3D Water Bodies

Add a pond with a bounded footprint and a shallow depth. In a 3D Scene, a water body is a placed Object with a Water Volume component. Its Transform sets the footprint’s center and surface height.

Prerequisites

Open a 3D Scene with ground and a test character or physics Object. Save a checkpoint. Choose Terrain Mode and open Water.

Add and Test a Pond

1. Choose Add Water Body and select the new body in the Water Body picker.
2. Give it a distinct name, such as Pond.
3. Enable This Body. Set Area width and Area depth to 6 metres for a small bounded footprint.
4. Set Water Level (m) above the local ground. Use Water Depth (m, 0 = Down to the Floor) 1 for an initial finite-depth test.
5. Set Wave Height (m) 0 and Flow (Meters/Sec) to zero while checking the body’s extent.
6. Run the Scene. Approach its edge, enter the water, leave it, and inspect the ground below the body.

Expected result: the pond’s surface occupies the selected area, and supported water interactions occur within its volume. Check a character’s actual controller and a physical Object separately; seeing the water surface doesn’t establish either behavior.

Water also appears in Scene Explorer. Selecting its instance gives the same Water Body component fields. Use the instance’s Transform to change its center or height there. A locked instance resists edits until it is unlocked.

Set Footprint and Depth

Area width or depth 0 extends that axis across the world. Use nonzero dimensions for a local pond or raised canal.

Water Depth 0 fills down to the floor under the body. A raised aqueduct needs an explicit depth if the ground below it should stay dry. Test both the water surface and a point under the channel.

The body’s surface height is world Z in the current 3D convention. X and Y form the ground plane. Coordinates and world units explain that convention.

Add Waves, Flow, and Swimming

Wave Height (m) changes the wave size; Wave Speed changes its motion. Water Color and Opacity (0-1) change appearance. Tune these after the body has the intended extent.

Flow (Meters/Sec) sets the horizontal current. Check positive and negative directions with an Object affected by water. Buoyancy controls the body’s buoyancy setting, from 0 to 4.

Swimming lets supported characters float and paddle, with Jump stroking upward. Test entry, swimming, resurfacing, and exit using the actual game controller. Keep an accessible route out of the first test pond.

Target a Body with Logic

In a 3D Logic workspace, Change Water Property changes one property on a chosen body. Set Property to enabled, level, wave height, wave speed, color, or opacity, then supply Value. Enabled accepts a Boolean; Color accepts a hex color or a text variable; the other properties accept a number.

Water Body selects a name or one-based body number. Blank selects body 1. With several bodies, prefer distinct names for readable Logic. Check the picker order before using a number, especially after removing a body. Test the change on two differently named ponds to confirm the target.

Remove in the Water section deletes the selected body. Disable This Body when you want to retain its settings for later.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check
Water covers the whole Scene	Check for width or depth 0.
Ground below a raised canal is wet	Give the canal a finite Water Depth instead of 0.
Logic changes the wrong pond	Check Water Body name or number; blank selects the first body.
A character doesn’t swim	Check This Body, Swimming, water volume, and the actual controller’s support.
A body won’t move or change	Check the selected instance and its editor lock.
Preview and game differ	Compare runtime Camera, quality, the selected body, and changes from Logic.