Ask Epic: Level Design February 15 2024 @ 10 AM ET

[Flak]

In our next Ask Epic for February, we’ll be talking Level Design with our expert game designers, tech writers, educators and programmers from Epic Games. Whether going for the great outdoors, building a big room or many complex structures, your level design will help guide your players and help them to achieve their goals.

Team members will be joining us live on the forums on 2024-02-15T07:00:00Z to answer your questions.

Submit your Level Design questions directly to the expert members of our team. Ask about feature insights, development guidance, career advice, industry questions, and of course, what you’re wondering specifically about your levels and Level Design!

Make sure to check out the backgrounds and expertise of our special guests featured below.

Do you have a question for us? Ask away by replying to this post! Please see the rules below for posting your questions.

MEET THE TEAM

Evan Brown / Programmer Writer
Evan currently works on the Verse Docs Team. During his time at Epic, he has worked on multiple gameplay templates and tutorials in UEFN and published numerous docs on different UEFN and Verse language features. His role is to help upskill and elevate creators through documentation and inspire them to create their own unique experiences.

Jessica Plowman / Technical Writer
Jessica is a Technical Writer on Unreal Engine with a focus on Worldbuilding and Art Pipeline tools. Her time at Epic has allowed her to focus on her love of Level Design and she is currently writing a 14 part tutorial series on the fundamentals of level design focusing on the UEFN community. It is available on the Epic Developer Community and Twitter/X.

Josiah Frizzell / Game Designer
Josiah started his design career on Fortnite Creative before moving to UEFN. He is currently working on Lego Fortnite and has been involved in many projects including Island Templates, LTMs like Fortnite Imposters and many of the points of interest you see in Lego Fortnite!

Felix Kupis / Lead Educational Game Designer
Felix started in the game industry 30 years ago, working on many games as a designer and then transitioned on creating simulators for the military. He has worked on many VR and AR projects and during his time at Epic, he has been working as a Lead Educational Game Designer, mainly working with the creative tools and UEFN to make templates, game samples and improve the tools for Fortnite creators.

AMA GUIDELINES:

• Use the Reply button at the bottom. Please read through the questions to see if your question has already been asked, before posting your own.
• Please do not reply to anyone else’s post—replies should only come from Epic. If you’d like to discuss a related topic in more detail, create a new topic.
• Keep in mind, this is not a support session. Questions that are specific to your islands, account, or troubleshooting will be removed.
• Don’t forget to have fun!
• Posts not following these guidelines may be removed by moderators to keep the AMA flowing smoothly.

Thank you!

[HeroTheAxolotl (Hero Creates)]

@Flak

He has worked on many VR and AR projects during his time at Epic…

Are we going to get VR compatibility? This could be very useful for more interactive maps than what we have now.

[Wertandrew]

Hi there!

I am a level designer in UEFN/Creative and previously other engines, so I am looking for some advanced/expert advice/opinion on the following:

1. What should level design accomplish in a game and how do you know that a game has great level design?

2. What are the teams you usually communicate in a large scale game (lets say an open world survival game) to ensure your craft is the best it can be?

3. How do you research for level design?

4. What are your metrics for complexity and the limit of what you can build in area clusters (in terms of projects you have worked with)

5. Can you apply all the level design principles in UEFN even without the ability to have multiple levels, for large scale projects (UEFN only supports one level)?

[Laith_el_primo]

I don’t know if you could it in this AMA,but my question are

1.will we be able to create our own weapons,superpower or items?

2.What about our own movment and mechanichs like diving,flying and boxing?

3.Will we be able to change the skin/charachter in Uefn?

4.Will be creating Cars possible in future?

[DimensionDragon (DimensionDr4gon)]

For linear story games and similiar genres, what strategies are used to setup a linear path/area so that it feels non-linear and engaging?

[MeatheadMilitia]

Hello Thanks for taking the time to do this.

1. How do you balance fun and function when designing a level or space?
2. When coming up with ideas, how far into the building process do you figure out something will work or not?
3. What is something you really wanted to put in a level, but inevitably couldn’t for whatever reason?
4. In your history of being a gamer, which video game would you have enjoyed being a level designer on?

Thank you!

[rKaype]

Heyo!

I’m a level designer and environmental artist looking for some opinions on some of the following questions!

1. When dealing with different Psychological Behaviors of Players, how much of that should affect the way we design our levels?

2. How much/often should the Environment affect the way Levels are Designed?

3. What are some good and bad practices to follow and/or avoid when designing our Levels?

4. Are there any Criteria’s that make a Level good or bad?

5. Lastly, what are some of your favorite things to see in others Level Design?

[HayleyHail]

Hello Epic Friends!

This question is for new creators or those just looking to expand their level design knowledge!

Do you have any online resources that helped you with your level design learning in the past? Are there any great videos or books that creators could look into to further their knowledge and best practices for creating fun and engaging levels?

[Brdn (Brₓdₒn)]

I have made a fortnite creative FFA BoxFight And Zone Wars Map that is very good but i am not able to publish because i dont have 1000 subscribers

[JGameMaker92]

How does the project size work in UEFN? What’s the difference between the Upload size and Download size of the map? Is there a target file size we need to keep our project under? 400mb seems very limited

[JGameMaker92]

What’s the best way to load new areas? I’ve been using teleporters to create the illusion of entering different areas but what would be ideal would be to be able to load different levels on command. Will that ever be a thing?

[JGameMaker92]

How do you fix bad colliders when they turn out looking like this? I only see options for convex colliders and this doesn’t seem to be cutting it. Can you show optimal collider settings for different scenarios like walls, floors, and objects. We definitely need better collider fine tuning tools

[Flak]

Hey all, this will be happening on the 15th, sorry for the miscommunication!

[Flak]

From DarkShadows on Discord:

“I’d like to know more about the lighting. How to get it just right. The sun is not to bright or over powering but it hits the water just right and it’s perfect. The reflection, the way it makes the water look. I love it. Even though it’s not real life it’s still breathtaking.”

[JGameMaker92]

Maybe it’s not readily obvious, but when you make a new landscape, how do you make it so that you can actually build on it?

[kapultsevich]

Hey! How do you approach level design for maps where players allowed to build their own structures? How it differs from design for “zero build” mode? I’m interested in both: general rules for all kind of maps and specific insights for battle royale. Thanks for your work and answers.

[sprite_dabdabdab]

you don’t need a creator code to publish maps

[Flak]

@Laith_el_primo

I don’t know if you could it in this AMA

Hi there, these questions won’t be for this AMA, but on to them for possible future events!

[jpidsadny1 (jpidsadny)]

What are some of your suggestions for effectively playing testing (playing with purpose) a level? What types of level design principles or considerations should be investigated during play testing? How should this best be done? What tools are available in UEFN to support effective play testing of levels?

[jpidsadny1 (jpidsadny)]

When designing a CTF Map - what are some of the Principles of Play that should be considered to produce a successful level? (Scale, Proportions, Sighlines, Cover, Elevation, etc…). Are there any suggestions for balancing levels, promoting engagement, and accommodating different player personalities and play styles?