Tidal 2 URP
New in v2.0

Editor Tools

Windows, generators, validation, and preview - all under the Tidal 2 menus.

Tidal 2 ships a full set of editor tooling. Everything lives under the GameObject → Tidal 2, Window → Tidal 2, Tools → Tidal 2, and Create → Tidal 2 menus.

Windows

Welcome window

Window → Tidal 2 → Welcome

Auto-opens on first import. Shows setup status, a Validator link, a demo-scene button, a documentation button, and the version footer.

Validator

Window → Tidal 2 → Validator

Also embedded at the top of the TidalBody inspector. Run it after install and before every build - it flags every known misconfiguration until it reports "Tidal 2 is ready".

What the Validator checks
  • TidalRenderFeature is present on the active URP renderer.
  • A Water layer exists (volumes, zones, and hidden runtime cameras use it).
  • Required bake shaders (zone bake, physics field, caustics) are in Project Settings → Graphics → Always Included Shaders - a common build-only failure.
  • URP depth / opaque texture settings and other render-feature setup.

Documentation button

Window → Tidal 2 → Documentation

Opens the versioned online docs URL. Header Doc buttons and validation links throughout the inspectors point at the same versioned documentation.

Generators & creators

Sea Foam Generator

Tools → Tidal 2 → Sea Foam Generator

Authors tileable grayscale foam textures for the surface material: warp / scale / threshold / vein controls, live single-tile and 3×3 tiled previews, and one-click PNG export with correct import settings. Opens pre-loaded with its generator material. The material inspector's Foam Texture row also has a Generate button that opens the tool.

Example Submarine

GameObject → Tidal 2 → Example Submarine

Builds a walkable submarine shell with an EXCLUDE interior volume and cross-section windows - a working demonstration of dry cavities plus Underwater Mask cut-aways.

Zone painting

A scene-view painter for zone maps lets you paint zone height and damping directly onto a body. A Height Map Generator editor window (Tools → Tidal 2) can also generate and bake zone height / damping maps in the editor.

Preview & debug

Run-In-Editor preview

On by default. The complete water - simulation, interaction canvas, and underwater - runs in edit mode without entering play mode. It drives the editor player loop, so other [ExecuteAlways] scripts tick too. Toggle it per body in the Misc section; play-mode behavior is untouched.

Show Material LODs

A debug view that tints the water red / green / blue by mesh LOD ring through the GBuffer (rebuilt for the deferred pipeline). Reacts instantly to the checkbox. Off for normal use.

Editor performance
  • Inspector validation scans are interval-cached - merely selecting a Tidal object no longer costs editor performance.
  • Tidal inspectors no longer force constant repaints; selected water objects cost the editor nothing in play mode.
  • New emitter creation menu items, editor icons, and a welcome window round out the experience.