Water & Reflections

Water & Reflections Explained

Estimated Lesson Time: 30–40 Minutes

Lesson Overview


In the previous lesson, we explored Ambient Occlusion and Lighting, learning how advanced lighting techniques add realism to Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Today we’re going to focus on another important visual feature:

Water and Reflections.

Reflections are everywhere in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

You see them on:

  • Oceans
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Aircraft fuselages
  • Cockpit windows
  • Wet taxiways
  • Airport terminals
  • Glass buildings

These reflections make the simulator feel alive and realistic.

However…

Creating accurate reflections is one of the more demanding tasks for a graphics card.

Understanding these settings will help you decide how much realism you want without unnecessarily reducing performance.

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will understand:

What Reflection Quality controls.

How Water Waves work.

What Screen Space Reflections (SSR) are.

How Mirrors work.

Why reflections are GPU intensive.

When to increase or reduce these settings.

How to choose the best settings for your PC.

1. Reflection Quality

Reflection Quality controls how accurately reflective surfaces display the world around them.

Examples include:

  • Aircraft paint
  • Cockpit glass
  • Airport windows
  • Water
  • Wet runways
  • Vehicles

Higher Reflection Quality produces:

Sharper reflections.

Greater detail.

More realistic lighting.

Better immersion.

Lower Reflection Quality produces:

Simpler reflections.

Blurrier reflections.

Reduced GPU workload.

Example

Imagine looking at your aircraft parked on a wet apron.

With Low Reflection Quality:

The reflection is faint and lacks detail.

With Ultra Reflection Quality:

The aircraft, lights and surrounding environment are reflected much more realistically.

Performance Impact

Primarily GPU.

Reflection rendering requires additional graphics processing every frame.

2. Water Waves

Water Waves control how realistically water surfaces behave.

Examples include:

  • Oceans
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Coastlines

Higher settings create:

More detailed waves.

Natural movement.

Improved interaction with lighting.

More realistic coastlines.

Lower settings produce:

Flatter water.

Simpler wave patterns.

Lower GPU workload.

Example

Flying over the Mediterranean at sunset.

Low Water Waves:

The sea appears relatively flat.

Ultra Water Waves:

The sea contains visible wave patterns, highlights and realistic movement.

Performance Impact

Mostly GPU.

The visual improvement is most noticeable during low-altitude coastal flights or when operating seaplanes.

3. Screen Space Reflections (SSR)

SSR stands for:

Screen Space Reflections.

This technique creates reflections using information already visible on your screen.

Instead of calculating reflections for the entire world, SSR only reflects objects that are currently being rendered.

Examples

SSR improves reflections on:

  • Wet runways
  • Wet taxiways
  • Water
  • Aircraft paint
  • Airport windows

Advantages

Improved realism.

More dynamic lighting.

Better wet-weather effects.

Enhanced aircraft reflections.

Limitations

Because SSR only uses objects currently visible on screen, reflections may disappear if the reflected object moves outside the camera view.

This is a normal limitation of the technology.

Performance Impact

Medium to High GPU workload.

4. Mirrors

Some aircraft include virtual mirrors.

Examples include:

  • Cabin mirrors.
  • Wing inspection mirrors.
  • Helicopter mirrors.
  • External observation mirrors.

Mirrors are demanding because the simulator often renders another view of the scene specifically for the mirror.

This effectively means the GPU has additional rendering work.

Example

Imagine looking into a mirror inside an aircraft.

The simulator must calculate:

Your aircraft.

The airport.

The scenery behind you.

Lighting.

Shadows.

Then display all of it inside the mirror.

Performance Impact

Primarily GPU.

Depending on the aircraft, mirrors can noticeably reduce FPS.

Many pilots disable mirrors if they never use them.

5. Why Reflections Are GPU Intensive

Reflections are demanding because the graphics card has to calculate:

Lighting.

Surface properties.

Viewing angles.

Reflection quality.

Movement.

Water behaviour.

Sometimes additional scene rendering.

All of this happens every frame.

The more reflective surfaces in the scene…

The greater the GPU workload.

Example

Compare:

Flying over farmland.

vs

Flying over New York after heavy rain.

The second scene contains:

Glass buildings.

Wet roads.

Wet runways.

Aircraft reflections.

Water reflections.

All of these increase GPU demand.

6. Weather & Reflections

Weather has a major influence on reflection quality.

Dry Conditions

Fewer visible reflections.

Lower GPU demand.

Wet Conditions

More reflective surfaces.

More SSR calculations.

Greater GPU workload.

Sunrise & Sunset

Reflections become much more noticeable.

Water appears brighter.

Aircraft surfaces glow with reflected light.

The simulator looks significantly more cinematic.

7. CPU vs GPU Impact

Water and reflection settings are almost entirely handled by the GPU.

The CPU prepares the scene.

The GPU calculates:

  • Reflections.
  • Water movement.
  • Surface lighting.
  • SSR.
  • Mirror rendering.

Therefore, these settings are generally GPU-bound.


 

Performance Summary

Setting

CPU Impact

GPU Impact

Reflection Quality

Very Low

High

Water Waves

Very Low

Medium

Screen Space Reflections

Very Low

High

Mirrors

Very Low

Medium–Hig


 


 

8. When Should You Increase These Settings?

Increase Reflection Quality if:

  • You enjoy realistic weather.
  • You fly near coastlines.
  • You create screenshots.
  • You enjoy sunset flights.
  • Your GPU has spare performance.
  • You use a high-end graphics card.

9. When Should You Reduce These Settings?

Reduce these settings if:

  • Your GPU is consistently close to maximum utilisation.
  • FPS drops during rainy weather.
  • You fly at 4K and need additional GPU headroom.
  • You rarely notice reflections during normal flying.
  • Mirrors are reducing performance and you do not use them.

Reflection settings are often an effective place to recover GPU performance without dramatically changing the overall appearance of the simulator.

10. Common Myths

Myth 1

“Reflections only affect water.”

False.

They also affect aircraft, glass, buildings, wet surfaces and many other objects.

Myth 2

“SSR reflects the entire world.”

False.

SSR only reflects information that is currently visible on screen.

Myth 3

“Mirrors have no impact on performance.”

False.

Mirrors often require additional scene rendering and can noticeably reduce FPS depending on the aircraft.

Myth 4

“Reflection Quality mainly affects the CPU.”

False.

Reflection settings are primarily GPU intensive.

Student Exercise

Today we’re going to compare Reflection settings.

Step 1

Load your Module 1 benchmark flight.

Use:

  • Same airport.
  • Same aircraft.
  • Same weather.

If possible, choose rainy weather or a coastal airport where reflections are easier to observe.

Step 2

Test:

  • Reflection Quality: Medium, High and Ultra.
  • Water Waves: Medium and Ultra.
  • Mirrors: On and Off (if your aircraft supports them).

Step 3

During each test, record:

  • Average FPS.
  • Lowest FPS.
  • GPU utilisation.
  • GPU temperature.
  • Water realism.
  • Reflection quality.
  • Wet runway appearance.
  • Overall smoothness.

Step 4

Compare the results.

Ask yourself:

  • Which reflection setting looked the most realistic?
  • How much additional GPU workload did it create?
  • Were mirrors worth the performance cost?
  • Which combination provides the best balance for your hardware?

Student Checklist

Reflection Quality tested.

Water Waves compared.

SSR observed.

Mirrors evaluated.

GPU utilisation monitored.

Best reflection settings selected.

Lesson Summary

Congratulations.

You now understand how Water and Reflection settings contribute to the realism of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Remember:

  • Reflection Quality controls how accurately reflective surfaces display the surrounding world.
  • Water Waves improve the appearance and movement of oceans, lakes and rivers.
  • Screen Space Reflections create realistic reflections using objects currently visible on screen.
  • Mirrors can significantly increase GPU workload because they often require additional rendering.
  • Nearly all of these settings are primarily GPU intensive.
  • Weather and lighting conditions have a major influence on how noticeable reflections become.
  • Choose reflection settings based on your graphics card’s capabilities and the type of flying you enjoy.

Knowledge Check

  1. What does Reflection Quality control?
  2. What are Screen Space Reflections (SSR)?
  3. Why are Mirrors more demanding than many people expect?
  4. Which hardware component is mainly responsible for Water and Reflection settings?
  5. Why do rainy conditions often reduce FPS more than dry conditions?
  6. When should you consider lowering Reflection Quality?
  7. How do Water Waves improve visual realism?
  8. Based on your benchmark testing, which reflection settings provided the best balance between visual quality and performance for your PC?
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