Help with chossing Game course at uni

Started by
15 comments, last by Avalix 18 years, 4 months ago
Hi, I am wanting to do a game programing course next year at uni in UK and i was wonding if anyone had any info to help me finalise on a uni as im having really trouble finding info on this on the net. I have already sent my UCAS form off with the following uni's: Lincoln Sheffield Hallam Derby Hull Hudderfield Northumbria Any help would be apresiated Thanks Avalix
Advertisement
I've checked around most of the unis in the country who offer the Computer Games Programming degree and I'd have to say that Derby looks like the best one. It's the one I'm applying for as a first choice...might see you there :)
Cool! indeed it was the most promasing one that i have looked at. nice to get Confirmation :D

Just need to get a reply back now
The thing about Derby was that the course was tailored specifically for current and next-gen games development. In contrast, other unis simply throw in 3 or 4 games modules into their current CS degrees.

If I may, could I ask what your experience / background is in games? Have you done much programming or worked on any mods? Just curious to see what my competitions like :D
My friend does a course in Comp Sci at Hull, and he seems to think it is a good choice.
JUST-CODE-IT.NETManaged DirectX & C# TutorialsForumsArticlesLinksSamples
lol sorry for that Anonymous Post :P

Yeah i have seen a few course that are just CS with one or two game modules

Well I’m very passionate about game, i have been playing them from about 6-7 years old. i have some programming experience from using VB in Access and Excel for my ICT course. I might learn a bit of C++ before I head off to uni so I can get a bit of a head start. I havnt made any mods or games yet but im hoping to start making a small game in flash when I get my workload done.

think thats it :P

How about you? whats your background like :)
Been playing games as long as I can remember, I believe Monkey Island was my first :) Since then I've jumped from platform to platform playing everything I can.

I've picked up the same Computing / ICT skills as you by doing A-Level Computing.

I've also spent a number of years learning C/C++ and C#. Done some work on DirectX and OpenGL. Just recently I started working as a programmer and technical advisor on a multiplayer Half-Life 2 mod as my blog shows.

Of course, the one problem I'm going to have with getting to study Games Programming at uni is that...I haven't actually applied yet *gulp*
wow looks like your programing skill kill mine :P

btw monkey island, great game. one of my faves:D

I love to do some modding but i just dont have the time with stupid coursework. Not a big fan of FPS anyway
Hi Avalix. Welcome to GDNet.

Many programmers take up a computer science degree as ot only do you learn how to program in various language such as Java and C++, but you also learn about object-orientated programming and what actually happens behinds the scenes of your programming using assembly language.

Good luck :-).
As UndeadInsanity mentioned, a majority of people do a Computer Science or similar (Software Engineering or even Electronic Engineering) course which will cover the concepts of programming, and then study and create games as a hobby outside of their academic curriculum. The advantage is a lot more well-rounded degree, and should you change your mind about what you want to do later, a Comp Sci degree is a lot more appealing than a Games Computing degree.

That aside, if your heart is set on taking a degree specifically related to games (and seeing as you have sent off your UCAS form), I will just advise you against Lincoln. Aside from the fact it has one of the lowest places (120 or something like that) in the league table, I have a friend there who is in his second year of the course and I hear nothing but complaints. The course moves very slow, is apparently very out of date in some subjects and has poor teaching. If you would like more information, I can probably pass your contact details on and see if my friend can give more advice for/against the Uni.

Though I don't personally have any experience with most of the other Uni's, I know there are a number of GDNet members at Hull and Derby who can offer advice, and I suspect Derby is probably your best choice from your list.

Either way, good luck with it.

This topic is closed to new replies.

Advertisement