Learn The Art Of Level Design

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.