Games Dev & Creative Multimedia

im...LOST

Hey all,

A 6th year student here realising how close the CAO application deadline actually is.

I'm interested in two of the courses which are in the title. I've read the perspectus' and a good bit on the interweb but I also wanted some first hand opinions from people who actually have been there and done that.

So if anyone here are in either of these courses, I would appreciate if you could explain the course content and what you actually do during the year,

Please, any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, imLOST

Merrick

Hi,

I'm in Games Dev, I'll try to explain what I've been doing for the past year and a half:

Basically, what you'll be doing in the first year is learning fairly standard computer related things like maths, basic hardware and networks, website development and you'll start programming in Java.

The more game related modules are graphical design and games theory and practice. Graphics was pretty much like studying art and Photoshop, and doing some character design. Theory and Practice was the study of games, where we looked at the history of games - both regular and video games - and got to play them in class, which made it the most fun class of the year.

Second year so far has involved more maths, web development and 'systems modelling' rubbish, as well as more Java and some C++. There was more Graphics too - this year we did environmental design instead of characters and got to make a wee game using Quick Time and Director.

Hope that helps a little, bear in mind that my year was the first to ever do this course in the DKIT and little bits may have changed, but it should still be the same sort of thing. Feel free to ask if you need to know anything else. Good luck.

im...LOST

Thanks for the response and I really do value all the help you can give.

I know I'll probably sound stupid when I say this but were you kinda supposed to have previous knowledge of how to do some basic programming and stuff before you go in there or do you learn everything from scratch?

Also, are you enjoying it and would you encourage people to do it?

Whats the standard of maths like? I plan to get an A1 at ordinary level so should I be ok or what?

I'd like to think of myself as a creative person and
i was wondering if alot of the course was programming and stuff. I feel like
I would enjoy the graphic design end of things, is there a fiar bit of that in the course.

Thanks a million

The Bollox

I am doing Software Development atm.

When I started I didn't have a breeze about anything really, and it doesn't matter. They will start with the mundanely basic stuff like what the Curser is, what the icons are blah blah blah. After a white they move onto the basics of whatever it is you primarily do in Games Development, for us we started some basic HTML and some basic Visual Basic commands. You pick it up nice and easy, but there will be people in the cource who know a lot about what they are doing, and this may intimidate you, but don't let it, by the end of the year you will all be on the same step

Merrick

im...LOST wrote:

I know I'll probably sound stupid when I say this but were you kinda supposed to have previous knowledge of how to do some basic programming and stuff before you go in there or do you learn everything from scratch?

Not at all, I had hardly done any programming at all before I started. If you've got the right mindset you'll pick it up easily enough. You start at the beginning, and like Marts said, you'll be at the same level as everyone else soon enough.

Also, are you enjoying it and would you encourage people to do it?

Yep, I'm liking it a lot at the moment. Some of the classes are quite boring though, and it seems like some of them don't apply to games at all, but overall it's good.

Whats the standard of maths like? I plan to get an A1 at ordinary level so should I be ok or what?

Most of what we've done is pretty much the same as the Leaving Cert honours course, we did probability, trigonometry, and calculus at that level. If you're getting A's you'll know a good deal of it already, and only parts of it go beyond LC standards, so you don't have to be a mathematical genius to get along with it.

I'd like to think of myself as a creative person and
i was wondering if alot of the course was programming and stuff. I feel like
I would enjoy the graphic design end of things, is there a fiar bit of that in the course.

It's not all completely centred on programming and IT stuff, though there is a fair bit of that. If you're in any way creative you should like the graphics bit, where you get to make up game storylines, characters and their surroundings, and you can get away with almost anything there! There's one graphics class in 1st year, and two in 2nd year. According to my research, we get to do animation for 3rd year too, so your creative side will indeed be put to use.

Merrick

Ah, don't worry, it would be dumber not to ask.

At the beginning, it's the most basic of all basics like printing things on screen and adding numbers and the like. Then (based on what I did) you just get given questions to do in class, making wee programs to calculate numbers and convert temperatures and things like that, as well as a very simple number guessing game whick was part of a test. My class weren't given a project until the second semester, when we had to make an aquarium that basically consists of putting pictures of fish on screen and making them move and bump into each other. I think that this year's first years made a game of blackjack too...

im...LOST

Thanks for all the help lads.

Sounds good. I think I was intimidated but the whole programming stuff going over my head but I think I would be well fit for it I think.

I'd say I'd enjoy the Graphics classes so I'm happy that there a good few of them plotted through out the course.

Sorry for another stupid question but, Could you explain what you actually do with the code that you write when programming. Like, at the start you'd learn the very basis (obviously ) but after that would you get a wee project to do or what?

Merrick

Ooh that's weird, am I psychic or what? ^^

im...LOST

LOL yeah...

I was logged in with my brothers account so I had to delete it and repost it with my account.


Thanks again.

It looks like I'll be sticking it down on my COA form

K.O.Kiki

Yay -- another gamer, thanks to Merrick! (you crazy bee-yatch! )