How to Make Water and Reflections Look Better with BSL Shaders

Water is one of BSL's showcase features, but the default look can be tuned a lot depending on whether you want realism or stylized clarity.

Water-Specific Options

Open Shader Options and look for the water section. Common toggles include:

• Reflections: enable for mirror-like surfaces. Higher quality costs more FPS.
• Refraction: bends what you see underwater, making it feel denser.
• Waving / Wave Strength: controls how much the surface ripples. Lower it for calm lakes, raise it for oceans.
• Water Color / Tint: shift between tropical blue and murky green.
• Underwater Fog: adjust how far you can see while submerged.

Getting Good Reflections

Reflections need something to reflect. Build near terrain, trees, or structures — an empty flat plain will look dull no matter the settings. Time of day matters too: sunrise and sunset produce the most dramatic reflected skies.

Performance Note

Reflections are expensive because the scene is rendered again from the water's perspective. If FPS drops near oceans, reduce reflection quality first before touching shadows. A half-resolution reflection is often indistinguishable from full quality during normal play.