Installation

Requirements, install folder, and guided setup for Tidal 2.

Requirements

Tidal 2 targets modern GPU-driven rendering and requires a current Unity and URP setup:

• Unity 6 (6000.0+) with URP 17 and its RenderGraph API.
• No Built-in or HDRP support.
• VR/XR was withdrawn from 2.0 (it returns later as an opt-in package configuration).

TextMesh Pro Essentials

TextMesh Pro Essentials must be imported for the demo scene UI text. The demos reference the canonical LiberationSans SDF font, which only resolves once TMP Essentials exists in the project.

The "Water" layer

A "Water" layer should exist in the project's layer list. Newly created volumes and zones default their Affected Layer Mask to it (falling back to Everything when the layer is missing), and Tidal's hidden runtime cameras are placed on it so the underwater pass skips them.

Setup

1. Import & the Welcome window

Import the asset. The Welcome window opens automatically on first import and shows the current setup state along with helpful links.

If it is closed, reopen it at any time from:

Window → Tidal 2 → Welcome

Welcome window shown after importing Tidal 2

2. Add the Render Feature

Add TidalRenderFeature to the active URP Renderer asset (Universal Renderer Data → Add Renderer Feature). Use one feature per renderer - it installs the surface, underwater, and meniscus passes and assigns per-body rendering layers automatically.

3. Run the Validator

Run the Validator to catch every known misconfiguration - including build-only issues such as required bake shaders missing from Project Settings → Graphics → Always Included Shaders.

Window → Tidal 2 → Validator

The validator is also surfaced at the top of the TidalBody inspector. Each fixable issue includes a fix button; keep resolving them until it reports "Tidal 2 is ready".

Validator listing detected issues with fixes

Per-quality-tier setup

Each URP renderer asset (PC / Performant / Mobile, and so on) carries its own TidalRenderFeature instance with its own Underwater Defaults - Volume Masks, God Rays, Volumetric Lights, and the Volumetrics Resolution budget. Configure each tier once, and bodies set to Use Render Feature Setting follow the defaults of whichever renderer is active, so quality tiers switch automatically.

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