Advice on Academic Courses in Videogames

[Scrustle]

Hello there fellow Cane and Rinse forumites (is that what we call ourselves?). I've been doing some thinking recently and I decided that it would be a good idea to ask for some advice from you guys, but first I'm going to have to get a bit personal.

Ever since I got out of college a few years ago, my life has been going nowhere. Nothing has really changed, I haven't been able to find a job, and I haven't really felt very motivated to do so either (even though I have been applying). I've always been quite a cynical person, but in this period of time I've just been getting more and more sick of everything, and feeling increasingly like there just isn't a place for me in the world. I've more or less lost all my enthusiasm for everything, and every single option I've been presented with for what I'm supposed to do with my future has seemed completely impossible, for one reason or another.

But the single thing that my passion has remained for through all this has been games. I've toyed with the idea of going in to games as a career on several occasions before, but always dismissed it due to my cynical nature. Either because I felt designing them was far beyond any level of expertise I could achieve, or I lacked the drive to write about them, or that doing either would turn my favourite hobby in to work, thus ruining it for me. Not to mention the competition in these job markets currently. But recently I've been thinking that it's the only thing that gets me excited any more, and probably the only industry that I might actually enjoy being a part of. It's the only thing I can think of which seems like it might give me a future that'll make me happy.

So in my most recent job searching session I decided to take a look at what kind of jobs there are going out there at the moment, specifically in the development side of the industry. There were actually quite a few openings (I spotted a few "anonymous" listings, that were clearly for Lionhead and Eutechnyx), but they of course all require you to have relevant qualifications, even for QA testers.

Although I'd thought myself "done" with education after college, feeling as if I couldn't stand any more even if I had any idea of what subjects I would continue to study, the idea of formally studying game design has actually started sounding quite appealing to me. Of course the problem is, I have no idea what kind of courses I could/should go for, and where a good place would be to go for them, specifically for someone living in the south of the country. So I ask for help from anyone willing to share it with me, and offer thanks for listening to my narcissistic, existential, navel-gazing drivel.

[NokkonWud]

With University you're likely looking to be moving for courses in that, it also may aid any motivation you lack in studying, getting away from home distractions.

There are numerous Games Design courses, I actually have a BA in Games Design, so if you want to speak privately about it I'll try and help you out in that regard.

[Flabyo]

I'm a games coder, and for that role a degree in straight up Computer Science is often more useful to have than one in Game Design. For one, because they're seen as more 'academically rigourous' (ie, harder) than the design ones, and for two it gives you other career outs if you decide that games isn't actually for you once you start doing it. But I always knew that I was a coder first, and becoming a games coder was something I decided to do long after I'd started my degree.

Having seen the internal side of the interview process, you still have to do work beyond that of your course to stand out. If you're on a game design degree you're going to do the same coursework as all your fellow students, and if you all send those pieces as your CV then none of you will get hired. Games companies look for talent above qualifications, they'll always hire the artist with the incredible portfolio over the guy whose portfolio is meh but who went to Oxbridge.

[Scrustle]

The whole coding thing has been something pushing me away from going in to game design before. I was under the impression that it was impossible to get a job just in design, without having the ability to code. And coding doesn't look appealing to me at all. But from some things I've heard recently (from recent interviews with Keiji Inafune for one thing) I've heard that it's not really required as much as I might have thought. Granted, the industry is a very different place to how it was when Inafune started, but I've heard that there are still avenues to get in to design without having to get in to coding as well. You just need to have good ideas and the proper understanding of how to make them work. Is that actually feasible?

[NokkonWud]

Games Design isn't really coding. As I said, I did Games Design and there was absolutely zero coding in it, it was all Art and Design based. I did Coding at College and it bored the bejezus out of me, it takes a very certain kind of person to do it, and that's why I admire them so much.

[Scrustle]

What exactly does the art side of it involve? Is that a required part of it?

[NokkonWud]

What exactly does the art side of it involve? Is that a required part of it?

2D Sketching
Planning
3D Design
Digital drawing
Interface design

All that kind of stuff really. A lot of Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk 3D Studio Max / Autodesk Maya.

Then there's the stuff about researching and understanding the industry, how it works, its practices etc.

[Scrustle]

Did you need to build up a portfolio for anything?

[NokkonWud]

Did you need to build up a portfolio for anything?

If you don't meet entry criteria, then yes. A Portfolio NEVER hurts anyway.
There was actually a mix up between College and University for me and I ended up losing my place due to a mistake from the College board and had to 're-earn' my University place via a hand-drawn portfolio. It was pretty much a mixed pencil sketch of Bruce Lee that got me in. Never knew what happened to that portfolio (as I was given it back once accepted.)

[Scrustle]

Hmm. Well I don't really have anything I could use for a portfolio. But to be honest, I don't have the skills to build one up anyway, if it's drawing, etc. Worthless at art, and of course zero experience coding or anything like that.

[Combine Hunter]

I'm currently finishing up a course at London South Bank called Games Cultures. It is essentially film studies for video games. So not only do we learn practical skills like 3D modelling and programming, but also examine and analyse games we've played with an academic mind set. The most useful thing about the degree though, is that the course runner is so well connected. She gets the students free access to a lot of industry get togethers, and even paid work at events like eurogamer expo. This stuff is almost more valuable than the degree its self, because of all the contacts you make.

I don't know if this is in line with what you're searching for? I got on the course with my foundation degree in drama, to give you an idea of what they are looking for.

[Flabyo]

When a studio says they're hiring for game designers they're almost always looking for assistants to their current lead, coming into an established studio and being put in charge of a game basically never happens. You might get an area to work on as part of a grander design. They might also actually be hiring level designers (the people that build the actual levels using art from the art team) or even scripters, because job titles in the industry are pretty fluid.

There's a few Extra Credits episodes on industry jobs. Definitely watch the one on the game designer role, but they're all relevant. Here's a youtube playlist.

By all means go for it, the industry needs all the new blood it can get... just bear in mind that if you're not going for a code or art role, getting hired is going to need you to demonstrate your skills as they apply to games specifically in a way that a coder or artist doesn't necessarily have to.

(An aside: the jobs that are most in demand in the industry right now are 'internet / network multiplayer engineers' and 'database and metrics engineers' because everyone is going cloud crazy, and those skills are not traditionally ones that current industry people have)

[NokkonWud]

This stuff is almost more valuable than the degree its self, because of all the contacts you make.

Definitely the case, Teesside is huge if you're into Animation with Animex etc. Couldn't make it this year which is a shame as it featured a small personal get together with the Naughty Dog lead 3D and animation team because I couldn't snag a free ticket.

[Scrustle]

I'm currently finishing up a course at London South Bank called Games Cultures. It is essentially film studies for video games. So not only do we learn practical skills like 3D modelling and programming, but also examine and analyse games we've played with an academic mind set. The most useful thing about the degree though, is that the course runner is so well connected. She gets the students free access to a lot of industry get togethers, and even paid work at events like eurogamer expo. This stuff is almost more valuable than the degree its self, because of all the contacts you make.

I don't know if this is in line with what you're searching for? I got on the course with my foundation degree in drama, to give you an idea of what they are looking for.

That actually does sound like the kind of thing I'd like to go for. What do you mean about this stuff with drama, though?

And as for Extra Credits, although I love the series, and it being part of what has inspired me to look in to this kind of stuff, I've always felt like they aren't really much use for someone trying to get in to the industry in the UK. Their expertise lies in the US. Unless I'm just assuming a load of bollocks, of course. I must admit, although I do go on their forums from time to time, I don't really venture in to the side of it where all the people who are more serious about working in the industry hang around. I always assumed it would be actual game creators talking about stuff that I could lend nothing to, or again people talking about getting in to the industry in the US or other countries.

[Flabyo]

Very little difference between the North American and UK industry in terms of what they look for in hires and what roles are available. (Other than the fact that the UK industry is slowly shrinking in favour of the Canadian one). The non-indie industry is TINY in the UK. Even globally it employs a fraction of the number of people who work in film or tv. Don't disregard reading the opinions of or talking to people just cause they're not in the UK. Chances are many of them used to work in the UK, or work for studios with UK links. There really isn't any meaningful separation between the industry in North America and the one in the UK. Likewise there are massive links between the Canadian industry and that in France.

I'm not really sure what else I can offer, there is no single one thing I can point at and say 'do this and you'll get a job in games in the UK' because such a thing doesn't exist.

Ultimately the best thing you can do is find some people who can do the things you can't and then build a game with them. And finish it. That's more evidence that you can do the job than anything else you can do, and will carry weight alongside whatever qualifications you get.

[Scrustle]

I thought the non-indie industry in the UK was quite large, for the size of our country at least. We have a ton of great racing studios for one thing. It would be really cool to work at Criterion, Codemasters, or Playground Games. In fact, Criterion is actually really close to me. Walked past their building countless times. I think Playground are pretty close too, as are Lionhead. Although me working at Lionhead would be a bit weird. "Hi, I haven't liked a single game you've put out for an entire decade, one of which was one of my most hated games ever. Please give me a job." But I digress.

I guess looking through those Extra Credits episodes again and delving deeper in to the forums would be a good idea.

[Roy42]

It sounds like you just want to do pure game design. In that case, don't do a course. It will waste both your time and money; you won't get anything out of any of them that you couldn't get on your own.

And, unless you have a programmer with you, yes, you do need to be able to do at least a minimal amount of scripting, if nothing else. When you create a game, you are creating a system of rules; and the only way you're going to get a computer to recognise a system of rules is to code them. There are tools that make it incredibly simple, reducing it to very high-level scripting, but if you don't want to do any coding whatsoever, the best you'll ever get is mods or romhacks that play exactly the same as the original games. Of course, if you designed those well enough to get people paying attention to your work, you could then get a programmer to join you and start making something original, if you want to go with that option.

[NokkonWud]

I thought the non-indie industry in the UK was quite large, for the size of our country at least. We have a ton of great racing studios for one thing. It would be really cool to work at Criterion, Codemasters, or Playground Games.

I've had two different friends walk out of two of those studios for personal reasons.

We used to be bigger. We have pretty much two studios in the North-East where I am, and one of those is brand new. You have Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle (Driver: San Francisco, Watch_Dogs etc.) and Double Eleven in Middlesbrough (Little Big Planet Vita) and then of course you have Rockstar down in Leeds. But we've had so many studios close in the UK it's not even funny, including just recently, Blitz Studios.

The good news is, despite this, the market IS picking up again in the UK.

[Scrustle]

Yeah, actually, I suppose. I have heard of Codemasters not really treating their employees well. With one of their subsidiary studios at least. The one that got shut down recently, I think. And Criterion, well, they've been with EA for a while now.

Ubisoft Reflections sounds good. Driver: SF was great. I hear they helped out a little on The Crew too. Although of course, like you say, they're not exactly in the south. And of course there are all those studios that rose from the ashes of Bizarre, Playground being one of them. They've also got ex-Codemasters and Criterion people as well.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself. If a course isn't a good idea for doing purely design, what exactly would be the best course of action?

[Flabyo]

Hi, I haven't liked a single game you've put out for an entire decade, one of which was one of my most hated games ever.

I'll just sit over here in the corner and cry a bit ok?