Water recipes

End-to-end recipes for common level setups. Prerequisites: Water Gem enabled, /O3DE/Gems/Water/Enabled=true. Matching sample levels live under AutomatedTesting/Levels/WaterSamples/.

Mountain stream �?lake

Goal: ~200 m hillside creek joining a basin lake. Sample: WaterSamples/Stream (+ Lake).

1. Create Entity �?Water �?River; set Preset to Stream.
2. Place 8�?2 spline points downhill. Keep Elevation Mode = Spline Z; set each point 0.1�?.3 m below the banks.
3. Per-point curves: upstream narrow/fast (Width ~0.8 m, FlowSpeed ~2.0); downstream wider/slower (Width ~2.5 m, FlowSpeed ~1.0). Allow Z drops for small falls.
4. Bed: PolyTerrain �?enable Carve Terrain �?Carve Terrain. Heightfield terrain �?brush a ditch.
5. Join the lake: end-point Z within ±0.05 m of the lake water level; overlap the lake by 2�? m (Stream priority 160 wins over Lake 128).
6. Material WaterSurface_StreamClear; leave Waves empty.
7. Verify: Debug overlay flow arrows; no unexpected uphill red segments.

Calm lake

Goal: ~300×200 m basin lake with micro-waves and floating debris. Sample: WaterSamples/Lake.

1. Create Entity �?Water �?Lake; fit a closed spline to the contour (8�?4 points).
2. Snap To Terrain Lowest, then add 3�? m Water Level Offset.
3. Waves: Waves_CalmLake. Material: WaterSurface_LakeGreen.
4. Debris: Rigid Body + Collider + Water Buoyancy (auto samples OK for crates).
5. Optional islands: Excluded Regions entities; set Exclusion Fade Band if floaters cross island edges over another body.
6. Verify: underwater fog deepens with depth; half-immersed camera shows a waterline; debris rights itself and can sleep.

Open ocean

Goal: Infinite sea, moderate waves, AlwaysLoaded for streaming. Sample: WaterSamples/Ocean.

1. Create Entity �?Water �?Ocean; add WorldStreamingMemberComponent, keep AlwaysLoaded.
2. Sea Level = 0; Waves Waves_OceanModerate or Waves_OceanSpectrumModerate; material WaterSurface_OceanDeep.
3. Default Grid Extent 8192 / 6 LOD levels. For a calm lagoon, add exclusion rings and a Lake at sea level with Waves_CalmLake.
4. Bake Shore Distance where terrain exists.
5. Boat: 6�? buoyancy samples, Wave Sample Mode = Full, raise Angular Drag (~0.8) to tame roll.
6. Verify: roam across cell boundaries without seams; after origin shift, waves do not slide; crest foam appears in storms.

Estuary

Goal: GreatRiver into Ocean with continuous height / depth / flow. Sample: WaterSamples/Estuary.

1. Build Ocean per Open ocean.
2. Create Entity �?Water �?River with GreatRiver preset; extend the end into the ocean coverage; converge end-point Z to sea level.
3. Mouth Fade Length �?1�?× mouth half-width (e.g. end half-width 40 m �?60�?0 m): river waves fade out; ocean waves damp in the mouth disc.
4. River Blend Band 20�?0 m so height / depth / flow smoothstep into the ocean (0 keeps hard winner-takes-all).
5. Verify: mouse-pick probe along river→sea shows continuous surfaceHeight; floaters do not hop; waves calm at the mouth and recover offshore.

River network

Goal: Tributaries joining a main stem. Sample: WaterSamples/RiverNetwork.

1. Author each segment as its own River entity; align endpoints with Align To Adjacent Segments.
2. Add Water River Network; list segments under River Segments.
3. Add Junctions: Upstream River, Downstream River, Blend Fade Length.
4. Optional Align Network on the editor component.
5. Verify: flow arrows at confluences; no priority pops if Blend Band / junction fade are set.

Transparent sorting review

Sample: WaterSamples/TransparentSorting �?cross-waterline glass, underwater / above-water transparent quads, and particles. Use it when sorting or waterline refraction looks wrong; treat as an art/QA checklist rather than a gameplay template.

Next steps

• Authoring �?field-level detail for each body.
• Debugging �?probe and Registry while iterating.
• Reference �?asset and sample index.