We’ve recently reported on X-Plane 12 price reveal and more details on the early access. Today, the team at Laminar Research has shared some interesting insight into the technology behind water and waves in X-Plane 12.

This feature has been first teased at the official announcement keynote at FSExpo 2021.

In the latest post, the team shared an image showcasing the 3D water and shoreline in X-Plane 12. The developers have also noted, that X-Plane 12 will make use of bathymetry data. Bathymetry is a set of information that describes the topography of the seabed. It allows the team to achieve even more realistic water visuals in X-Plane 12.

If you’re asking how can a flight simulator achieve accurate water visuals using data of the seabed, it is likely to be connected to other technology that is going to accurately colour the water in the area above which you are flying.

In other words, the water colour will be different when flying over deep and shallow waters. The same may also apply to the height of waves. These are, of course, only our assumptions.

What the team has confirmed, however, is that they’ve worked with a professional seaplane operator. This way they made X-Plane 12’s water tech suitable for pilot training. This was mentioned in a reply to a community member commenting on Twitter about how “MSFS water is extremely solid and weird” and “aircraft do not interact with the waves“.

It is nice to see that X-Plane 12 will open doors to a whole new kind of aviation. Notably, on a level which is suitable for pilot training.

Let us know in the comment section below if you will make use of the new 3D water technology.