Overview

Greyboxing is the process of creating a simplified, playable version of a game level. It's also known as blockout or massing out. We are not creating video game but using video game engin to build experiential experiences, hterefore, the process for building unity environment following its process make the process smoother and efficient.

Purpose

Modified its core purpose and process to fit into the Experiential Design process, drawing from game design, architectural design, and other spatial design methodologies.

• To test the spatial layout, core gameplay flow, and environmental experiences
• To validate the base geometry, affordances, and interaction cues of an interactive space
• To assess how users perceive, navigate, and engage with the environment
• To save time by identifying design, usability, and cinematic composition issues early
• To refine spatial storytelling, user interaction, and environmental mood before high-fidelity development
• To conduct basic and core interaction playtests, ensuring intended interactions align with design goals
• To experiment with camera movement, framing, and transitions for cinematic immersion and enhanced user experience

How it's Done

• Designers use simple geometric shapes (e.g., cubes, stairs, ramps) to build a low-fidelity prototype of the environment
• The layout is made functional and interactive, simulating movement, affordances, and interaction touchpoints
• Camera movement and framing are tested to guide user perception, enhance spatial storytelling, and support cinematic transitions
• The prototype aims to provide an experiential preview, ensuring intended spatial, sensory, interactive, and cinematic elements align with user experience goals

Benefits

• Enables rapid iteration and refinement of spatial design, interactivity, and cinematic flow
• Helps designers identify navigational flow, user perception challenges, and camera guidance early
• Saves time by resolving structural, usability, and framing issues before high-quality asset creation
• Supports early validation of environmental storytelling, affordances, interaction mechanics, and cinematics
• Provides insights into how users experience, engage, and visually perceive the space through guided camera movements

Unity Scale

In Unity, the default scale unit is based on meters in real-world measurement.

Unity Scale Reference:

Examples in Practice:

• A typical human character height (player model) = 1.7 - 2 units (1.7m-2m)
• A table = 0.75 - 1 unit (75cm - 1m)
• A door frame = 2 - 2.2 units (2m - 2.2m)
• A floor tile (standard size) = 1 x 1 unit (1m x 1m)

Why is This Important?

• Ensures proper proportions for player movement and interactions.
• Helps maintain realism in physics, lighting, and collisions.
• Makes scaling assets from external tools (like Blender, Maya) easier.

Examples from game scene

Recommended to watch https://youtu.be/fjakOuNer78?si=JpufGhHIcfSqTj-r

Example from S24 CT Lab students