatever workarounds I can manage.
Going back to my original idea, is there some way to create custom shaders which allow one to use a projector on the normalmap, rather than use a projector on the color map? I don’t really know all that much about shaders (other than that they work, and spectacularity can be used to fake reflections on a wet surface), so I don’t really know if such a thing is possible, but it really seems to me that it should be.
One of the youtubers I subscribe to posted this last night, probably not usable but still looks nice.
