# ProBuilder Gray-Boxing and Landmarks
[[5. Gray-Box Metrics Gym]] proved your jump distances with primitives. This series is the next step: **ProBuilder** meshes you can push, cut, and color in the scene, laid out from a **beat chart**, with a **weenie** (landmark) and **lighting as wayfinding**. It is the Unity 6000.5 path for Level 9 of [[Level Up! (Review)]] - "Gray Matters," "Everything I Learned About Level Design, I Learned from Disneyland," and "If it looks like the player can go there, then they should be able to."
**Target:** Unity **6000.5+**, URP (the lighting notes also apply in HDRP; see [[HDRP Essentials]]). Package: **`com.unity.probuilder` 6.1.x**. The Unity 6000.5 package page lists **6.1.2, 6.1.3, and 6.1.4** as released; **6.1.4** (2026-10-21) is the current released version for that Editor. Confirm the resolve in Package Manager. For a Quest 2 gray-box at VR metrics, use **Unity 6.3 LTS (6000.3.27f2+)** and the budgets in [[7.Quest 2 Worked Example Room]].
> [!warning] Code not compiled
> Editor and runtime snippets were checked against the ProBuilder **6.1.4** Scripting API (`ShapeGenerator`, `ProBuilderMesh.ToMesh` / `Refresh`, `EditorMeshUtility.Optimize`) and the 6.1 install / New Shape tool manuals. **They have not been compiled or run in Unity.** Tool overlay labels can differ slightly by Editor skin; believe the Tools overlay in your version.
> [!note] Verification status
> **Verified (ProBuilder 6.1.4 docs and 6000.5 package list, 2026-11-10):** package versions 6.1.2-6.1.4 released for 6000.5; install from Package Manager, plus **URP / HDRP Samples** for vertex-color shaders; `ShapeGenerator.CreateShape`, `GenerateCube`, `GenerateStair`, `GenerateCone`, `GenerateArch`, `GenerateDoor`, `GeneratePlane`, `GenerateCylinder`, and the other generators on that type; `ProBuilderMesh` editing goes through `ToMesh()` + `Refresh()`, never `MeshFilter.sharedMesh` directly; `EditorMeshUtility.Optimize` is **Editor-only**; Mesh creation APIs live in `UnityEngine.ProBuilder` and are available at runtime; `ProBuilderMesh.colors` (`IList<Color>`, length must match positions) and `vertexCount` (https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/
[email protected]/api/UnityEngine.ProBuilder.ProBuilderMesh.html); `userCollisions` is false when ProBuilder should auto-create colliders.
> **Not verified:** exact Tools overlay click paths and menu strings in every 6000.5 Editor skin (the 6.1 manual describes New Shape / Edit Shape in the Tools overlay and under Tools > ProBuilder); whether the vertex-color sample shader names are identical after import; Poly Shape / ProBuilderize menu labels (mentioned as workflows, not scripted here).
## Parts
| # | Note | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[1. ProBuilder Install and Mental Model]] | Package, URP samples, ProBuilderMesh vs Unity Mesh, New Shape |
| 2 | [[2. Blockout Workflow and Metrics]] | Color language, metrics from MovementMetrics, when to leave the gym |
| 3 | [[3. Weenies Landmarks and Lighting as Wayfinding]] | Disney weenie, sightlines, lights that lead |
| 4 | [[4. Beat-Chart to Gray-Box]] | A BeatChart asset and an Editor builder |
| 5 | [[5. Worked Example Landmark Blockout]] | A plaza, a tower weenie, a doorway sightline, a rewarded dead-end |
| 6 | [[6. ProBuilder Pitfalls]] | SharedMesh edits, missing URP samples, scale vs size, baking too early |
## Design lens (Level Up!)
Level 9 in [[Level Up! (Review)]]: design like a theme park (show the destination early, guide with sightlines and landmarks, hide the backstage); a tall landmark that pulls you forward is often called a **"weenie"** (a Walt Disney term; **verify the term is used in the book** - the review flags this); foreshadowing and goal setting; modular reuse; mapping checks (*"Walking is never, ever gameplay!"*, *"If it ever feels long or boring, then it is"*, *"Every finger should have a reward at the end, even if it's just a trashcan"*); **"Gray Matters"**; *"If it looks like the player can go there, then they should be able to."* Level 4's **beat chart** is where the gray-box is planned. Level 5 / 7 metrics still come from [[2. Movement Metrics Asset]].
## Patterns used (Game Programming Patterns)
- **Type Object** - `MovementMetrics` and a `BeatChart` asset drive dimensions and rooms.
- **Flyweight** - a small kit of ProBuilder pieces, reused, not unique hero meshes at blockout time.
- **Prototype** - prefab a door / stair / cover piece and stamp it.
- **Command** (Editor) - treat "build this room" as a menu command that can be re-run after you tweak the chart.
See [[Game Programming Patterns (Review)]].
## Related (existing)
- [[Character Controllers]] / [[5. Gray-Box Metrics Gym]] / [[2. Movement Metrics Asset]] - the numbers this series builds *from*
- [[Lighting and Baking]] - turning wayfinding lights into baked GI later
- [[4. Level Design with Terrain - Landmarks and Sightlines]] - the same language on Terrain
- [[Tilemaps and Tilesets]] - the 2D gray-box-to-art path
- [[Custom Inspectors and Editor Tooling]] - menu items and Editor windows
- [[NavMesh in Unity 6 (AI Navigation 2.x)]] - bake the blockout, see where you can actually go
- [[Boss Battles with Phases]] / [[Hazards, Traps and Key-Door Puzzles]] - arenas and puzzle spaces start as gray-boxes
- [[2.Worked Effect - Trash Can Fire]] - the literal trashcan at the end of a finger
- [[7.Quest 2 Worked Example Room]]
- [[Level Up! (Review)]] Levels 4, 5, 9
## Sources
- ProBuilder for 6000.5 (released 6.1.4): https://docs.unity.com/en-us/engine/6000.5/manual/packages-list/packages-all/pack-safe/com-unity-probuilder
- Installing ProBuilder (6.1): https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/
[email protected]/manual/installing.html
- New Shape and Edit Shape (6.1): https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/
[email protected]/manual/shape-tool.html
- Scripting API overview (6.1.4): https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/
[email protected]/manual/api.html
- `ShapeGenerator` (6.1.4): https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/
[email protected]/api/UnityEngine.ProBuilder.ShapeGenerator.html
- Changelog 6.1.4 (2026-10-21): https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/
[email protected]/changelog/CHANGELOG.html