How do I make the area under my water (a plane) look like its underwater?

Question

In my game I have an area of water (The water is a plane), It looks realistic, but when I go under that plane and look up, you can't see it. How do I make it so that not only can it be seen from the below, but also so that everything under that plane has a bluish tint? I am a beginner so sorry if this sounds basic or if it's not even possible. (I've only had Unity for 6 days)

Answer 1

The simplest solution in your case would be to double face the water plane, so that it would be rendered even from behind: attach the script from this answer to the water plane, and it will become double faced at Start.

The second part is the underwater effect. A very reasonable (and widely used) underwater effect is to turn a bluish fog on when the camera goes below the water plane. This can be done with a script like the one below attached to the player (for First Person games):

 var underwaterDens: float = 0.15;
 var underwaterColor: Color = Color(0.1, 0.3, 0.4, 1.0);
 
 private var oldFog: boolean;
 private var oldDens: float;
 private var oldColor: Color;
 private var oldMode: FogMode;
 private var curWater: Transform;
 private var underwater = false;
 
 function OnTriggerEnter(other: Collider){
     if (other.tag=="Water"){ // if entering a waterplane
         if (transform.position.y > other.transform.position.y){
             // set reference to the current waterplane
             curWater = other.transform; 
         }
     }
 }
 
 function OnTriggerExit(other: Collider){
     if (other.transform==curWater){ // if exiting the waterplane...
         if (transform.position.y > curWater.position.y){
             //  null the current waterplane reference
             curWater = null; 
         }
     }
 }
 
 function Update(){
     // if it's underwater...
     if (curWater && Camera.main.transform.position.y < curWater.position.y){
         if (!underwater){ // turn on underwater effect only once
             oldFog = RenderSettings.fog;
             oldMode = RenderSettings.fogMode;
             oldDens = RenderSettings.fogDensity;
             oldColor = RenderSettings.fogColor;
             RenderSettings.fog = true;
             RenderSettings.fogMode = FogMode.Exponential;
             RenderSettings.fogDensity = underwaterDens;
             RenderSettings.fogColor = underwaterColor;
             underwater = true;
         }
     } 
     else // but if it's not underwater...
     if (underwater){ // turn off underwater effect, if any
         RenderSettings.fog = oldFog;
         RenderSettings.fogMode = oldMode;
         RenderSettings.fogDensity = oldDens;
         RenderSettings.fogColor = oldColor;
         underwater = false;
     }
 }

Remember to tag the water plane as "Water", or nothing will happen.

Answer 2

Answer by Kos-Dvornik · Jun 13, 2013 at 11:39 AM

Underwater tutorial: http://kostiantyn-dvornik.blogspot.com/2013/05/unity-worlds-coolest-tutorial-about.html

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Answer 3

I had to make some changes to make it work, I do not know why but the standard code posted which used a variable of type transform you blocking at the point "curWater = other.transform;". Instead of following the correct code to those who need it. Excellent solution in any case! :)

  var underwaterDens: float = 0.15;
  var underwaterColor: Color = Color(0.1, 0.3, 0.4, 1.0);
  
  private var oldFog: boolean;
  private var oldDens: float;
  private var oldColor: Color;
  private var oldMode: FogMode;
  private var curWater: GameObject; //CHANGED (Previous: Transform)
  private var underwater = false;
  
  function OnTriggerEnter(other: Collider){
      if (other.tag=="Water"){ // if entering a waterplane
          if (transform.position.y > other.transform.position.y){
              // set reference to the current waterplane
              curWater = other.gameObject; //CHANGED
          }
      }
  }
  
  function OnTriggerExit(other: Collider){
      if (other.gameObject==curWater){ // if exiting the waterplane...

          // CHANGED
          if (transform.position.y + 0.6 > curWater.transform.position.y) {
              //  null the current waterplane reference
              curWater = null; 
          }

      }
  }
  
  function Update(){
      // if it's underwater...

      //CHANGED
      if (curWater && Camera.main.transform.position.y < curWater.transform.position.y + 0.2){
          if (!underwater){ // turn on underwater effect only once
              oldFog = RenderSettings.fog;
              oldMode = RenderSettings.fogMode;
              oldDens = RenderSettings.fogDensity;
              oldColor = RenderSettings.fogColor;
              RenderSettings.fog = true;
              RenderSettings.fogMode = FogMode.Exponential;
              RenderSettings.fogDensity = underwaterDens;
              RenderSettings.fogColor = underwaterColor;
              underwater = true;
          }
      } 
      else // but if it's not underwater...
      if (underwater){ // turn off underwater effect, if any
          RenderSettings.fog = oldFog;
          RenderSettings.fogMode = oldMode;
          RenderSettings.fogDensity = oldDens;
          RenderSettings.fogColor = oldColor;
          underwater = false;
      }
  }

While for those who want the c # version:

 public float underwaterDens = 0.15F;
 public Color underwaterColor = new Color(0.1F, 0.3F, 0.4F, 1.0F);
 
 private bool oldFog;
 private float oldDens;
 private Color oldColor;
 private FogMode oldMode;
 private GameObject curWater;
 private bool underwater = false;
 
 void OnTriggerEnter(Collider other){
     if (other.tag=="Water"){ // if entering a waterplane
         if (transform.position.y < other.transform.position.y){
             // set reference to the current waterplane
             curWater = other.gameObject;
         }
     }
 }
 
 void OnTriggerExit(Collider other){
     if (other.gameObject==curWater){ // if exiting the waterplane...
         if (transform.position.y + 0.6F > curWater.transform.position.y){
                 //  null the current waterplane reference
                 curWater = null; 
             }
     }
 }
 
 void Update(){
     // if it's underwater...
     if (curWater && Camera.main.transform.position.y < curWater.transform.position.y + 0.2F){
         if (!underwater){ // turn on underwater effect only once
             oldFog = RenderSettings.fog;
             oldMode = RenderSettings.fogMode;
             oldDens = RenderSettings.fogDensity;
             oldColor = RenderSettings.fogColor;
             RenderSettings.fog = true;
             RenderSettings.fogMode = FogMode.Exponential;
             RenderSettings.fogDensity = underwaterDens;
             RenderSettings.fogColor = underwaterColor;
             underwater = true;
         }
 
     } else // but if it's not underwater...
         if (underwater){ // turn off underwater effect, if any
             RenderSettings.fog = oldFog;
             RenderSettings.fogMode = oldMode;
             RenderSettings.fogDensity = oldDens;
             RenderSettings.fogColor = oldColor;
             underwater = false;
         }
 }

Answer 4

Answer by Adam-Buckner · May 02, 2013 at 09:55 PM

Look here: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/20222-Water-plane-and-flip-texture

This goes into the details and has a sample script and video.

tldr; Make two water planes and flip one upside down...

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How do I make the area under my water (a plane) look like its underwater?

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