Udemy Online Courses - Level Design Master Class: All in One Complete Course
Everything you need to become a Professional Level Designer in the Game Industry
- BESTSELLER
- Created by Emilio Padulo, Too Much Sugar Productions inc
- English
- English [Auto-generated]
- 4 hours on-demand video
- 4 articles
- 2 downloadable resources
- Full lifetime access
- Access on mobile and TV
- Assignments
- Certificate of Completion
Preview This Course - GET COUPON CODE
What you'll learn
- Learn Level Design in Unreal Engine and Unity
- Complete Introduction into Level Design
- Comprehensive look at the larger scale of Rational Design
- How to build an Immersive Composition in a Level
- How to effectivley guide a play through a Level using Mise en scene
- Using Architecture to create an engaging experience for the Player
- Keeping an efficient workflow as a Level Designer
Description
Level Design Master Class Series : All in One Complete Course
Why this course is special
This course not only covers the basics of what Level Design is. But it also goes further as we look at Key fundamentals, best practices, and what makes a good level designer that is industry ready.
This course isn't going to be someone talking over power points for 8+ hours. People need to see theory in practice. This course will offer students access to level designers building scenes and teaching at the same time. Showcasing not only the theory, but how it will be represented in both Unity and Unreal Engine. There are also many Documents, Assignments and Quiz's throughout the course.
The Course Structure
The course is almost all video with reference articles, books and videos.
After you finish this course, I guarantee you will be a stronger level designer and be able to apply important principles to your own designs.
The course is structured into 12 Main Sections.
Section 2: Introduction to Level Design
In this section, as previously stated, we will look at what a level designer is. We look at the differences between game design and level design. We then shift our focus to how level designers use ingredients and mechanics in their levels to create a more persuasive and intuitive game play experience all the while respecting a certain balance and pacing. We will also look the the different types of audiences that are present in the community. Finally we talk about production phases and when a level designer will be present in the process.
Section 3 Setting up Unreal Engine
We will start setting ourselves up with Unreal Engine 4. We look at how to download and run the engine, and take a glance at how the Engine is set up. A brief look at a over Layout of the engine and where everything is. We will then play around and build our first level using this engine to get familiar with it. We finish with some quick takeaways about how and were to find information.
Section 4: Setting up Unity
We will start setting ourselves up with Unity. We look at how to download and run the engine, and take a glance at how the Engine is set up. A brief look at a over Layout of the engine and where everything is. We will then play around and build our first level using this engine to get familiar with it. We finish with some quick takeaways about how and were to find information.
Section 5: Rational Design (Being recorded)
Ration Design is design in a larger scale. In this section we will look at some elementary questions that have to be answered before we design rationally. Looking at the difference between Top to Bottom and vice versa for designing our levels/ games. How to design with a powerful theme and some key fundamentals that go into level design
Section 6: Composition in Level Design (Next)
This is one of the theory heavy sections in the course. We will not only talk about how to theoretically use Layers (foreground, background, and center of interest), but we will also learn how to design key observation parameters such as low angle, flat angle,high angle etc... We will design all of these examples inside of Unity/ Unreal game engine in practice, to get a better understanding how of effective these types of composition can really affect a player. After that, we learn how distribute visual weight inside a scene through asymmetric, symmetric compositions. Finally we will talk about some details, that can be used and things that can catch a players eye.
Section 7: Level Emphasis / Focal Points (Being recorded)
In this section, We learn how to create a point of emphasis for the player so that they are drawn in. Some of these practices will be emphasis through, isolation, value contrast, color schemes, lighting, sound, and much more. We basically take what we learned in the previous section about compositions in level design and put it to practice using the different focal points we create
Section 8: Guiding the Player (Being recorded)
In order to guide the player, a level designer must carefully craft his level to lead them in the right direction. It can be easier said than done. Some of these fundamental practices can be lines. In this section we look at how to use horizontal, vertical, oblique and curved lines in a level design in order to create a direction that we want to player to go in without them even knowing that they are being guided that way intentionally. We will use in game examples with Unity/Unreal to showcase some effective ways to use these lines. We will also look at how dominants in a level are crucial points of guidance for the player and using the space and area needed to do that.
Section 9: Architecture in Level Design (Being recorded)
When it comes to designing the space a player with engage and interact with, there a lot of key things to remember. Depending on what style, genre and flow the game designers have laid out, the architecture must respect the core fundamentals of the game. That being said, level design in respect to architecture is crucial in order to create an immersive experience for the player. Everything must be to scale. When it comes to creating real world games, research must be done in respect to already existing area in order to create a better workflow. Some other crucial topics we will look are spatial arrangements in architecture, figure and ground, form - void, Genius Loci and much more.
Section 10: How to Build a Level (Being recorded)
In this section, we will look at the work that must go into building a level. Its not just jumping in an engine and playing around. When a very distinct level curve is set and pacing is determined, there is some work that must be done in order to create the flow efficiently. We will look at how the ramp difficulty in terms of using mechanics, ingredients and enemies. How to design game play beats in order to get a fell of the level. Creating a 3 act structure inside our level. How our level fits inside the structure of the pacing and mixing all the ingredients together to make a great level. I will showcase some great level design examples where this is represented in and explain how this affects how a game play sequence is created.
Section 11: Efficient Workflow (Being recorded)
Now when it comes to workflow, just like building a level, there is a very effective way in order to design your level. In this section we will look at how we can we take an idea that we have. Set a theme, location and setting for it and then create our project purpose with it. From there we start designing the features that will take place in the project(mechanics, ingredients etc...). After that we start collecting references for what we want to design so we have a clear goal/focus of what our desired design will be. If we want we can create the lore/story of our game at this point to flesh out our characters even more and create an attachment for our player towards the character their playing. We will then put our knowledge from composition and focal points to practice and create a level using these principals in both a top down and 2.5 camera view in Unity/Unreal Engine
Section 12: Bonus: Creating a Final Level (Being recorded)
In this Bonus section, we will do a small look at how to design a final level in a game, level sequence or zone. One great principal is the power play sequence where we look at how we can empower the player. There are some tips and tricks in what a good final level is, and how we can optimize for player experience and enjoyment
My Guarantee
For every student that joins the course, they will be able to ask questions about their own games and how to go about using color to develop them. I will be available to answer any and all questions for all of my students.
Certification of completion when finishing this course
When you complete 100% of the videos in this course, you will be emailed a certificate of completion by Udemy so you can show it as proof of your expertise and that you have completed a certain number of hours of instruction in the course topic.
Who this course is for:
- Level Designer
- Game Designers
- Game Developers