Video Game Design: Whitebox/Blockouts Explained!

Our ‘This week in Dev’ posts in the Skyhook Games Discord server often talk about design creating “whitebox” or “blockout” versions of levels. So we thought it was overdue for us to give this part of development some time in the spotlight.

“What is a whitebox or blockout?” I hear one of you in the back row ask. Great question!

Without going too much into how they are made (that will come in another series of articles we have planned) locations start as a 2D map before being run though our tools which then make a 3D version in our Unity game engine. While they don’t look flashy, they are a very important part of the development of a location – a bit like the foundation you build a house upon.

Blockouts are simplified versions of the game’s locations built by our design department. Houses, walls and trees are all placed with primitive proxy models to build up the space. Slap in some grass and you have a quick way to test out a location in-engine that can be pulled around before hour after hour of art time goes into dressing the location with final assets. Take a look at these shots taken by Isabella!

We alluded to the Skyhook Games Discord earlier, we regularly post progress updates & exclusive news on the development of LMS2. Come and say hello if you haven’t already! Click here to join.