Buoyancy
Tip: Example Level
Open the Buoyancy Example Level to follow along.
EasyWaterscape offers three buoyancy methods:
| Method | Cost | Quality | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material Function | Cheapest | Lowest (no physics) | Simple background movement |
| Niagara Blueprint | Low (GPU) | Great | Debris, floating rubble, most use cases. Recommended default. |
| Blueprint Component | Higher | Great | Hero objects needing logic or gameplay |
1. Material Function
Add the function to any material and connect it to the World Position Offset pin. It fakes buoyancy by sampling the ocean waves. There's no actual physics involved, so it's best for simple background motion.
2. Niagara Blueprint (BP_EasyWater_Buoyancy)
- Drop the Niagara Blueprint into your level.
- Assign a static mesh.
- Adjust the number of spawned objects, radius, scale, and scale variation.
This is the method you should use most of the time. It runs on the GPU, and is highly performant. If something isn't lining up or looks slightly floaty, nudge it and it will snap into place.
3. Blueprint Component (BP_EasyWater_BuoyancyComponent)
Can be added to almost anything: static meshes, cameras, and more. It behaves like the Niagara Blueprint, with the same controls.
- Select your actor.
- In the details panel, click Add Component and search for easywater.
- Use PIE or Simulate in Editor to see the result.
The tick rate limiter can improve performance, but directly affects quality. 60 FPS is usually the right value for performance/quality ratio.
Main Controls
Both the Buoyancy Component and the Niagara Blueprint have the same control settings and behave the same way.
| Setting | Tooltip |
|---|---|
| Stiffness | Spring force strength for height bobbing. Higher = snappier response to wave changes, lower = slower and floatier. Works with DampingFactor. 1 - 3: Heavy, slow response large ships, barges 5 - 10: Medium, natural feel — small boats, buoys 15 - 2500+: Responsive, bouncy — light debris, corks. If you notice small objects being a bit too floaty, not tightly snapping to the surface of the water, increase stiffness to 1000+. |
| Dampening | Controls floating/bobbing oscillation. Lower than 1 = Soft, bouncy buyoant feeling. 1 = no overshoot. Higher than 1 = Very stiff feeling. Recommended: 0.2 - 0.8 for smooth, natural wave bobbing |
| Sample Distance | Samples and averages points for surface normal calculation. Larger = Averages the surface area for smoother tilt. Too high a value might skip waves. Smaller surface area = more detailed/snappier rotation. |
| Height Multiplier | Amplify or reduce the intensity of the bobbing height feedback. Indirectly affects rotation intensity. |
| Rotation Multiplier | Amplify or reduce the intensity of the bobbing rotation feedback. |
| Drifting | Adds a subtle horizontal bobbing effect to simulate gentle wave drifting. |
Developer’s Note: Buoyancy will continue to evolve based on user feedback. Let us know on Discord what your project needs.