How It Works

beginner concepts

Rendering Modes

Global Snow supports multiple rendering approaches. The mode is selected automatically based on your camera's rendering path, but can be overridden in the inspector.

Mode	Pipeline	How It Works	Performance
Deferred (recommended)	Built-in RP, URP	Modifies the GBuffers in real time, adding snow data directly to the deferred lighting pass.	Best — no extra full-screen blit.
Forward	Built-in RP only	Uses replacement shaders to render a snow-covered version of the scene, then composites it as a screen-space image effect. A secondary flat shader handles distant snow.	Good — requires an extra screen-space pass.
Decal (separate download)	Built-in RP only	Renders snow as decals on existing objects. Available from the Kronnect support forum.	Best for low-end devices — no full-screen blit.

Zenithal Coverage

Global Snow uses a zenithal depth pass — a secondary camera that captures depth from directly above the scene. This information determines which surfaces are exposed to snowfall and which are occluded by geometry above them (roofs, overhangs, bridges).

The zenithal pass can run:

Update Mode	When to Use
Every Frame	Scenes with dynamic objects that move frequently over snow areas.
Discrete (default)	Most scenes. A new depth shot is captured every ~50 meters of camera movement.
Manual	Fully static scenes. Call `UpdateSnowCoverage()` from script when needed.

Coverage Techniques

Snow distribution is controlled by several overlapping systems:

Layer mask — include/exclude entire layers from receiving snow.
Per-object exclusion — the GlobalSnowIgnoreCoverage script on any GameObject.
Coverage mask — an alpha texture overlaid on the world to paint snow on/off.
Minimum altitude — snow only appears above a configurable world-space height.
Snow volumes — trigger colliders that disable snow when the camera enters.

Tip: If you only use one rendering path (e.g., deferred), delete the other workflow folder (Resources/Workflow_Forward or Resources/Workflow_Deferred) to reduce shader compilation time and build size.

Next Steps

Parameters — detailed reference for every inspector setting.
Performance Tips — optimize snow rendering for your target platform.

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