Greyboxing

I imagine that every game starts with an initial idea in a designer's head. I also imagine that the path the idea takes to becoming a full fledged game varies from designer to designer. Be it a solo indy game or a triple A title from a big publisher, eventually that initial idea has to take shape in the form of a playable game. However modest or ambitious the start, a designer is at some point, faced with creating the physical world for the game. Prior to starting my journey to becoming a game designer I only imagined what that involved. As I have progressed on my journey I have been introduced to some very effective methods for bringing a game to life; once such method is called greyboxing.

Greyboxing

Greyboxing, some also call it grayboxing or blueboxing, is basically blocking out an environment with simple geometric shapes in order to get a level's layout down and test playability quickly without worrying about textures, materials or precise architecture. The term greyboxing comes from the fact that when you place basic geometrical shapes without assigning textures they have a basic grey color or a grey checkered pattern on them. At least that is the case in Unreal Engine. Other tools may use different colors, hence the multiple terms for the method.

Greyboxed Interior Level in Unreal Engine 4

By greyboxing a level initially the designer can determine how well the level flows, if the scaling is correct, and try out different game elements without wasting a lot of time. Imagine laying out an entire level, applying textures and materials, tweaking lighting only to find out when you play test that some part of the level is not working the way is should. By greyboxing you are able to work out those types of kinks beforehand.

Benefits

Some of the many benefits of greyboxing:

• Allows for quick changes to a level's design without concern for effecting elements such as lighting

• Provides a quick method for determining scale

• Provides an early blueprint for the level to allow other team members to begin asset creation

• Provides a test environment for game play elements and mechanics

Having been introduced to the method I attest that it is a very effective method when first building an environment. Even for those who have laid out a level on paper prior to starting their build this method provides a great 3D sketch of the environment.

Greyboxing Example

Below is an example of greyboxing a basic structure in Unreal Engine. In this case I began with the third person template in Unreal Engine. The beginning template structures have been removed with the exception of the floor.

I start by dragging a Geometry box brush into the scene to make a wall and then scaling it the approximate size I think I need. If you want to make openings in a surface at some point, make sure you use Geometry brushes in Unreal and not Basic brushes. With Geometry brushes you can make them additive or subtractive. Additive means it adds the geometry to the scene, like our wall. When I make a doorway through the wall I use the same box brush, but I make it subtractive, so it removes the shape from the wall to provide the opening. Below I have made a wall with a doorway, and then duplicated both to make the wall on the opposite side.

At this point I have play tested once to make sure that my doorway is scaled properly to let the player through and also to ensure that is appears proportionate to the structure I am creating. Next I add the remaining walls again using a Geometry box brush and scaling them to the appropriate size and moving them into place. And now we have a basic building with four walls. 

Time to add some windows using a subtractive box brush. In this case my windows will be the same size. Once I size the first window I simply duplicate it and move into the position I want and then repeat. I would suggest that if you are going to be duplicating brushes in Unreal, give them descriptive names. It will make them easier to find in the Content Browser later if you decide you want to make a change.

Lastly I have added a roof for our building with an overhang and some support pillars.

Exterior View

Interior View

So as you can see we have created a greyboxed building in relatively short order. Quick play testing has ensured that the scale is appropriate and that our player can move through doorways. At this time we could start adding some game play elements or adding some interior lighting. In my opinion it is better work on lighting once you have started applying textures and materials as they will have some effect on lighting color.

Greyboxing this building allowed me to quickly get my scale down for the structure and get a sense of size. If I was working as part of a larger team, this would provide them with an accurate model of the structure so they could begin working on architecture and all the "pretty" things. Hopefully this quick demo has shown how useful a tool greyboxing can be.

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