Post-graduate education in games programming/technology

#1 I started at Dundee uni the year before the Abertay games courses started. From all of my mates that were on the BSc course they said it was great, they didn't really have any complaints other than the fact that Abertay isn't a very highly rated uni in the UK.

In the BSc I think they're starting to bring in PS2 programming courses on the linux dev kits to replace their old Net Yaroza's (speeling). They do (well they did when they started) a fair amount of C/C++ and asm coding with a few other languages for tools and websites. ehhhhhh, a lot of game design stuff and they have a final project where you have to team up with some of the games arts course folks to create a game. Pretty good laugh really :)

Ah yeah, and at Abertay they have the competition which will fund 5 teams to make a game full-time. Gits started it the year I left Dundee so I couldn't join in, bugger :D

#2 Yacine,

I am taking getting a degree in Software Engineering with a specialised focus in game programming at UAT

It has been a wild ride so far, the entire staff has been very helpful etc.

-Ron

#3 bleh, ignore me. I misread something entirely ages ago it seems :) can't delete this post though, booger

#4 I presonally wouldn't live in Hull, but there you go. Now Dundee, I could consider that, but I don't think the UK government would pay for me to attend!

#5 I dropped out of High School... I don't even have a GED...

The debt school can bring often times closes as many doors as an education opens...

I believe in school, but at least consider you may not need it...

-J

#6 Chris, thanks for the info. Do you know what year they started the program? And did you know anybody taking the MSc program?

Ron, I have been following your .plans. :)
You seem to be enjoying yourself. You're also working full-time, right? I'm basically thinking about this because my BSc didn't have any focus on game dev.

Mike, any particular reasons you wouldn't live in Hull/Scarborough? The weather? The people?

Joshua, I have considered not going, and whether or not I need it. However, game dev is something I really want to focus on. And I find now, that I have so little time to work on it while I'm working somewhere full-time. I know there are many different possible paths to take. I would just prefer to immerse myself completely for a 1/1.5 year(s). I prefer to get involved now than later, and the way things are going, if I don't do something drastic now, it's gonna take a long ass time, if I just focus on game dev part-time. I am lucky enough that I should be able to afford to go back to school for a year, so I may as well give it a shot.

#7 Yacine: I don't like the area. Of the two areas, I'd prefer Dundee, but I guess it depends on the actual course.

#8 Roc, How is the schooling going at UAT? I've been looking into it. I wonder if they accept TA from the Navy, or GI Bill.

#9 Yacine: DO NOT go to Hull if you can help it, god help me I was born there but the place is dying faster than a dead-thing :)

If i were to choose, I'd go Abertay, merely because its actually got a LITTLE reputation (which I'll be in direct competition with in a few months).

Thing is, dont expect the course to do it for you, think of it as the best time to make a name for yourself. Many people going on these courses simply sit back and think it'll happen for them, it WILL NOT.

Phil.

#10 Rochard,

Yes they do :) I am using my GI Bill from the Nav as well (spent 7 years in)..

Yac,

School is going great, got a 3.5 my first semester. working on another 3.5 this semester. It gets rough at times with work, family, soccer and TGE.

I absolutly hated attending classes at college, UAT (online for that matter) allows me to sit at the PC (or any inet connection) and do my course work when I want. I truely do enjoy not having to be tied to a class room and a specified time on a specified day. Flexibility and freedom on distant learning realy suites me well.

-Ron

#11 Forgot about this thread :) Yeah, I'd recommend Abertay's course too. Mainly because I love the city and it already has great links with established games studios. There are a couple of big teams based or formerly based in Dundee who I've heard make trips up to give lectures and the like.

I think it was '98 that they started the program, I knew someone doing the BSc course and someone who tried the MSc course. Both enjoyed their time at Abertay as far as I know and Dundee is as good a city as it gets for being a student in.

#12 I recomend going to college highly for Computer Science or Software Engineering if you want to be a game programer.

As for graduate work...I don't think I could handle it. I have enough trouble with all the crap associated with school right now. I take some graduate courses and they're great, but the grad students in them have to write tons of papers, and jump through even more hoops. I'm frusturated with the academic environment in general, but I've never been one for school. I'll take my BS and leave thank you very much ;)

As Mark Twain said, "I never let my schooling interfere with my education."

#13 Mark Twain, whose that? ;)

#14 Taking classes in gaming is great, and can really help you in your pursuits. However, I would never recommend getting an actual degree in gameing anything. For the most part, gaming companies don't care about your degree. They only want to see your portfolio, and hear of your experience.
Now theres also a good chance you can't get into gaming, or you realize a more mainstream job offers much more compensation. Those companies would probably laugh at a degree in gaming something.
I've never claimed my advice was worth sh*t, but I personally would shoot for a general computing degree, and fill up all your electives with the gaming classes offered.

#15 Ok, ok...Let's step through all these comments. First off, thanks for your opinions, but I really wish you guys had offered them a couple months ago.

As things stand now, I got accepted to both schools, and I've accepted Hull's offer. My flight is booked, so my hands, are a bit tied at this point.

Phil, you're not the first to recommend not going to Hull, based on having lived there. While I don't believe you actually attented the school there, I do know (from reading your last plan), that you will be teaching in the same field at a competing school, so I value your opinion even more so.

Most people here have recommended Abertay over Hull, but noone seems to have attended Hull. I have heard many good thing about Abertay's games program, but many bad things about the school overall. My only issue is that I haven't heard many bad things about Hull's program. Although, you guys at bolton, don't seem to view them as competitors.

So I don't know. Your comments, while very insightful, kinda brought me down about my decision to attend Hull. However, like some of you have mentioned, I'm not just going there to get a degree. My goal is to dedicate myself to my work, and to build up my portfolio as extensively as possible. I don't expect things to come to me, I'm going to go out, and work, and earn it.

I already have a CS degree, so Im not too worried about that. I applied to these schools as a fall-back plan because I had such a hard time finding work after graduating. I eventually found something in March, but I quit last week, because it just wasn't doing it for me. I'm happy that I can now go to school, and dedicate myself to what I really enjoy.

Anyways, thank you for all your comments, I really appreciate them. I wish I could reevaluate my choice of school, but I also expect to make the most of this opportunity.

Ron, I'm impressed that you managed to stick to your school work, while balancing all the other things in your life. It makes your accomplishments even more commendable. Good luck with your future classes. My biggest problem with distance classes, it's that it's easy to let them drop in priority.