Contents
Caustics
Caustics are the moving pattern of light that water throws onto the walls and floor around it. The Caustics (RED+) group in Room Effect Properties stores caustics settings for one pool: whether it casts them, how strong they are, their colour and how far they reach.
Where to find it
The Caustics (RED+) group at the bottom of Room Effect Properties, under Liquid Glow (RED+). It is greyed out unless the Room Effect is a liquid one.
How to use it
- Select the Room Effect in the room with the water and open Room Effect Properties.
- In Caustics (RED+), change the settings you need.
- Click OK. Cancel leaves the settings as they were.
- Save the level.
Settings
| Control | Values | Default | What it stores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cast Caustics | ticked or cleared | ticked | Whether the pool casts caustics |
| Strength | 0 to 400 % | 100 | How strong its caustics are, as a percentage of normal |
| Tint | a colour, or auto | auto | The colour of its caustics |
| Range | 0 to 200 units | 0 | How far past the water its caustics reach, in world units |
- Strength and Range take whole numbers only.
- Strength left blank means 100. Anything over 400 counts as 400.
- Range 0, which the dialog calls global, means the pool has no range of its own. A blank field means 0. Anything over 200 counts as 200.
- Click the Tint swatch to pick a colour. Auto clears it, the swatch reads "auto", and the caustics take the water's own colour.
What it does
RED+ saves the settings with the level and shows them again when you next open the dialog.
- The editor viewports do not draw caustics.
- The lighting bake does not use these settings, so they add nothing to the lightmap.
- Alpine Faction 1.4 does not draw caustics. The level still loads there, and Alpine Faction skips these settings.
Good to know
- A pool left at the defaults stores nothing in the level.
- Whether the group is greyed is decided when the dialog opens. After you change Effect Type, click OK and open the dialog again.
- The liquid surface itself is drawn fullbright by the game, and no level setting changes that.
- To light a room from its liquid in the bake, use Liquid Glow (RED+) in the same dialog. See Glowing liquids.