Hey all, this is my first blog in a long time. As of right now I am in GSP 340, which is Level Design and Modification. This blog is going to focus on one portion of this huge topic, which is grayboxing.
What is grayboxing? Grayboxing is a technique used by level designers in order to map out in rough detail the shape and design of the level they are working on. With a graybox level, there are no textures, particles effects and minimal lighting. The object of building a graybox level is to see how the level flows from its different areas and if the proportions you planned out are either too big or small. It can also help you determine if your initial design is going to work or not. In our group project, our graybox level was a real pain to build, but that is because the shape of our towers is octagonal and not very easy to line the brush up with. Since UDK has weird snapping when you change the rotation of an object, some of the geometry isnt flush with the walls. Just something to keep in mind if you decide to build octagonal towers.
In our graybox, which I will post a picture of below, you can see that we have no textures whatsoever. The only texture/lighting is the skydome and the sun that allows us to see everything we need to.
After you are satisfied with the design and function of your graybox level, you can begin adding textures and static meshes into your level. If you built geometry that is serving as a placeholder for a static mesh or other actor, you can delete those and put in the correct object. It really is a simple concept, but it helps tremendously in the planning and initial building of your level. It keeps you from having to constantly delete textures/meshes/lighting that would mess up your level if you had those things placed in there. Not having textures/meshes/lighting allows you to work with the simplest form of your level.
That's all for today, keep an eye out for my next blog in a few more weeks.
