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There are 4 modules in this course
In this course, you'll embark on a journey into the heart of game design through our Level Design course. Discover the art and theory that shapes player experiences, examining real-game examples to understand the nuances of level design. From single-player to multiplayer, grasp the principles that make each experience unique and engaging.
Craft your level design skills for different game scenarios, creating personalized design documents that foster collaborative team efforts. Dive into the collaborative process, mastering the creation of comprehensive-level design documents that ensure a shared vision among team members.
Experience the hands-on transformation of your conceptual-level sketches into playable environments using Unreal Engine. Explore the greyboxing process with Unreal Engine's tools, and follow best practices to bring your levels to life with lighting and traversal. By the end of the course, you'll confidently apply level design theory, turning your creative ideas into tangible results in Unreal Engine. Join us in unlocking the potential of your game design journey.
This course is intended for learners who are interested in learning an introduction to level design without having any experience. It is recommended that learners complete course 1 and course 2 in this certification before starting.
Level design is an important part of designing a game, and can directly affect how your players move, react, or even feel while playing a game. This content will look at level design from a game design perspective, covering the important facets of level design theory. It will overall what level design is, and the role it plays in the game industry, then move into the theory behind it. How can a level affect how a player is guided through a level or game? What controls where they go or how quickly they can move through the game? How is all this different between single and multiplayer levels? All of this answered by looking at real game levels. This content will give learners a solid foundation of level design theory that they will then further apply to future content.
Practice Quiz: What does level design do?•10 minutes
Module 1: How does level design work Quiz•10 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Consider a great linear level•10 minutes
Design Theory for Specific Types
Module 2•3 hours to complete
Module details
Depending on the level you are creating, the way you apply level design theory can change. Single-player levels apply the same theories differently than multiplayer levels or open-world levels. This content will look at different types of levels and discuss how the theory might be applied, and how to represent that theory in a design document.
In this module, learners will think of a level as a set of key locations or destinations connected by paths, and will learn simple ways to shape those paths in a paper design. In the end, the learner will be able to take what they learned and create a small level on paper for their design document.
What's included
20 videos4 assignments
Show info about module content
20 videos•Total 102 minutes
Module 2 Introduction•1 minute
Course project introduction•4 minutes
Level intentions•4 minutes
Level shaping•3 minutes
Basic pathing•6 minutes
Changing the route•9 minutes
Adding interest•6 minutes
Gating•13 minutes
Enclosures and cover•5 minutes
Critical path•4 minutes
Design for multiplayer•15 minutes
Biomes•5 minutes
Vistas•5 minutes
Diagram Summary•1 minute
Establishing scale and legend•5 minutes
Massing Part 1•3 minutes
Massing Part 2•7 minutes
Massing Next Steps•2 minutes
Wayfinding•3 minutes
Module conclusion•1 minute
4 assignments•Total 80 minutes
Activity: Applying analytical tools•20 minutes
Level Design Fundamentals Quiz•20 minutes
Module 2: Design Theory for Specific Types Quiz•30 minutes
Project Part 1: Ideation•10 minutes
Documenting Level Design
Module 3•2 hours to complete
Module details
When working in a team setting, you will most likely be working with multiple developers on a single level. In order to plan the level out, and make sure everyone stays within the same vision, you make a level design document. This document holds all the information that anyone working with the level would need to know. This content will cover creating a level design document, defining what it is, walking the learner through the steps and process of creating one from scratch of a level of their own choosing.
Before a level is made or even art is created for it, it first needs to be drafted and tested. Taking a sketch of a level, this content will walk through the steps of greyboxing the level. Learners will take a level sketch, and translate it into a real level in Unreal Engine. They’ll use built-in Unreal Engine tools to create the level while following best practices for level design with Unreal Engine. At the end of the content, they should have a lit, transversable level in Unreal Engine based on the sketch they made.
What's included
17 videos1 reading2 assignments
Show info about module content
17 videos•Total 120 minutes
Course Project Part 3: Building your level in Unreal•4 minutes
What is greyboxing?•1 minute
Why use Unreal Engine•2 minutes
Lesson introduction•1 minute
Ready Materials•1 minute
Setting scale•7 minutes
Landscape•11 minutes
Primitives•14 minutes
Modelling Mode•22 minutes
Geometry Tools: Exporting•5 minutes
External Assets•6 minutes
Materials for level design•12 minutes
Lighting for level design•18 minutes
Playtesting Levels•4 minutes
Reflecting and Iteration•2 minutes
Unreal Editor for Fortnite•6 minutes
Module and course conclusion•2 minutes
1 reading•Total 1 minute
Material List•1 minute
2 assignments•Total 70 minutes
Greyboxing Practice Quiz•10 minutes
Level Design Capstone Portfolio•60 minutes
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Epic is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Epic operates Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections. Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is also adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, and simulation. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content.
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EH
5·
Reviewed on Oct 5, 2025
The final submission needs to be fixed. The text prompts are misleading and confuses how people should turn in their work.
M
MS
5·
Reviewed on Apr 12, 2025
The best course. The mentor explains everything with enthusiasm and examples. Everything was easy to follow and found many interesting new things. Thank you.
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JJ
5·
Reviewed on Dec 26, 2025
It was so fun adn I leaned many things and gained new skills.
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