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Is the UL game course out of date?

  • 29-10-2007 12:05am
    #1
    Heliosvector
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭


    I saw a thread saying that there are concerns that many Irish and UK games courses are out of date and using 5-10yr old methods. Is this true with the UL game course? ie do they still work on PS2 ect....


Comments

  • #2
    leeroybrown
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,563 ✭✭✭leeroybrown


    It might be worth searching or posting in the Programming forum as there has been a reasonable bit of discussion of game courses there over the years.


  • #3
    Peteee
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,432 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peteee


    Heliosvector wrote: »
    I saw a thread saying that there are concerns that many Irish and UK games courses are out of date and using 5-10yr old methods. Is this true with the UL game course? ie do they still work on PS2 ect....

    Have you got a link to this thread?

    Anyways, the stuff you'll be learning will probably not be device specific (Theres no point 'learning' how to program for the PS2, everything you learn will be obsolete in 5 years...even if you learned to program for the PS3, your skill set would have you on the street in 5 years)

    Rather you'll learn fundamental concepts that can be applied to any platform or language i.e. you'll learn to program generally, rather then in C or Java specifically (Though C is a good starting point, as lots of languages are based off it)

    From reading the module list, it seems like a pretty general CS degree, with specialities in graphics and sound rather then say Computer Networks (Which a lot of us Comp Sysers on here chose as a 'major')


  • #4
    Heliosvector
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Heliosvector


    i would like to do networking though. theres only like 13 modules in difference. I dont suppose i could say do the game course, and then do the extra modules over the summer and get 2 honours degrees in like 4-5yrs. That would be ideal. I doubt you can do anything like that though.


  • #5
    Peteee
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,432 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peteee


    Given that they dont run modules over the summer, probably not!


  • #6
    kaimera
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,396 ✭✭✭✭kaimera


    Peteee wrote: »
    Given that they dont run modules over the summer, probably not!
    afaik you they do run modules over the summer peter :)

    side note: the cisco course runs also.


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  • #7
    Ginger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭Ginger


    You could attempt the whole 13 extra modules, but i dont know if you get 2 degrees simultaneously ... can you be enrolled in 2 degree courses at any one time???


  • #8
    Peteee
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,432 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peteee


    kaimera wrote: »
    afaik you they do run modules over the summer peter :)

    side note: the cisco course runs also.

    I stand corrected then!


  • #9
    Heliosvector
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Heliosvector


    Ginger wrote: »
    You could attempt the whole 13 extra modules, but i dont know if you get 2 degrees simultaneously ... can you be enrolled in 2 degree courses at any one time???

    no i mean they are the ones that match upp..... wait ill get the exact number.... oh it is that.... well it seems the big change only happens in the 4th year. if i say did the game course i would then only need to do 3 modules from the comp system course.
    1:Document architectures
    2:Sofware engineering Project
    3:Professional issues in software engineering
    I could surely do those in summer, only 3 of them after all. Then stay 1 yr more after my graduation in the games course and enrole in the last year of comp systems. Briliant I say!!!!

    Surely someone who achieved 2 hounours degrees in only 5 yrs and at young age would be impressive massively on any CV yes??


  • #10
    Ginger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭Ginger


    I dont think they cross over like that. i can see where you are coming from, I did most of my MS exams that way.

    As for having 2 degrees, hmmm... personally, i would see it as a degree with some extra modules... or maybe like a grad dip.

    Have a chat with Admissions and see what they say about it.


  • #11
    Ginger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭Ginger


    And the software engineering project is a 2 module jobbie, its your FYP if i remember correctly.. PISE is a PIA. Takes a lot of time for that module. Presentations and documentation for both of those takes longer than 3 months that you would have in summer and you would need a hell of a lot of work.


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  • #12
    zilog_jones
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,638 ✭✭✭zilog_jones


    kaimera wrote: »
    afaik you they do run modules over the summer peter :)
    Who does? I've never heard of this before. Or is it a CSIS thing?


  • #13
    thelordofcheese
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,368 ✭✭✭thelordofcheese


    Heliosvector wrote: »
    I saw a thread saying that there are concerns that many Irish and UK games courses are out of date and using 5-10yr old methods. Is this true with the UL game course? ie do they still work on PS2 ect....

    Theres nothing wrong with working on the ps2 in a games dev course.

    The point of working on that is to give you an idea of what coding a game on a console would be like, and it's a million miles removed from the relative comfort of the DirectX API and such.
    And given the backward ass retarded nature of the ps2, then if you can handle that then you can handle anything.


  • #14
    Heliosvector
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Heliosvector


    is that really true? because i heard lots of developers hated the new consoles in that it was very difficult to get used to. so wouldnt it be better to develope in this generation rather than the one that will soon become extinct to save us that hassle???


  • #15
    Peteee
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,432 Mod ✭✭✭✭Peteee


    Heliosvector wrote: »
    is that really true? because i heard lots of developers hated the new consoles in that it was very difficult to get used to.

    From what I've heard, the PS2 was fairly hard to develop for (Compared to the Xbox, which was pretty much a PC in a box - Intel Processor, nVidia GPU, DirectX API, Windows OS, a stripped down 2000 I believe) compare that to the PS2, proprietry CPU ('Emotion Engine') and GPU (Graphics Synthesiser).

    Its a similar deal with the 360 and PS3, the 360 is generally held to be easier to program for, whereas the PS3 is harder to program for (On account of its SPU's) though probably has the slight edge in raw power (Controversial!)
    so wouldnt it be better to develope in this generation rather than the one that will soon become extinct to save us that hassle???

    Not necessarily, especially since this generation (Bar the Wii) all have multi processors, which are difficult to program for (Concurrency and deadlocking and all that excellent stuff)

    However, Microsoft have a dev kit for the 360 which you can download called XNA, which is basically a version of the .NET 2.0 framework and C# that can produce code that runs on a PC or on the 360. You can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_XNA


  • #16
    Heliosvector
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Heliosvector


    yeah... where have i seen that before...... I... think they had that to download on xbox live in the early days of the 360. you had to pay for it though and i didnt even know if it was any good so i just passed it by.


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