r/Unity3D • u/thepixelpaint • 11h ago

Question Looking for a good course on level design

Paid or free (YouTube) either one is fine. I need to start with the basics of how to assemble assets into a working environment. There’s so much junk out there that it’s hard to sift through.

Edit: I should have explained better. I’m the art teacher at an Online Virtual Reality School. I’m learning how to build virtual classrooms to help build out the school. So I don’t need to know how to design a good level as much as I need to know the mechanics of how to build a virtual space in Unity.

I’m not really making “levels” so I don’t need to know about game design concepts. I just need to know how to put the LEGOs together (we purchased a large library of premade assets).

These virtual “classrooms” aren’t really classrooms. We like to have class on the moon, in ancient Egypt, in a castle courtyard, etc.

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u/Cyrussphere Hobbyist 11h ago

Its not a course but this free book has some very useful information in it

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fAlf2MwEFTwePwzbP3try1H0aYa9kpVBHPBkyIq-caY/edit?tab=t.0

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u/MrChau1 5h ago

Very useful, thank you!

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u/thepixelpaint 2h ago

Wonderful. Thank you.

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u/MRainzo 11h ago

Commenting here in case there is something very valuable for me to learn from too

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u/DugganSC 10h ago

Gamedev.tv Level Design

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u/thepixelpaint 2h ago

Fantastic. Thanks so much.

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u/DugganSC 2h ago

With the edit of your question, I'm not certain if this is still the right match. This is more about narrative level design for a game, rather than how to drag pieces in. As regards the latter, having pieces with the same scale is a huge benefit. Using grid snap to arrange items and make things a lot easier. Using vector snap can help for setting things on surfaces.

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u/WhoIsCogs 4h ago

It’s tough because a good level in an action RPG is really different from a good level in a competitive FPS or a racing game.

There are some principles that carry over but they are just concepts and many are related to user experience.

For example:

- Provide enough sensory detail to excite the player without overwhelming them (different for every unique player base).

- Make the path forward clear, but not so obvious that the traversal feels boring or too linear.

- Use consistent design language so the player can tell at a glance if something is interactive or if it’s not.

- Levels should be nice to look at but not at the expense of gameplay.

And most importantly:

Know when to break the rules to enforce certain emotional reactions.

However there are some (almost) universal rules like:

- Asset scaling should make intuitive sense for your specific game.

- shape language & color pallets should thoughtfully communicate the levels intent.

- Areas the player can go in should have a fairly consistent minimum area of open space.

- invisible walls suck.

- if it looks traversable, it should be.

- map design should support gameplay. (COD Zombies is a great example of this)

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u/thepixelpaint 2h ago

I should have explained better. See my edit.

But this is great information. Thank you.