Shooters and Game Engines in Level Design

This course will be retired on September 30, 2023.

Do you want to learn more about game genres and subgenres? This course continues your exploration of level design by introducing you to an important genre: the shooter. The shooter genre is huge in the game world, containing a wide variety of subgenres with their own gameplay needs. This course outlines some of these subgenres and identifies common shooter mechanics, level design considerations, and examples to help you understand how these concepts are applied. This course also provides you with the development tools that video game level designers use to build their levels.

No matter what genre of game you are designing for, the process of creating a level is similar. It requires planning, forethought, and constant testing and iteration. To ensure you’re on the right track, we finish off by reviewing all the key concepts you have learned throughout the three courses for the Level Design Professional Certificate, including the principles and terminology of good level design, specific considerations for certain genres, and the level design process.

Module 1: Introduction to shooters

• Ranged combat mechanics

• Ranged combat level design

• Level analysis

Module 2: Single player shooters

• What are single-player shooters?

• Progression

• Sample levels

Module 3: Roundup and game engines

• Game engines and level design

• Core concepts review

• Level design by genre