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Unreal Engine Game Design: Build, Implement & Optimize

EDUCBA via Coursera

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Details

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

14 hours 32 minutes
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Intermediate
Subtitles

English

Found in

Part of

Unreal Engine Advanced Projects & FX Design

Overview

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Bring your maze-based game to life by learning how to design, implement, and optimize gameplay systems in Unreal Engine using Blueprints. In this hands-on course, you'll build a complete game experience while developing practical skills in gameplay logic, enemy AI, navigation, and user interface design. You'll begin by creating core maze functionality, including dynamic actor population, teleportation systems, win conditions, and gameplay balancing. As you progress, you'll implement teleport zones, enemy placement, player death sequences, and respawn systems to create engaging gameplay. The course then explores enemy AI through vulnerability states, phased behaviors, respawn logic, and audio integration to improve game flow. Finally, you'll build navigation meshes, configure AI pathfinding and child blueprints for enemy variations, and design a responsive HUD that displays real-time gameplay information. This course is ideal for learners who want practical experience building interactive gameplay systems in Unreal Engine. By the end of the course, you'll be able to create, customize, and optimize a polished maze-based game featuring AI-driven navigation, dynamic gameplay mechanics, structured enemy behaviors, and a professional HUD using Unreal Engine's visual scripting tools.

Syllabus

Gameplay Logic and Maze Functionality

This module introduces learners to the essential gameplay logic and maze mechanics required to build a Pac-Man–style game in Unreal Engine. Students will learn how to dynamically populate mazes with pellets, configure actor setups, and utilize Unreal Engine’s tagging system for efficient game object management. Additionally, the module explores teleportation systems, win condition checks, and speed adjustments to balance gameplay. By the end of this module, learners will be able to implement core maze functionality and establish foundational game logic for player interaction and level progression.

Teleports, Enemies, and Player Death

This module explores advanced gameplay mechanics that enhance challenge and immersion in a maze-based game. Learners will implement teleport zones to manage player navigation across maze boundaries, debug gameplay issues, and strategically place enemies to balance difficulty. The module further introduces concepts of player death sequences, including radial impacts, animations, and camera shake effects, followed by the design of a respawn system with defined initial size, location, and movement speed. By completing this module, learners will gain the skills to integrate polished enemy interactions, failure states, and recovery systems within their game projects.

Enemy AI and State Handling

This module focuses on building advanced enemy AI systems and handling multiple gameplay states to enhance the challenge of maze-based games. Learners will explore enemy vulnerability triggered by power pellets, broadcasting state changes across all enemies, and designing structured AI behaviors through multiple phases. The module further covers implementing enemy defeat, respawn, and reset mechanisms to maintain balanced gameplay. Finally, students will integrate immersive audio elements, including intro music and sequence nodes, to improve game flow and engagement. By completing this module, learners will gain practical skills in AI state management, enemy behavior balancing, and dynamic audio integration within Unreal Engine.

Navigation, AI, and HUD Setup

In this module, learners will explore advanced gameplay design by integrating navigation systems, enemy AI logic, and an interactive HUD in Unreal Engine. The lessons cover creating navigation meshes, setting up waypoints for intelligent pathfinding, refining enemy behavior through child blueprints, and enhancing the player’s experience with a dynamic and responsive HUD. By the end of the module, learners will be able to implement AI-driven navigation, customize enemy variations, and design a professional game interface that adapts to player actions in real-time. This module emphasizes practical, hands-on techniques that enhance both gameplay mechanics and user experience, making it a vital step toward building polished game projects.