---
title: "Open-World Water Rendering and Real-Time Simulation (Photon Water System)"
authors:
  - "Zhenyu Mao"
  - "Kui Wu"
year: 2023
venue: "GDC 2023 Advanced Graphics Summit"
arxiv: null
doi: null
source: "https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1028915/Advanced-Graphics-Summit-Open-World"
topics:
  - "photon-water"
  - "tencent"
  - "lightspeed"
  - "cdlod"
  - "foam"
seed_rank: 1420
seed_batch: "gi-nature-2026-08-27"
reviewed: "2026-08-27"
pool: "graphics"
relevance_score: 8
lineage: china-graphics
cites:
  - title: "Simulating Ocean Water"
    url: "https://people.computing.clemson.edu/~jtessen/reports/papers_files/coursenotes2002.pdf"
    year: 2001
    arxiv: null
    doi: null
  - title: "Water Technology of Uncharted"
    url: "https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1015517/Water-Technology-of"
    year: 2012
    arxiv: null
    doi: null
  - title: "Real-time Realistic Ocean Lighting using Seamless Transitions from Geometry to BRDF"
    url: "https://hal.inria.fr/inria-00443630/"
    year: 2010
    arxiv: null
    doi: "10.1111/j.1467-8659.2010.01735.x"
---

# Open-World Water Rendering and Real-Time Simulation (Photon Water System)

## One-sentence takeaway

Tencent Lightspeed Photon Water: unified sim+render for open-world seas. CDLOD, foam, one system.

## Why it's lovely

Why you might love this: One water system for an open world, from sim to foam. Lightspeed, not a Western FFT-plus-Gerstner clone.

## Problem

Open-world seas need sim, LOD mesh, foam, and lighting in one pipeline. Tessendorf+Bruneton+Wave Particles is three papers; a shipped Chinese title needed one system.

## Design

- Photon Water: unified height/velocity/foam from physics, adaptive mesh, CDLOD.
- GDC 2023 Advanced Graphics Summit; Vault play/1028915 (China harvest). Authors Zhenyu Mao, Kui Wu; Lightspeed Studios (Tencent).
- Nature harvest also lists a 2022 Vault 1028829 sibling — mint this China 2023 talk as the locked item, do not mint both.
- Do not drop for Uncharted/Tessendorf near-equivalents.

## Evidence

THE Tencent water shipping talk at GDC. China production cream.

## Limitations

Talk. Not a replacement for Tessendorf's spectrum or Bruneton's BRDF paper — those are theory; this is the shipped unification.

## Implications for Broadside

Anoptic open-world water: Photon Water as the production card on the China shelf; Tessendorf/Bruneton/Wave Particles as the theory stack.

## Bottom line

Mint Photon Water. Tencent Lightspeed seas.

## Links

- URL: https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1028915/Advanced-Graphics-Summit-Open-World