A good way to check if your water shader is any good is to ask people if they would want to go for a swim in your virtual pixel fluid. If so, then that’s a good sign!

Advice on dealing with shaders

Know what you want to achieve with your shaders and create them with the game’s mechanics in mind. They are a great tool to bring the gameplay and the world of your game together.

Another advice I want to give, especially to fellow shader beginners, is to build up a library of tools to work with. This could be applied to many fields, but regarding shaders, in particular, it’s your way of making something awesome. I’m always trying out new features that cross my mind, even though I might never use them in any project. But spending some time in something that may seem not as useful at the moment might become the next puzzle piece in a bigger project.

And despite relying on new tech, don’t forget about older or simpler techniques. In game development, everything goes and using basic techniques in combination to create complex illusions is incredible fun! Always running after the newest trends and neglecting everything that came before is just a waste of potentially great tools. Use both sides to their full potential and you’ll have a great time!

Afterword

Despite some factors to look out for, I believe that water is a beautiful subject for shader programming. There are so many great examples out there and I still get surprised by new ideas and art styles all the time. Pretty water never gets old, but it sure makes everybody miss the beach.

I also want to thank 80.lv for reaching out to me. It’s a dream come true getting featured here and I hope a few of you could get something useful out of this article. Thank you for reading and see you around!