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Water boundary artifacts — underwater effect threshold #11

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@philpax

The boundary between underwater and above-water is rough, and it's easy to see underwater without the underwater post-effect being applied. This isn't a VR-specific issue — it's that we're rendering in first-person, so the player's head is frequently right at the water boundary. The game's camera was never designed to sit that close to the water surface, and with waves the camera dips above and below the threshold rapidly, producing flickering and inconsistent application of the underwater effect.

The water surface detection likely uses a simple height comparison against the camera position. Possible fixes:

  • Widen the transition zone so small wave oscillations don't flip the effect on and off
  • Add hysteresis (once underwater, stay underwater until the camera rises a margin above the surface)
  • Smooth the effect blend rather than switching abruptly

Needs investigation of how the engine determines "is the camera underwater" — likely a height comparison in the camera or post-effect update path.

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