Create a Level in Open 3D Engine

In Open 3D Engine (O3DE), a level is a playable section of a project. Within a level, you create entities, instantiate prefabs, arrange lights and cameras, and implement scripted behaviors and interactivity. A level can be interpreted literally as a level of a game; however, levels are the basis for all O3DE projects. Non-gaming applications, such as simulations, require at least one level. A project can have a single level or many levels.

In O3DE, levels are stored in .prefab files within subdirectories of the Levels directory of your project. The level .prefab file is in JSON format. It contains a list of the entities placed in the level, including the components, values, and asset references that define the entities. All assets, including the meshes, scripts, materials, audio files, and other prefabs that compose the level, are referenced within the level .prefab file.

Note:

By default, all levels must be placed in the Levels subdirectory of the project.

Create a level

You can create levels in the Welcome to O3DE dialog box that appears when O3DE Editor is launched, or from the File menu within O3DE Editor.

1. In the Welcome to O3DE dialog box, choose the Create new… button to open the New Level dialog box. Alternatively, from the File menu in O3DE Editor, choose New Level (hotkey Ctrl + N) to open the New Level dialog box.

   

2. In the New Level dialog box, enter a name for the level.

   

3. Choose OK to create the level.

Atom Default Environment contents

The new level is populated with some basic entities. In Entity Outliner, there is a root entity named Atom Default Environment. Choose the arrow to the left of the default entity in Entity Outliner to expand the list of child entities.

Note:

The Atom Default Environment is a prefab. A prefab is a collection of preconfigured entities that is stored on disk as a reusable .prefab asset file. Prefabs can be instanced in a level. You can modify the contents of the default level environment by saving your own prefab to /o3de/Assets/Editor/Prefabs/Default_Level.prefab.