About Fluid Frenzy

Key Features Contents Requirements Limitations Pipeline Support Platform Support Feature Support

Installation

Package Manager Unity Package File

Samples

Importing Samples Universal Render Pipeline Running Samples River Grand Canyon Water Modifiers Volcano Terraform Fossil Finder Pool Simple Terraform Tiled Simulation World Runtime Setup GPULOD Terrain Scene Configuration

Setup

Simulation Time Step Water Simulation Terraform Simulation Layer Capture Simulation Simulation Regions Fluid Channels Shader Stripper GPULOD Displacement Waves Flow Mapping Ocean FFT Cascades Sampling Universal Render Pipeline High-Definition Render Pipeline

Fluid Frenzy Toolbar

Accessing the Toolbar Simulation Preview Modes Sculpt Mode Modifier Mode Shared Settings Terrain or Fluid Layer Splat Channels Blend Mode Tool Properties

Fluid Simulation Components

Fluid Simulation Terrain and Obstacle Input Boundary Conditions Side Border Settings Domain Solver Initial Conditions Terrain & Ground Simulation Culling Extension Layers Create Collider Fluid Simulation Settings Creation Properties Second Layer Flux Fluid Simulation The Pipe (Flux) Model Simulation Characteristics Flux Fluid Simulation Settings Creation Specialized Flux Properties Flow Fluid Simulation The 2D Height Field Model Performance and Stability Solver Ocean FFT Coupling Flow Fluid Simulation Settings Creation Specialized Flow Properties Foam Layer Foam Layer Settings Foam Render Settings Foam Decay Settings Foam Pressure Settings Foam Wave Settings Shallow Foam Settings Turbulence Foam Settings Wetness Layer Wetness Layer Settings Rendering Settings Decay Settings Fluid Flow Mapping Fluid Flow Mapping Settings Erosion Layer Multi-Layer Terrain System Terrain Modification Processes Erosion Settings Terraform Layer Liquefaction (Solid Terrain to Fluid) Fluid Contact Reactions (Fluid and Terrain) Fluid Mixing (Fluid + Fluid to Solid Terrain) Fluid Contact Reaction Terraform Settings Terrain Modifier Terrain Modifier Settings Sediment Modifier Sediment Modifier Settings Terraform Modifier Fluid Particle Generator Splash Particles Surface Particles Fluid Particle System Fluid RigidBody Prerequisite Fluid Density Calibration Interaction Calculation Fluid Displacement Profile Fluid Interaction Profile Fluid RigidBody Lite Fluid Floater Fluid Simulation Obstacle Settings Fluid Event Trigger

Fluid Rendering Components

Fluid Renderer Fluid World Renderer Fluid Renderer vs Fluid World Renderer Setting up a tiled world Which simulations are included General Mesh Rendering Water World Renderer Ocean FFT Settings Surface Renderer Render Properties Detail Wave Effect Detail Wave Settings HDRP Water Surface Properties Water Rendering Water Surface Underwater Effect Underwater Settings Current Particles Current Particle Settings Wet Lens Effect Wet Lens Settings Caustics Effect Caustics Settings Surface Reflections Fluid Decal Renderer Lava Lava Surface Under Lava Effect Shadows HDRP Water System

Fluid Shaders

Water Shader Stylized Water Shader Toon Water Shader Lava Shader Particle Shaders Fluid Decal Shader

Terrain

Simple Terrain Eight-layer terrain Terrain sculpting and painting Brush stamps Sculpt tools Height layers and splat Scene View shortcuts Strength, undo, and preview Terraform Terrain Terraform Terrain Shader Terraform Terrain (Single Layer) Shader

Fluid Modifiers

Fluid Modifier Volume Fluid Source Settings Fluid Flow Settings Fluid Force Settings Fluid Modifier Waves Fluid Modifier Pressure Foam Modifier

C# Interaction & Scripting

Fluid Simulation Manager Simulation control Adding fluid Adding sediment Applying flow and forces Sampling the simulation Per-simulation brushes Creating simulations, modifiers, and obstacles Simulations Surfaces In-memory settings Extension layers Terraform terrain and simulation Editor presets Fluid modifiers Terrain and terraform brushes Obstacles

Using ShaderGraph

Fluid Simulation Nodes Terraform Terrain Nodes Particle Nodes Current Displacement Shaders

Tiled Simulations

Purpose Setup Padding for Continuity

Physics Colliders

Which collider to use Surface Collider GPU-CPU Synchronization and Performance Collider Properties

Simulation Debugger

Edit Mode Preview

AI Skills

How to use them

Third-party Support

Enviro 3 Sky and Weather COZY: Stylized Weather 3 Curved World

Future Updates & Roadmap

Fluid Frenzy: 2026 Development Roadmap Roadmap Overview Upcoming Feature Breakdown Old Roadmap

Future Updates & Roadmap

Fluid Frenzy: 2026 Development Roadmap

The vision for 2026 is to push Fluid Frenzy beyond a standalone simulation and into a fully integrated environment fluid rendering system. Following the 1.4.0 release. I am shifting focus toward high-end rendering features and creating the fluid renderpipeline system where I create shared effects across all pipelines.

These dates are based on when I believe implement these features but some may be sooner or later depending on what comes up. They may also be re-prioritized based on requests of users.

Roadmap Overview

Status Feature Target Description
🟢 Implemented Dynamic Light Caustics February 2026 Project real-time light patterns onto the ground based on the surface waves of the fluid simulation.
🟢 Implemented Aquarium Mode February 2026 Support for side viewing of the water surface. Added in v1.4.1
🟢 Implemented Hybrid Ocean System April 2026 Integration of Gerstner or FFT wave math into the simulation for large open water visuals. Added in v2.0.0
🟢 Implemented GPU Clipmaps May 2026 Optimization system using nested grids to simulate massive areas with high-detail localized around the camera. Improved and made more standard with the World Renderer in v2.0.0
🟢 Implemented Volumetric Fluid Lighting August 2026 Underwater god rays that react to surface turbulence and provide depth-based light scattering.
🟢 Implemented Custom SSR August 2026 A dedicated Screen Space Reflection implementation for the water shader to provide high-quality reflections in URP and Built-in.
🟢 Implemented Stylized & Toon Shaders October 2026 Dedicated shaders for stylized looks, cel-shading, ink-outlines, and procedural toon foam patterns.
🟢 Implemented Surface Decals August 2026 Stamp textures like lilypads onto fluid surfaces with optional flow mapping.
🟢 Implemented Dynamic Wetness Maps August 2026 Residual shoreline wetness on terrain and custom materials after the fluid recedes.
🟢 Implemented Dynamic Lens Wetness August 2026 A post-process effect simulating leftover film and drops on the camera lens after emerging from the fluid.
🟢 Implemented Velocity Helper October 2026 Grass and mesh shaders that lean with simulation currents. Added in v2.0.4
🟢 Implemented Subsurface Bubbles December 2026 GPU current particles: wisps and foam bubbles in the water volume. Added in v2.0.4
🟢 Implemented Editor-Time Simulation January 2027 Run the simulation in the Scene View to preview behavior and erosion while designing levels. See Edit Mode Preview.
🟢 Implemented Terraform Sculpting Tools February 2027 Manual sculpting brushes to carve and shape the Terraform Terrain system directly in the editor. See Terrain sculpting and painting.
🔴 Future Localized Moving Ripples March 2027 High-detail ripples that follow the player for fine grained interaction that advects with the main flow.
🔎 Research Surface <> Particle Blending March 2027 Secret tech.
🔎 Research Simulation Baking (VATs) 2027 Export simulations into Vertex Animation Textures for high-performance playback on mobile assets.
🔎 Research Unity Terrain Terraforming 2027+ Support for the native Unity Terrain system to be permanently eroded and terraformed by the fluid simulation.

Upcoming Feature Breakdown

Dynamic Light Caustics I am finishing up a system that allows you to project light patterns onto the terrain and objects beneath the fluid. It samples the fluid simulation data and projects textures and waves based on the depth, velocity and surface normals, creating sharp dancing patterns that move in sync with the waves.

Aquarium Mode This mode is specifically for side-on viewing. I am adding support for the fluid profile, ensuring that when you look at the fluid from the side you still see water.

Hybrid Ocean System I am integrating Gerstner or FFT wave functions into the existing simulation. This allows for deep-sea visuals on a massive scale. The waves aren’t just visual, I plan to make them work with the shallow water equations so that waves that go over terrain will leave water to flow away naturally.

Volumetric Fluid Lighting I want to enhance the underwater experience by adding volumetric light shafts. These rays shimmer and break apart as they pass through the surface waves, creating a realistic god ray effect that reacts to the fluid’s motion.

GPU Clipmaps To support larger environments, I am implementing a new surface rendering system that will allow multiple simulations to be in one rendering surface. This ensures the simulation is always highest resolution near the camera. As you move, the detail follows you, while distant fluid is simulated at a lower frequency to save performance. Currently there is already the GPU-LOD system but this system is not as good for streaming in simulation data like clipmaps are. Some research needs to be done to see what is possible and if this is viable.

Custom Screen Space Reflections (SSR) URP and Built-in now include a dedicated SSR pass in the Fluid Frenzy render pipeline. It ray marches the scene color buffer using fluid depth and a surface-normal prepass, and can be combined with planar reflections. Enable it on Water Surface or Water World Renderer, then set Surface Reflections on the water material.

Stylized & Toon Shaders I am adding a dedicated set of shaders for projects with an stylized or cartoon look. This includes cel-shading, ink outlines, and procedural toon-foam patterns that react to the simulation’s movement.

Surface Decals Fluid Decal Renderer stamps textures onto water or lava inside a world-space projector. Enable flow mapping to advect the decal with simulation velocity, for example lilypads drifting downstream.

Velocity Helper Current Displacement Shaders lean grass and meshes with the simulation current. Use the grass graphs for terrain details and the mesh graphs for seaweed. The FluidCurrentDisplace Shader Graph node is the same bend used by those materials.

Dynamic Wetness Maps This feature provides a shader hook for your environment materials. When the fluid level rises and then recedes, the terrain and objects will appear darker and more reflective (wet) before gradually drying out over time, creating a more realistic shoreline.

Dynamic Lens Wetness & Wipers I am developing a post-process effect that simulates a wet lens when the camera emerges from being submerged. I am also thinking about adding droplets that will form and run down the screen similar to racing games where movement speed causes water to streak or wipers push them way on the windscreen of the car.

Subsurface Bubbles Current Particles draw GPU wisps and foam bubbles in the water volume. Enable them on Water Surface or Water World Renderer, independently of Underwater Effect.

Editor-Time Simulation Preview You can run the fluid simulation directly in the Unity Scene View without hitting the Play button. This makes it much easier to place obstacles, modifiers, and sources by seeing how the fluid reacts to your changes in real-time. See Edit Mode Preview.

Terraform Sculpting & Erosion Tools You can sculpt Simple Terrain and Terraform Terrain in the Scene View. Raise, Lower, Smooth, Sharpen, Set, Min, Max, and Slippage paint height layers and splat. See Terrain sculpting and painting.

Localized Moving Ripples This system provides high-frequency micro-ripples that follow a specific target (like the player). This allows for very fine interaction detail around the player that still gets warped and pushed by the larger-scale river currents or waves.

Surface <> Particle Blending Secret tech.

Simulation Baking (VATs) For projects targeting low-end mobile devices or for background decorations, you can bake a complex simulation into a Vertex Animation Texture. This allows you to play back a pre-recorded simulation with virtually no CPU or GPU performance hit. This is highly experimental and may not be implemented.

Native Unity Terrain Terraforming My long term goal is to bring the terraforming, erosion, and liquification features to the native Unity Terrain system. This will allow Fluid Frenzy to permanently modify and carve the standard Unity terrain at runtime. This might require the new Unity Terrain system if/when it comes out.

Old Roadmap

  • Custom shader support: Enable developers to create and implement custom shaders for the fluid simulation and rendering, providing more options for visual effects. Feature added in v1.2.18
  • Tiled Simulations: Allow neighboring simulations to interact with each other. The purpose of tiled simulations is to create bigger simulation areas where simulations that are too far away can be disabled. Feature added in v1.0.6
  • Simulation Regions/Domains: Allow only parts of the terrain to interact with the simulation, creating smaller simulations within a terrain instead of the full terrain being used by automatically grabbing the correct area of the source terrains. Feature added in v1.2.1
  • HDRP Support: Beta support for HDRP haas been Shaders for HDRP have been added and a special mode for using it with the HDRP Water System. Feature added in v1.2.8.
  • Underwater Rendering: Enable rendering features like underwater rendering when the player/camera goes below the water. Feature added in v1.3.6
  • Aquarium Mode: Support for side viewing of the water surface. Feature added in v1.4.1
  • Hybrid Ocean System: Integration of Gerstner or FFT wave math into the simulation for large open water visuals. Feature added in v2.0.0
  • GPU Clipmaps: Optimization system using nested grids to simulate massive areas with high-detail localized around the camera. Improved and made more standard with the World Renderer in v2.0.0