STILLFRAME

STILLFRAME v0.54 DevLog | Cinematic Main Menu with Dynamic Weather System

🎯 Project Context

STILLFRAME is a deer survival game set in a beautiful stylized alpine environment.

Players experience life as a deer, managing hunger, thirst, and temperature while exploring a living, breathing world powered by dynamic weather and seasonal systems.

Watch as our deer survival game comes alive with a fully animated main menu featuring real-time weather generation!

📋 What's New in This Update

In this devlog, I'm showcasing the brand new cinematic main menu for STILLFRAME, complete with:

✨ Dynamic Weather System

Integrated Cozy Weather for real-time atmospheric effects

Random weather generation with smooth transitions

Day/night cycle with visible stars and celestial bodies

Multiple weather states (clear, overcast, storm, etc.)

Volumetric fog and cloud systems

🎬 Cinematic Presentation

Animated deer model positioned in a scenic alpine environment

Player follow camera for smooth cinematic movement

Post-processing effects with URP (Universal Render Pipeline)

Particle systems for stars, shooting stars, and atmospheric effects

🎨 Animated UI Elements

Title text material reveal using TextMeshPro Face Dilate shader animation

Floating subtitle with smooth back-and-forth motion

Menu panel breathing animation for living UI feel

Layered animation timing for professional polish

🛠️ Technical Highlights

Systems Implemented:

MainMenuWeatherController.cs - Random weather state management

TitleMaterialReveal.cs - Shader-based text reveal effect

UIFloatingAnimation.cs - Reusable UI motion controller

MainMenuDeerController.cs - Cinematic deer behavior

Key Features:

Gameplay systems disabled for cinematic focus

Camera optimized for skybox and particle rendering

Weather randomization on menu load

Smooth animation curves using SmoothStep interpolation

Built With:

Unity 6 (6000.3)

Universal Render Pipeline (URP)

Cozy Weather System

Gaia Pro terrain tools

Input System package

💭 Developer Notes

This main menu took several iterations to get right.

The biggest challenge was ensuring all Cozy Weather particle effects (especially stars) rendered correctly with the player follow camera.

The solution involved:

- Properly linking CozyWeather to the active camera

- Setting correct camera clear flags for skybox rendering

- Enabling all particle system GameObjects in the hierarchy

- The animated UI adds that extra layer of polish that makes the menu feel alive without being distracting.

- Using shader-based text reveals and smooth floating animations creates a professional look that matches the game's aesthetic.

🔜 What's Next

Loading screen transitions

Settings menu integration

Audio implementation for menu ambience

Button interactions and navigation flow

Save/load system UI

🔔 Subscribe for more STILLFRAME devlogs and Unity game development!

💬 Let me know in the comments what you think of the main menu design!

📱 Follow Development:

Itch.io - https://coffinbreakstudios.itch.io/stillframe

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@CoffinBreakStudios