CASE STUDY · UNNAMED ARCADE · GAME ENGINE AND LEVEL EDITOR

Unnamed Arcade: a game where players build the game

Unnamed Arcade is a block based game where players create their own arcade games. They set the start, the finish, the objective, the enemies, the weapons and the rewards, and the engine builds the level procedurally. A compute shader layer painter makes every level look hand crafted.

CLIENT: An independent game developer
INDUSTRY: Games
WHAT WE BUILT: Block based game engine and level creator
OWNERSHIP: The client’s own game, built by Pixent

Unnamed Arcade title screen over a block built world

AT A GLANCE

Procedural levelsGenerated from a few player choices
Player madeGoals, enemies, weapons and rewards
Painted on the GPULevels drawn using compute shaders
Block buildingMinecraft style, for hand made levels

THE PROBLEM

Players want to make games, not just play them

Many players dream of designing their own levels, but game making tools are complex and slow to learn.

Hand building every level also limits how much content a game can ever offer.

The goal was a game where players create arcade challenges in minutes, and the engine makes them look great automatically.

HOW WE SOLVED IT

A game that makes games

We built an engine where players set the rules and the game builds the world around them.

01
Set the rules, get a level
Players choose a start point, an end point and an objective. The engine generates the level around those choices.
THE CHALLENGEProcedural levels can easily feel random or unfair.
HOW WE SOLVED ITWe built generation rules that respect every choice the player makes, so each level is playable and makes sense.
02
Your enemies, weapons and rewards
Players pick which types of enemies appear, which weapons can be used, and what the rewards are.
THE CHALLENGESo many combinations could easily break the balance of a level.
HOW WE SOLVED ITWe designed enemies, weapons and rewards as building blocks that always combine safely.
03
Levels painted on the graphics card
A layer painter running on compute shaders blends materials and details across every level in real time.
THE CHALLENGEGenerated levels often look plain and repetitive.
HOW WE SOLVED ITPainting in layers on the GPU gives every level rich, varied surfaces without any hand work.
04
Build it block by block
Players can also build levels by hand, placing and removing blocks just like in Minecraft, then mix them with generated terrain.
THE CHALLENGECreation tools must stay simple, or players give up.
HOW WE SOLVED ITBasing the whole engine on blocks keeps building intuitive, and generated and hand built areas fit together seamlessly.