Learn Design Principles and Techniques so you too, can build video game levels like the pros.
What you'll learn
You'll learn design principles and skills so you too can design game levels like a pro. Quickly iterate, and get awesome results.
Requirements
You will need a PC / MAC that can run Unity, and you should be able to use Unity at a basic level.
Description
WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN:Design compelling, engaging video game levels like a professional. To do this you need game design skills, and if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to build your own levels and present your skills to potential clients / employers.Drawing on 30 years of game development, experience in art and game design, and a game design book published by Pearson Education (not included), I will show you how to create your own game ready levels from scratch. You will begin with learning the basics of creating bubble diagrams and sketching on paper to iterate quickly, then onto creating a 3D game environment presented in Unity. You will learn to use pro builder and pro grids to aid in your level creations.DESIGN / STORY / EMOTION:Creating levels for games, is at the heart of this course, but it's also about the ideas and the game design process that spawn the levels and worlds in which we play our games. The story you can tell through level design and the emotion your scene can invoke is also key to creating a successful level, and I will show you techniques on how you can deliver that in this course.DESIGN PRINCIPALS:I will teach you over 30 design principles and level creation techniques that level designers use today in top selling AAA games. Principles like; Design From the Core; Foreshadowing; Exposure; Layering; Immersion; Fight or Flight; Up the Ante; Pacing; Progression; Player Feedback; Situational Awareness; Scalable Rewards; Difficulty Ramping; Enemy Placement; Loot Placement; Player Choice; Colour as a Design tool, and many, many more.You will learn how to build a level in a 3D environment and install a character controller so you can explore and see your level from the players perspective, and come to realise what an iterative process level design actually is.This course is perfect for anybody seriously wishing to pursue a career as a Level Designer in the video game industry and would like to follow the process of level design by building an entire white box scene using various design principles and techniques.It's suitable for beginners to Intermediate levels. The more advanced designers may find that you're going over old ground in some areas, but it can still be a worthy refresher course. Over time, the course will get regular updates and keep on trend with industry techniques and standards.PLEASE NOTE: This IS NOT AN ART COURSE. Level design is a very specific discipline within the games industry, and here we are primarily focusing on highly detailed, level creation process in white box form. I am also not a programmer so there is no prgramming in this course. However, I am going to add an additional section to cover some basic scripting at a later date, as an extra section to this course.
Overview
Section 1: Introduction
Lecture 1 Introduction to The Course
Section 2: Course Details
Lecture 2 Course Requirements
Lecture 3 Course Structure
Lecture 4 How to Get the Most From This Course
Lecture 5 Join our Facebook Page.
Section 3: What's it all About?
Lecture 6 Introduction
Lecture 7 What is a Level Designer
Lecture 8 What is a Level?
Lecture 9 Constraints
Lecture 10 Position Your Level
Lecture 11 Level Components | Breaking it down
Lecture 12 Conclusion
Section 4: Developing Your Concept
Lecture 13 Introduction
Lecture 14 So where do I start - Ideas.
Lecture 15 The Design Brief
Lecture 16 CHALLENGE | Create Your Own Design Brief
Lecture 17 Creating Reference / Mood Boards
Lecture 18 Get Scribbling
Lecture 19 CHALLENGE | Create your Bubble Diagram
Lecture 20 Conclusion
Section 5: Design Principles
Lecture 21 Introduction
Lecture 22 The Map (first look forward)
Lecture 23 CHALLENGE | Follow Along
Lecture 24 Beats
Lecture 25 Design From the Core
Lecture 26 Exposure / Priming
Lecture 27 Layering / Immersion
Lecture 28 Shaping / Fight or Flight
Lecture 29 Up the Ante
Lecture 30 Pacing and Progression
Lecture 31 Communication / Player Feedback
Lecture 32 More about Communication
Lecture 33 Situational Awareness & Resolution
Lecture 34 Scalable Rewards & Difficulty Ramping
Lecture 35 Foreshadowing
Lecture 36 Colour as a Design Tool
Lecture 37 Refine Your 2D Map
Lecture 38 Conclusion
Section 6: Setting Up Unity
Lecture 39 Installing Unity, ProBuilder and Grids
Lecture 40 Unity | ProBuilder Overview
Lecture 41 Unity | Setting Up The Controller
Section 7: White Boxing | Blocking Out The Shapes
Lecture 42 Introduction
Lecture 43 Example of a Good White Box Level
Lecture 44 Form Follows Function | Part 1
Lecture 45 Form Follows Function | Part 2
Lecture 46 Composition and Colour | Part 1
Lecture 47 Composition and Colour | Part 2
Lecture 48 What is Modular Design?
Lecture 49 Modular Design | Part 1
Lecture 50 Modular Design | Part 2
Lecture 51 Modular Design | Challenge
Lecture 52 Focal Points
Lecture 53 Keep it Clear of Clutter
Lecture 54 Into The Lion's Den
Lecture 55 Storytelling Mechanisms
Lecture 56 Progress Update | Challenge
Lecture 57 First Draft | Basic Structure
Lecture 58 Conclusion
Section 8: Adding The FUNctionality
Lecture 59 Introduction
Lecture 60 Your Fix List
Lecture 61 Re-focus on the Game Mechanics
Lecture 62 Placeholder Prop Preperation
Lecture 63 Core Object Placement
Lecture 64 Whitebox Level Update
Lecture 65 Enemy Placement / Pacing | Part 1
Lecture 66 Enemy Placement / Pacing | Part 2
Lecture 67 Walkthrough Update
Lecture 68 Pickup Placement | Part 1
Lecture 69 Pickup Impact | Part 1
Lecture 70 Pickups Can Change Your Level | Part 2
Lecture 71 Game Events and Traps
Section 9: Scripting / Functionality
Lecture 72 Introduction
Lecture 73 What is NavMesh
Lecture 74 Adding NavMesh to your scene
Section 10: Bonus Lecture
Lecture 75 Bonus Lecture
If you want to learn the fundamentals of level design, level building and how to iterate quickly like a pro, then this course is for you.
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