Here is how I built a stylized water shader in Unreal Engine 5, starting from depth based color blending to animated foam and caustics. Inspired by games like Windwaker and Palia, this post breaks down how I used panner nodes, refraction, and caustics to bring an environment to life.

Here is how I built a stylized water shader in Unreal Engine 5, starting from depth based color blending to animated foam and caustics. Inspired by games like Windwaker and Palia, this post breaks down how I used panner nodes, refraction, and caustics to bring an environment to life.

I set out to replicate the organic, vertex-painted terrain systems in games like Tunic and Death’s Door in Unreal Engine 5. This breakdown covers my process of transitioning from simple lerps to optimized, stylized shaders using World Position and Customized UVs.