Univeristys In the UK
polycounter lvl 9
Okay so i've spent the last year or so learning more and more about Games design and how most games are built procedures and what else...
Ive also been told that alot of Universitys are claiming to be teaching how to become a games designer/developer/modeller but not actually teaching correct techniques therefore rendering University a waste of time and money,
my question to you guys is this...Is it worth going to Uni and which one?
If you vote please state your reasons
P.S. If you went to Uni and now have a career in games development please say which Uni, if not please say what you did instead
Ive also been told that alot of Universitys are claiming to be teaching how to become a games designer/developer/modeller but not actually teaching correct techniques therefore rendering University a waste of time and money,
my question to you guys is this...Is it worth going to Uni and which one?
If you vote please state your reasons
P.S. If you went to Uni and now have a career in games development please say which Uni, if not please say what you did instead
Replies
You'll get a lot of different answers to this question I'm sure; and there are a lot of people who vote both for and against University. It is completely down to the individual - I found that paying money and having a (slightly :P) structured learning environment benefitted me a lot; even if a few of the modules required were of no interest to me. This is totally not the case with everyone though, and I am sure it is not the place for everyone; especially those who can take it upon themselves over the course of a few years to learn and progress at whatever topic they are interested in.
Anyway - to answer your actual Question: I went to Staffordshire University and completed a BEng in Computer Games Design this year specialising in Environment Art - I am now at R* here in Edinburgh.
I too flounder without a set task to complete, so i too would also benefit from the structure that comes from Uni.
I ended up at staffordshire uni too, 3 years into the course I found my goal and started focusing on game art.
If I already knew I wanted to be a game artist before deciding to go uni then I would most definitely not take a game design course and instead go for a fine art course, or not go uni at all.
I know you're trying to link the uni someone went to with the job their currently doing like it proves that particular uni to be successful but you're doing it wrong. The people who get jobs are the people that don't give up trying.
I was thinking about this the other day. People often say you don't need school, you can learn it all on the internet, which is true. But for me, without the strict deadlines and classes, peers and teachers, I never would have taken such initiative and learned/worked as much as I did in 2 years. I can self-teach myself well but I probably would never have even bothered with 3d if not for my schooling because I was planning to do something else for a living. Something that I already knew how to do.
So I guess the question is, are you someone who can self-teach and would you be satisfied with doing it on your own. If not, go through a program.
im also looking for just general reviews on certain Uni courses, because obviously id like to go to the Uni that knows more about the industry and not waste time learning bad or unused techniques
Also please post if you answer the poll id like to hear your reasons for your choice
However, you'll end up teaching yourself regardless - the only question is how much you need your hand held by faculty staff. Something to consider is the background of the tutors themselves. Many people that couldn't hack it in the industry or whose work wasn't of a sufficiently high standard see teaching as a steady gig, and a way to 'stay' in the business.
If you know exactly what you want to do, university can also dilute your learning goals by teaching a lot of topics that you may not necessarily need. If you want to be a VFX artist, for example, life drawing won't help you at all but you'll still need to take the time away from what you really want to do to ensure you pass the class. Same for theoretical lessons and your dissertation. Granted, most students could probably stand to improve their written skills and a well-rounded education can be a good thing, but it's all time away from working on your core skills and portfolio.
Nobody can tell you whether you should or shouldn't go. If you struggle to teach yourself, why is that? Is it the lack of structure, or a lack of discipline on your part?
The best advice I can give is to grill the faculty staff on their skills and backgrounds. Granted, here in the UK there aren't nearly as many good schools for game development as North America, but that doesn't mean you should settle for being taught by someone that's never worked in a studio, or doesn't know what they're doing. Game development is rapidly becoming the hot-button topic that media studies and related courses were back in the mid to late 90's, so be wary and discerning.
For what it's worth, I voted no.
"What should i learn and where can i learn it"
cause its all well and good to say search for tutorials, but on what... another factor would be i don't have the discipline i suppose is the best word to sit at home day after day on my own learning this all. Im a big one for social interaction and i much prefer group work which is why i would enjoy the industry, as its not a one man job its a group effort and you can all converge on one goal and one aim and help each other out.
So as you can see this is where my problems lie, i mean if i had just one person as motivated as I to work with i could do it but theres no-one i know thats up to standard or up for the task. This is the sort of time where id like to look at getting an internship somewhere but im not sure where to ask what skills i should already have and whatever else.
On another note its not that im worried ill be taught things im not entierly interested in, its just i don't want what im interested in to be the wrong stuff, as ive said continually but i can't help but force that point. I mean its easy to say you will do all the learning which i know i will do cause no-one else can do it for me, its just i dont want to be told this is what you need and for me to spend all this time learning it to be told later on
"nah mate thats useless"
But thank you very much for your reasons for and against i am taking this all into account.
P.S. PLEASE don't forget to mention if you did or did not attend a Uni and how it benefited you if it did at all id like to hear your experiences in this industry and what got you where you are today
That's true, but nobody else can carry your weight for you on a project, and with that comes a great deal of responsibility. Granted, group projects are a great way to interact with other artists and ask questions, but at the end of the day, you have to be responsible for your own learning and your own contributions to any project work.
Also, you admit that you lack the discipline to self-teach, which is fine, but the real question is whether you have the discipline to push yourself and work hard enough to hone your skills and actually create production-ready work? It goes without saying that this industry is ferociously competitive, and if you struggle with the motivation to teach yourself something that you need to love doing in order to succeed, no university can teach you determination or discipline - that's all up to you.
I'm not trying to put you off, but rather give you some things to think about.
If someone said here learn this and make me this, id go do it but i struggle to sit there and make an aim and goal for myself to complete as i overthink it drastically as to is this a suitable task is this even plausable etc.
and thanks Danshewan i do appreciate the fact your trying to show me the reality of it that its not all fun and games and theres no point aiming in this career unless you truly enjoy it.
I'd happily have the determination and discipline with a set task infront of me, on a sidenote the community workshops that go on here i was contemplating whether i should get involved or not but as of yet i struggle to find the time and struggle to find the ideas, to find something challenging but achievable for me,
e.g. workshop 3 to create a fps melee weapon, im not gonna do a plank of wood as its far to simple and unimaginative but could be a good place to get my foundations secure, and i couldn't do something as complicated as a wrench as one of my biggest unanswered questions when it comes to modelling is
"how many seperate pieces should i use if any?" by that i mean, say i was making a wrench would the adjustable side be made of a seperate piece or should i extrude it all to make it one piece? or if i was making say.... a Gun, would things like the trigger and trigger guard be best made out of one piece of a seperate piece or perhaps the small buttons to release magazines would that be the same or seperate?
these are the sort of questions where i have yet to be shown guidance, i understand that i indeed must make the decision on what to do as it is different for each project, but i have not been shown guidelines as to what is and isn't acceptable.
I hope this all makes sense so far...
Its questions liek that that stop me in my workflow and limit me in my work as im afraid to try either and be told its wrong, but i'd be more comfortable to try one when ive been told or shown some guidelines e.g. if its small make it seperate if its big make the same or something like that im not sure if thatrs right or even relevant
sorry for the wall of text =/
this is prob my last post for today so ill try and read at somepoint Thanks again everyone be back soon
The best way to do it the "right way" is to do it the wrong way and learn from it. So go read threads in the P&P and learn from everyone's mistakes or what they could do better. Or a better alternative is to post your own work and get critiques specific to you.
Going to uni helped me choose this path, but at the same time I wouldnt recommend doing the same course I did to anyone who has an interest in game art. Uni was useful for me because I didn't know what I wanted to do.
Basically its something I'd recommend to my gaming friends who have no career goals, not people on Polycount.