Blockout Tools Plugin

Dropping Blockouts into a Level

The setup path for Blockout Tools Plugin begins in Place Mode, where a custom category surfaces every available primitive for quick dragging into a scene. Fifteen blockouts form the core set, each carrying custom editor icons so they remain visually distinguishable inside the editor panel. The workflow is intentionally limited in scope: these are primitives meant for sketching space, volume, and proportion, not for modeling geometry or performing boolean operations. Creators who treat greyboxing as the first readable draft of a level can populate a scene without leaving the placement workflow or switching to a separate modeling tool.

An example map lives inside the plugin content at BlockoutToolsPlugin Content/Maps, giving a concrete look at how primitives sit in a scene once placed. It serves as a reference rather than a template, showing how the pieces compose in real level-space before any art pass.

Scaling and Transforming Primitives

Each blockout exposes scale controls through two paths: a Vector 3D widget directly in the viewport, and the standard **Details** panel for typed values. This dual approach suits different working speeds—viewport handles suit quick spatial adjustments, while the **Details** panel suits precise, repeatable dimensions. Settings across the plugin are described as self-explanatory, which keeps the focus on iteration rather than property discovery. Transforms behave like conventional Unreal Actors, so existing editor muscle memory carries over without retraining.

Because the plugin explicitly avoids boolean operations, level designers thinking in terms of subtractive carving or complex cutouts need to plan compositions additively. The blockouts define rooms, corridors, platforms, and bounding volumes through placement rather than shape editing. This keeps the tool lightweight and stable, but also means the creative discipline shifts toward arrangement and proportion rather than geometric sculpting.

Defaults Configured in Project Settings

Repetitive configuration gets reduced by surfacing key defaults at the project level. Default Blockout Color and Grid Size can be pinned in **Project Settings**, so every new blockout placed in a level inherits those values automatically. For teams standardizing on a particular visual language during greybox—say, a specific shade of grey and a grid resolution that matches their measurement conventions—these centralized defaults remove the need to hand-tune each primitive after placement. Individual blockouts still carry configurable look and color overrides, so project-wide defaults do not lock out per-instance adjustments when a scene requires variation.

Triplanar Grid Materials on Primitives

Visual readability during greyboxing depends heavily on consistent grid feedback, and the plugin ships two triplanar grid Materials to cover different spatial contexts. A local-aligned variant tracks object rotation, meaning the grid moves with the blockout as it spins, which helps when measuring primitives in their own local space. A world-aligned variant keeps the grid locked to world axes regardless of how individual blockouts rotate, producing a continuous measurement reference across an entire level.

Both grid Materials respond to the Grid Size default configurable in **Project Settings**, keeping visual scale consistent between primitives and across scenes. The plugin also supports custom Materials, so creators who want a different visual treatment during greybox—or who need a specific shader look for team review captures—can substitute their own Material assignment rather than relying solely on the included grid shaders.

Configurable Appearance Per Blockout

Color and look remain adjustable per instance, giving level designers control over visual grouping without leaving the plugin's ecosystem. A corridor section can take one color to distinguish it from a combat arena volume; a platform can contrast with surrounding walls. Combined with the default color set in **Project Settings**, this per-instance flexibility lets a greybox read clearly during internal review without any external art or post-processing.

Weight, Scope, and Pipeline Position

The plugin is built as a lightweight addition, which matters for projects that want to keep editor overhead minimal during early production when scenes change rapidly. It targets Unreal Engine 4 and 5, so projects migrating between versions or maintaining cross-generation builds can keep the same greyboxing workflow intact. It was selected as a Monthly Unreal Engine Sponsored Content product for December 2020.

Its intended purpose is explicit: blocking out levels. The plugin does not attempt to replace modeling tools, and the absence of boolean support reinforces that boundary. Creators who push primitives beyond simple spatial sketching—trying to treat them as final geometry—will hit that limit quickly. For sketching layout ideas before committing to greybox meshes and production assets, the plugin's scope aligns with how level design drafts actually evolve.

The plugin sits comfortably before the art pass in a typical pipeline. A designer drops blockouts to test sightlines, pacing, and scale, then replaces or references them once production geometry arrives. The included example map demonstrates this mid-stride state where primitives already communicate layout intent but carry no final surface detail.

Reference Material and Support

Beyond the plugin itself, documentation and a customer FAQ are available, along with video demos that show the tools in motion. A showcase trailer provides a compressed look at greyboxing results achievable with the included primitive set. These resources help frame expectations before integration and answer common configuration questions without requiring trial-and-error inside the editor.

The plugin is tagged across concepts including Greyboxing, Prototyping, Procedural Workflow, Blueprint, Grid, and Level Design, reflecting its position as a workflow accelerator rather than a content pack. For teams evaluating whether it fits their pipeline, the example map and demo footage provide the clearest signal of how the blockouts behave in practice and where they stop short of heavier geometry tools.