WBSim - Water and Buoyancy Simulator

A real-time 3D water simulation with physics-based buoyancy, Gerstner waves, and screen-space reflections.

• Open the live demo hosted on GitHub Pages: WBSim

• You can find the report in the /docs folder.

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Scene objects

Two objects can float on the water. Switch between them using the Complex Model toggle in the top-right panel.

Mode	Object	Description
Off (default)	Cube	Simple box with full buoyancy simulation
On	Sailboat	Full model with dynamic sail, boom, and pennant

Controls

Keyboard

Key	Action
W	Thrust forward
A	Steer left (yaw)
D	Steer right (yaw)
← / →	Orbit camera left / right around the object
↑ / ↓	Orbit camera up / down around the object

The S key is intentionally unbound — the water and buoyancy slow the object naturally.

Camera

• Left-drag — orbit around the object
• Scroll wheel — zoom in / out
• Auto-chase — after 4 seconds of no camera input the camera smoothly eases behind the boat

Sailboat sail behaviour

The sail and pennant react to wind in real time:

• At rest the sail aligns with the wind.
• Steering left (A) or right (D) swings the boom toward perpendicular and billows the sail.
• The pennant at the top of the mast always streams directly downwind.

Wave controls (top-right panel)

Control	Range	Effect
Waves	1 – 16	Number of Gerstner wave components superimposed
Wave Height	0.1 – 1.8	Master amplitude of the waves
Gerstner Effect	0 – 2	Steepness / lateral displacement of wave crests
Wind Angle	0° – 360°	Primary wind direction; waves and sail track this value
Use Scattering	on / off	Toggles subsurface scattering on the water; uncheck for flat diffuse shading
Complex Model	on / off	Switches between the cube and the sailboat