Overview

Design detailed and explorable 3D worlds in Unreal Engine! In this class, your instructor, Lucas Ridley, will walk you through how to create a realistic environment for any video game characters to explore and interact with in Unreal Engine. From sculpting your landscape and adding foliage and lighting to designing a navigable level layout, you’ll leave this class with the skills needed to create entire worlds for 3D video games. With Lucas by your side, you’ll: - Create a basic landscape using Unreal Engine brushes and sculpting tools - Apply textures and materials like foliage and grass both manually and procedurally - Build a navigable and challenging level within your landscape - Discover the differences between a career as an environment artist versus a level designer Plus, Lucas will show you where you can find foliage, rock and thousands of other free assets, materials and textures to add to your own landscape. Whether you want to explore a career path as an environment artist or level designer or just create a playable environment to add to your design portfolio, learning how to design a navigable landscape and fun level design will take both your video game design skills and your 3D design abilities to the next level. To take this class, you should have a basic understanding of Unreal Engine and how to navigate around it. In addition to the Unreal Engine software, you’ll also need a computer and a three button mouse. Instructor bio: Lucas Ridley is a professional animator whose work has appeared in films by directors like Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, as well as in major game studios. Originally from Kentucky, his career has taken him around the world, from Los Angeles to London, contributing to blockbuster projects while also pursuing personal creative work. Lucas brings that industry experience into teaching, where he focuses on making animation approachable and frustration-free. His goal is to give learners clear, practical guidance to help them build confidence and create with independence.

Syllabus

Introduction to Environment Design

Get grounded in the core concepts of 3D environment design in Unreal Engine. This module introduces the tools, workflows, and career paths in environment and level design. You’ll also explore the Unreal Engine interface and begin to understand how each element contributes to creating immersive, believable spaces.

Sculpting & Texturing the Landscape

Learn how to shape and bring life to your landscape using Unreal Engine’s sculpting tools and material systems. You’ll apply realistic lighting, explore paint and autoslope blending techniques, and master texturing methods that add detail and depth to any terrain—laying the groundwork for a visually rich 3D world.

Foliage Techniques

In this module, you’ll explore both manual and procedural methods for placing foliage in your environment. Learn to paint foliage with precision and adjust procedural settings to achieve natural distribution across terrain. By the end, you’ll have the skills to create lush, believable outdoor scenes filled with vegetation.

Prototyping & Level Design

Turn your environment into a playable space. This final module introduces foundational level design strategies, including layout planning, puzzle integration, and gameplay flow. You’ll prototype interactive levels that combine visual design with engaging user experience—culminating in a dynamic environment ready for game development.