Unity Level Design – Abandoned House by Pete Jepson

Build a complete, atmospheric level in Unity from scratch, inspired by the world of “The Last of Us.” This course walks you through the entire process, from sculpting a terrain to baking final lightmaps, using free assets and professional workflows.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Sculpt and texture realistic terrains with snow, mud, and grass.
• Design and populate the interior of an abandoned house with props.
• Re-texture and customize assets in Substance Painter.
• Set up dynamic and baked lighting post-processing volumes.
• Add environmental sounds and record video portfolios within Unity.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic understanding of the Unity Game Engine.
• Hardware: At least 10GB hard drive space.

📝 Description

This isn’t just about placing objects. You’ll learn a professional, repeatable workflow for building a complete game level. Starting with a blank terrain, you’ll sculpt mountains, paint snow and mud, and populate the landscape with grass, trees, and ivy. The real magic happens when you move inside the abandoned house.

You’ll get hands-on with Substance Painter to re-texture props like a fridge and microwave, making them fit the worn-down aesthetic. The course also covers creating custom decals for dirt and grime, then setting them up in Unity. Lighting is a major focus—you’ll learn to set up interior and exterior light sources, use post-processing volumes for mood, and bake final lightmaps for performance. By the end, you’ll have a portfolio-ready scene and the skills to build your own.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Game designers who want to create their own immersive environments.
• Unity users looking to improve their level design and lighting skills.
• Anyone passionate about building atmospheric, story-driven game spaces.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Pete Jepson is a qualified teacher with over 12 years of experience in game design education. He has been using Unity since 2013 and has created a series of popular courses on game development and animation. With over 68,000 students worldwide, Pete is known for his clear, step-by-step instruction and dedication to helping students learn.

🏁 Final Result

• A fully realized, playable abandoned house environment in Unity.
• A portfolio-ready scene demonstrating terrain sculpting, lighting, and prop placement.
• Practical experience with asset customization in Substance Painter and Blender.