Studying our Computer Games Development BSc (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and skills around computing, digital asset creation, and animation, and will allow you to specialise in design, programming, or graphics, equipping you for a career in games. In your first year of study, you will develop the skills for digital creative technologies and learn to apply them to areas of computer games development. Fundamentals of Creative Technologies will introduce you to the foundations and techniques for asset creation, editing artwork, animation, and 3D modelling. You will also explore a range of careers in games and the creative technologies sector and gain the skills for working in a professional environment. In our Games and Digital Asset Design unit, you will be introduced to game design skills and learn to develop basic game assets, including digital audio content for different platforms and audiences, and bring them together inside a game engine. You will further develop your design skills and learn visual scripting techniques for games in our Prototyping and Visual Programming unit. Furthermore, you will also have the opportunity to delve further into these topics by selecting an optional unit from 2D Graphics and Digital Art, where you will learn the fundamentals of drawing and painting for games and animation; or Principles of Games Programming, where you can explore programming techniques and concepts used to make computer games.

The focus in your second year of study is to begin developing a professional work portfolio and to develop specialist skills in your chosen area of games development. Core units at this level are the Professional Industry Portfolio, where you will learn more about your chosen career path and internships while working with support to develop a personalised action plan and professional portfolio to contain existing pieces you have made, as well as a substantial new portfolio piece in line with your career goals. You will also have the chance to develop important skills such as interview techniques and CV creation for the creative technologies sector. Aside from this, you will have the opportunity to work together in a team to develop a game in our Studio Development Project unit. Here, you will learn to project manage a game development lifecycle, from inception through to release, and put into practice techniques to enable you to work more effectively within a professional team environment designed to emulate workplace roles within a typical studio. The course also offers a range of optional units for you to diversify your knowledge and skills in the field. If you opt to study graphics for games specialism, you will take the 3D Graphics and Animation Technologies unit, where you will explore state-of-the-art computer animation packages and modern animation software. If you were interested in a games programming specialism, then you will take our Applied Games Programming unit, that will teach you to code game mechanics and gameplay systems while using industry-recognised design patterns for software engineering of games.

Alternatively, if you choose to undertake the design specialism, our unit in Applied Games Design will expose you to a number of game design theories, concepts, and techniques, and how these can be applied in practice. You will also learn to iteratively improve your game designs with professional playtesting. Other optional units in your second year that you can elect depending on your area of personal interest include Compositing for Visual Effects, where you will study theory around optics, physics, and algorithms used for visual effects, as well as 2D and 3D compositing techniques. Alternatively, you may want to learn to use technologies involved in the design, development and implementation of web-based applications in our Web Technologies and Platforms unit, or for mobile devices and applications in our Mobile Application Development unit. You may also choose to learn how to develop desktop applications in our Desktop Applications Development and Software Engineering unit, or develop the skills to model, design, and evaluate excellent user experiences in our User Experience Design unit.

In your final year, you will be introduced to cutting-edge technologies and research trends in our Disruptive Technologies unit. Topics change based on industry and technology trends, but examples may include virtual reality, network gaming, and emergent graphics software and paradigms. You will also be able to take an optional unit in line with your specialism. In Advanced Games Design, you will consider psychological and business aspects of game design while working on a development project to produce a piece of game design. In Advanced Games Programming, you will learn to implement a number of advanced programming techniques for games. Example areas may include machine learning for games, network coding, pathfinding, and behaviour trees. Our Advanced Graphics for Games unit will allow you to practice using advanced tools for computer games graphics platforms. Example topics may include visual effects for games, advanced animation, and face-rigging techniques. You will also be able to complete an Undergraduate Project on a topic of interest to you, and you will work to identify and create a proposal and conduct initial research and design around this in our Research Methodologies and Emerging Technologies unit.