Smart Lake Plugin Documentation

Smart Lake Plugin - Documentation

Quick Start

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Show Plugin Content

After installing the plugin, you MUST enable "Show Plugin Content" to access the blueprints and demo map:

In the Content Browser, click on Settings (gear icon in bottom-right corner)
Check "Show Plugin Content"
Navigate to: Plugins → Smart Lake Plugin Content → Smart_Lake_Plugin

Install the Plugin: Place the plugin in your project's Plugins folder and restart Unreal Engine.
Enable the Plugin: Go to Edit → Plugins, search for "Smart Lake Plugin", and enable it.
Show Plugin Content: Enable "Show Plugin Content" in Content Browser settings (see warning above).
Open Demo Map: Navigate to Plugins → Smart Lake Plugin Content → Smart_Lake_Plugin → Maps → DemoMap to see working examples.
Add a Lake: Drag BP_Lake or BP_Spline_Lake from Plugins → Smart Lake Plugin Content → Smart_Lake_Plugin → Blueprints into your level.
Customize: Select the lake actor and adjust parameters in the Details panel.
Use Presets: Click on a preset button (Standard Water, Frozen Lake, etc.) for instant setup.

Two Lake Actor Types

🟦

BP_Lake (Rectangle)

Simple rectangular or square lakes. Use Uniform Scale for perfect squares, or set custom Lake Size X/Y for rectangles. Ideal for ponds, pools, and regular-shaped water bodies.

🔷

BP_Spline_Lake (Freeform)

Create any shape using spline curves. Add, move, and delete spline points to craft natural-looking lakes, rivers, and organic water bodies. Perfect for realistic environments.

11 Material Presets

🏝️

Caribbean Turquoise

Crystal clear tropical water

🌿

Murky Swamp

Swamp Lake Vertex Pack

🪵

Bog Lake

Swamp Lake Vertex Pack

🟤

Muddy Swamp

Swamp Lake Vertex Pack

🏔️

Mountain Lake

Clear alpine water

💎

Alpine Turquoise

Glacial turquoise tint

💚

Emerald Lake

Deep green water

⚫

Dark Lake

Deep, dark water

🛢️

Polluted Swamp

Polluted Lake Vertex Pack

☠️

Dark Polluted Lake

Polluted Lake Vertex Pack

❄️

Frozen Lake

Frozen Lake Vertex Pack

All Parameters in Smart Lake Plugin

🏞️ Lake System

Basic Settings

Lake Height Z coordinate of the water surface

Lake Scale Uniform size when bUniformScale is enabled

Lake Size X/Y Non-uniform dimensions for rectangular lakes

Mesh Subdivisions Polygon density for vertex painting (1-500)

Auto Snap To Ground Automatically detect terrain height on placement

💧 Water - General

Base Properties

Packed Normal Texture Choose between 3 normal texture packs (RG=Base, BA=Shoreline)

Lake Turbidity Water clarity (0=clear, 1=murky)

Fade Opacity Edge opacity fade distance

Refraction Strength Distortion of objects seen through water

Specular Surface reflection brightness

🎨 Water - Lake Color

4-Color Mask System

Base Color Primary water color

Mask R Shore Color Color applied via Red channel mask

Mask G Dark Color Color applied via Green channel mask

Mask B Light Color Color applied via Blue channel mask

Randomize Mask Seed Click to randomize mask position for different color distributions

Color Mask Offset X/Y Manual mask position control

Color Mask Scale Size of the color mask pattern

Mask Contrast Sharpness of color transitions

Shore Color

Shore Color Color applied to shoreline edges based on depth

Shore Color Distance Distance from shore where color applies (considers depth)

Shore Color Fall Off Transition sharpness

🍂 Water - Debris

Debris Layer (4 textures available)

Enable Debris Toggle debris layer on/off

Debris Texture Choose from 4 debris textures (click Show in Explorer)

Debris Color Tint color for debris

Debris UV Tiling Texture repeat scale

Debris Contrast Mask sharpness

Debris Fade Start/End Distance-based fade control

Debris Roughness Surface roughness of debris

Wobble Strength Deformation/animation intensity

Break Repetition (Advanced)

Enable Debris Break Repetition Adds noise to reduce tiling visibility (enabled by default)

Break Debris Repetition Strength of the anti-repetition effect

Noise Texture Scale Scale of the noise pattern

✨ Water - Sun Sparkles

Uses sun position + water normals to create realistic specular highlights that change color based on sun angle.

Enable Sun Sparkles Toggle sparkle effect

Sparkle Sharpness Concentration of sparkles (0=spread, 1=concentrated)

Sparkle Intensity Brightness of sparkles

Sun Scale Size of sparkle highlights

Sparkle Normal Multiplier How much normals affect sparkle pattern

Sparkle Sunrise Color Color when sun is at horizon (orange tint)

Sparkle Zenith Color Color when sun is overhead (white)

🌊 Water - Normals

Base Normals (Center waves)

Base Normal Strength Intensity of center lake waves

Base Normal Tiling Wave pattern scale

Base Normal Speed Animation speed

Shoreline Normals (Edge waves)

Shoreline Normal Strength Intensity of shore waves

Shoreline Normal Tiling X/Y Wave pattern scale per axis

Shoreline Wave Speed 1/2 Animation speed for two wave layers

Blending

Blend Distance Where shoreline transitions to base normals

Blend Smoothness Transition softness

Depth Fade Distance Normal fade based on water depth

Camera Fade

Camera Fade Start/End Distance Distance range for normal LOD

Camera Near/Far Normal Strength Normal intensity at close/far distances

Advanced (Wave Directions)

Wave Direction 1/2 X/Y Direction vectors for wave layers

Wave Blend Weight Balance between wave layers

Planar Reflection

🪞 Planar Reflection ~4ms default, ~0.05ms optimized

Renders the scene twice for realistic water reflections. Can be heavily optimized using the filtering options.

Enable Planar Reflection Toggle reflection system

Use Screen Space Reflections Switch from Lumen to SSR (saves ~0.3ms)

Screen Percentage Reflection resolution (lower = faster)

Normal Distortion Strength Wave distortion in reflection

Prefilter Roughness Blur amount on reflection

🚀 Performance Optimization

Hide Clouds In Reflection - Huge performance gain (~2ms saved)
Use Show Only List Mode - Exclude landscape and select only specific actors to reflect
With proper filtering, planar reflection can cost as low as 0.05ms

Rain Ripple System

🌧️ Rain Ripple ~0.05-0.1ms

Procedurally generates rain ripples on the water surface. Extremely lightweight and customizable.

Use Rain Ripple Enable rain effect (static switch)

Rain Ripple Visible At Runtime Toggle visibility dynamically

Speed Ripple Animation speed

Scale Puddle Size of ripple pattern

Intensity Ripple Effect strength

Density Ripple Number of raindrops (0-1)

Waves Spacing Ripple Distance between wave rings

Wave Thickness Ripple Thickness of wave rings

Fade Speed Ripple How fast ripples disappear

Size Variation Ripple Randomness in drop sizes

Water Interaction Systems

💨 Water Interaction - Simple ~0ms

Lightweight decal-based ripples triggered when actors enter the water. Pre-configured to work out of the box.

Enable Water Interaction Toggle simple ripple system

Max Simultaneous Ripples Number of waves triggered (1-12)

Impact Ripple Duration How long ripples last

Impact Ripple Intensity Normal strength of ripples

Impact Ripple Size Size of the ripple effect

🌊 Water Interaction - Render Target ~0.2-0.7ms

Advanced fluid simulation using render targets. Features wave propagation, wake trails, and impact splashes. Also pre-configured for immediate use.

Enable Render Target Ripples Toggle RT system

Ripple Render Target Quality Resolution: Low(256) to Ultra(4096). Higher isn't always better visually.

Ripple Fade Speed How fast ripples dissipate

Render Target Ripple Intensity Overall effect strength

Render Target Ripple Size Size of individual ripples

Ripple Normal Strength Visual intensity (0=subtle, 1=strong)

Wave Propagation Speed How fast waves travel

Velocity Influence How much actor speed affects ripples

Wake Trail Intensity Trail behind moving objects

Impact Splash Intensity Splash when entering from above

💡 Performance Notes

High (1024x1024): ~0.2ms
Ultra (2048x2048): ~0.7ms
Advanced settings control trigger smoothness and can impact simulation fluidity

Underwater Post-Process

🫧 Underwater Post-Process

Simple post-process effect that activates when the camera goes below the water surface.

Enable Underwater Post Process Toggle underwater effect

Underwater Sun Effect Sun ray intensity underwater

Underwater Fog Fog density underwater

Underwater Max Depth Maximum visibility distance

Decal - Caustics

☀️ Caustics Decal

Projects animated caustic light patterns onto surfaces below the water. Many customization options available.

Depth & Intensity

Enable Decal Toggle caustics projection

Decal Depth How far down caustics project

Max Caustic Depth Depth at which caustics fade out

Caustic Intensity High/Low Intensity at shallow/deep areas

Appearance

Caustic Texture Choose between 2 caustic textures

Caustic Scale Pattern size

Caustic Intensity Overall brightness

Caustic Sharpness Contrast of light spots

Enable Chromatic Aberration Color separation effect for realism

Animation

Caustic Speed Animation speed

Caustic Distortion Organic movement amount

Vertex Painting Packs

Paint material layers on the lake surface using Unreal's Mesh Paint mode. Requires baking the mesh first (increases Mesh Subdivisions for more detail).

❄️

Frozen Lake Pack

Ice Layer (Green Channel): Under-ice deflection, ice depth, contrast, brightness, roughness, color tint, top ice normals, top snow with mask.

Snow Layer (Red Channel): Snow texture, normal strength, contrast, brightness, specular, roughness, blend noise.

🌿

Swamp Water Pack

Moss 1 Layer (Green Channel): Scale, contrast, normal strength, tint, brightness, specular, roughness, blend noise, intensity.

Moss 2 Layer (Red Channel): Same parameters as Moss 1, allows for two different algae/moss types.

🛢️

Polluted Lake Pack

Crude Oil Layer (Green Channel): Flow animation (speed, scale, intensity), pattern control, rainbow color range/shift, contrast, saturation, roughness, specular.

Foam Layer (Red Channel): Scale, contrast, normal strength, tint, brightness, specular, roughness, flow animation, blend mask.

🎨 How to Use Vertex Painting

Set Mesh Subdivisions to desired density (higher = more detail)
Click Bake Mesh for Vertex Painting button
Select the appropriate Vertex Pack for your preset
Enter Mesh Paint Mode (Shift+5) and paint!
Each layer is fully customizable with many parameters

Performance

⚡ Texture Quality Control

Global setting that changes LOD Bias on all 46 textures in the plugin. Affects all lake actors in the level.

Full Quality LOD Bias 0 - Maximum quality

High LOD Bias 1

Medium LOD Bias 2

Low LOD Bias 3 - Saves ~0.3ms

Very Low LOD Bias 4 - Maximum savings

🎯 Optimization Summary

A well-optimized lake can run at approximately 0.3ms total. Key optimizations:

Planar Reflection with Show Only List: ~0.05ms
Water Interaction Simple: ~0ms
Water Interaction RT (High): ~0.2ms
Rain Ripple: ~0.05-0.1ms
Texture Quality Low: saves ~0.3ms

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