Whether you are an indie developer or work in AAA, whether you are a game designer, writer, level designer or artist, this course will teach you all you need to know about the varied cities, and urban environments of gaming.

You will gain insight into how cities work, learn how to design quality game cities from start to finish, understand the ways through which urbanism can bring richness, originality, and believability into game worlds, explore the immense storytelling potential of civic life, and discover the methods that will allow you to construct living, breathing, and, above all, memorable and fascinating urban geographies.

🎓 Lessons will guide you, step by step, through the city creation process from the conception of novel urban spaces, and the defining of their architecture, civic life and history, all the way to the mapping of their functions, and the planning of their structure.

📚 Assignments will help you thoroughly understand the actual design & development problems game cities face, practice city-building, discover solutions, and explore the many facets of game urbanism in a safe environment.

👨‍🏫 Your instructor is not simply a games industry professional who specialized in game cities. He has both a MSc and a PhD in urbanism, has teaching experience that goes back to 2005, and is the current Head of the Games Department at the SAE Athens College.

By the end of the course you will be concepting, understanding, and designing playable cities like a game urbanist. You will be able to effortlessly combine the principles of urbanism, game design, and level design to enrich the games and settings you are working on.

What do you need video game city design and game urbanism for?

Cities are perfect for games. They allow us to tell stories, craft complex levels in deep worlds, and pithily encapsulate our settings. It is no accident that some of the finest and most memorable game environments include Disco Elysium's Revachol, Dark Souls' Anor Londo, Cyberpunk 2077's Night City or GTA V's Los Santos. It is no accident that cities, towns, and urban environments are such a common game setting.

Cities are packed with locations and characters, and are steeped in history. They overflow with possibilities, and can serve as elaborate storytelling stages or even protagonists of games. They can tell stories, and shape game mechanics; nurture visual ideas, and suggest traversal solutions. They can make game worlds believable, and, thus, hopefully, also immersive.

Learning how to create, how to design, and how to flesh out game cities is an invaluable skill for every creative in game development!

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🎁 All students get a PDF copy of my Virtual Cities: An Atlas & Exploration of Video Game Cities book, as well as a digital copy of the Ex Novo city-building tool/game.