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Introduction
This degree will give you the opportunity to explore contemporary opportunities in games design creatively and imaginatively. The course aims to build strong and sustainable opportunities for you to develop your best portfolio of game-centric and industry relevant production work, enhancing your employment opportunities in the industry.
Your individual development, creative ability and self-identity will be nurtured while you develop key technical skills related to the production of a wide variety of game design outputs or artefacts.
The course aims to build a comprehensive understanding of the creative, critical, analytical and interpretive skills necessary for the design and implementation of computer games, to enhance your development both as an individual and as a member of a team.
The development of intellectual skills, such as analysis, innovation and critical appraisal will be themes throughout the formal classes and learning process. Lectures will be used to explore concepts and theories and to develop knowledge for underpinning advanced technical skills.
Modules are aligned with industry needs and acknowledge the importance of context.
UWTSD is a member of the PlayStation®First Academic Program run by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE), which provides access to professional development hardware and software tools for both staff and students.
PATHWAY OPTIONS
BA UCAS Code: CGD1
HND UCAS Code: CGD8
HNC UCAS Code: CGD9
Why choose this course?
1. Passionate teaching team with industry experience at indie and AAA level production
2. We have been part of the PlayStation®First Academic Program and an Unreal Engine Academic Partner since 2016
3. Dedicated studio space exclusively for Games Students
4. Smaller teaching groups allow for a more personal approach with each and every student
5. Potential for live project briefs involving local industries
Overview
Our philosophy: For students to design and create interactive projects that showcase their knowledge of game development.
We pride ourselves on having a personal approach to student learning and development with smaller tutorial groups and dedicated workspaces exclusively for the CCGD course.
With industry links, staff experience in game development, as part of the PlayStation®First Academic Program and as an Unreal Academic Partner we intend on equipping students with industry-relevant knowledge that will help them build a career in game development.
This programme gives priority to the creative exploration of computer games design. You are given all the necessary knowledge to develop new and innovative work in the fields of character creation, 3D graphics, animation, character and environment modelling, texturing, interface design, and concept art. Games mechanics and rule systems ("ludology") are explored often using paper-based concept mock-ups. You are encouraged to explore and develop your ideas in and around the subject area in a series of thought-provoking contextual study modules.
Student learning is primarily through practice: the degree is focussed on you producing working computer games of your own design and culminates in a series of personally directed projects which allow you to direct your studies towards a preferred specialist area. The emphasis is on personal expression!
With UWTSD being a member of the PlayStation®First Academic Program run by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE), both students and staff can now take advantage of developing game ideas directly on the Playstation 4 console platform.
The School has excellent links with games production companies both locally and nationally. Through dialogue with industry and the application of the latest developments in games, graduates from this programme are suitably equipped to enter their industry as practitioners. Areas of employment might include Level Artist, Environmental Modeller, Character Artist, Character Modeller, Texture Artist, and Traditional/Digital Concept Artist.
Modules
Year One – Level 4 (HNC, HND & BA)
• Contemporary Challenges: Making a Difference (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
• Environment Design (20 credits; compulsory)
• Game Design and History (20 credits; compulsory)
• Introduction to Character Animation (20 credits; compulsory)
• Learning in the Digital Era (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
• Visual Studies (20 credits; compulsory).
Year Two – Level 5 (HND & BA)
• Advanced Character Animation (20 credits; compulsory)
• Changemakers: Building your Personal Brand for Sustainable Employment (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
• Changemakers: Creativity and Value Creation (20 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
• Game Theory and Design (20 credits; compulsory)
• Indie Game Development (20 credits; compulsory)
• Level Design and Development (20 credits; compulsory).
Year Three – Level 6 (BA)
• Advanced Character Performance (20 credits; compulsory)
• Independent Project (40 credits; compulsory; Graduate Attributes Framework module)
• Emerging Trends (20 credits; compulsory)
• Personal Portfolio Development (20 credits; compulsory)
• User Experience Design (20 credits; compulsory).
Entry Criteria
We are interested in creative people that demonstrate a strong commitment to art and/or design and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. To assess student suitability for their chosen course we arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered as well as your portfolio of work.
Our standard offer for a degree course is 120 UCAS tariff points. We expect applicants to have a grade C or above in English Language (or Welsh) at GCSE level, together with passes in another four subjects. Plus we accept a range of Level 3 qualifications including:
• Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, plus one GCE A-Level in a relevant academic subject
• Three GCE A-Levels or equivalent
• BTEC Extended Diploma in a relevant subject, with minimum grades of Merit
• International Baccalaureate score of 32
• Other relevant qualifications can be considered on an individual basis
Qualifications are important, however, our offers are not solely based on academic results. If you don’t have the required UCAS points then please contact the courses admissions tutor or email artanddesign@uwtsd.ac.uk as we can consider offers to applicants based on individual merit, exceptional work, and/or practical experience.
ENTRY REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
Home Office Share Code
For EU students only.
IF no Qualification
Please provide CV with at least 2 years of work experience, and employee reference letter.
Assessment
ASSESSMENT METHODS
1. INTERNAL ENGLISH TEST if you don't have an English accredited certificate
2. Academic Interview
Assessment
Assessment is carried out through coursework, both written and practical. There are no exams on this course. Students are formatively assessed throughout a module, summative assessment takes place at the end of a module.
In order to maintain academic integrity, a range of strategies are adopted. Most practical work includes formal written elements of some sort: everything from the standard essay format through to things like usability reports, product definition documents, responses to/critiques of seminal academic papers, learning journals, business plans, etc. At Level 6 all students will have to complete a Dissertation.
From L4 onwards students are also widely assessed in presentations, culminating at L6 in the Major Project. We have found the viva voce style assessment well-suited to the work we do within the School, which, whilst having a technical underpinning, often has strong similarities to fine art practice.
Career Opportunities
Career Opportunities
Graduates from our Computer Games Design programme could develop specialisms in any of the following industrial contexts:
• Web and Mobile Gaming: designer, 2D artist, 3D artist, project director.
• Console/PC Games Development: level designer, character designer, character modeller, animator, materials artist, lighting artist, storyboard artist, assistant level designer, assistant character modeller, lighting assistant, assistant texture artist, assistant concept artist, trainee game designer, asset modeller, game Q&A.
• Animation Production House: character designer, character modeller, animator, materials artist, lighting artist, storyboard artist, project director.
• Game journalist.
Students from the course have worked on a number of critically acclaimed games over the past few years including Grand Theft Auto 5, Alien: Isolation, and Lego Star Wars 3. The course has links with games companies such as:
• EA
• Rockstar North
• Creative Assembly
• Media Molecule
• Traveller’s Tales
• Fusebox Games
• Blizzard
• Creative Assembly
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