I am doing some R&D for a game and am now tackling the topic of water.

The goal
Make water that can flow. Aka you can have an origin point that water shoots out from or a downhill slope. Make it so water splashes, so when an object hits the water there is a splash. Aka: Actual physics water sim.

The current way I know how to do it
I know how to create a shader that makes an object look like its water by making waves. Combined with that you can check to see if an object is colliding and apply an upwards force to simulate buoyancy.

What is wrong with that way

• The water does not flow
• No splashes

Possible solutions
Have particles that are fairly large that interact with each other to simulate water

Possible drawbacks
Performance.

Question:
Is there a better way to do water or is using particles as described the only way?