Quick Start

Quick Start

Get Global Snow running in your Built-in RP scene in under 5 minutes.

Step 1 - Import the Package

Import the Global Snow package from the Unity Asset Store. Choose the Built-in sub-package:

Step 2 - Choose Your Rendering Path

Global Snow works with both Forward and Deferred rendering. Deferred is recommended for best performance and quality.

Step 3 - Add the Component

1. Select your Main Camera in the Hierarchy.
2. Click Add Component and search for GlobalSnow.
3. Attach the component to the camera.

Step 4 - Assign the Sun

Global Snow needs a directional light for relief and occlusion calculations. It auto-detects one, but verify the Sun field in the inspector points to your main directional light.

Step 5 - Press Play

Enter Play mode. Your scene should now be covered in snow. Use the Quality Preset dropdown to quickly switch between Best Quality, Medium, and Fastest.

Step 6 - Customize

From here you can:

• Adjust Minimum Altitude under Coverage to control where snow starts.
• Enable Footprints and Terrain Marks under Features.
• Enable Snowfall to add falling snow particles.
• Enable Camera Frost for a cold-environment overlay.
• Enable Distance Optimization under Quality for better performance on large scenes.

Forward Rendering Notes

If you are using the Forward rendering path, keep these points in mind:

• Enable Fix Materials if objects disappear or get clipped.
• Enable Opaque Cutout to handle objects with alpha-tested textures.
• Objects need a valid RenderType shader tag to receive snow via shader replacement.
• You can force forward rendering even when the camera is set to deferred using the Forward Rendering toggle.

Deferred Rendering Notes

For Deferred rendering:

• The default Deferred Camera Event is BeforeReflections. Change to BeforeLighting if you have disabled deferred reflections in Graphics Settings.
• Enable FP Normals Buffer if you see snow artifacts at distance (uses 16-bit instead of 8-bit normals).

Demo Scene

Load the demo scene included in the Demo folder and press Play. Controls:

Next Steps

• Parameters - full inspector reference.
• Snow Volumes - set up trigger-based snow zones.
• Tutorials - video walkthroughs for common setups.