What can I do with an HNC in Games Development?

What have you covered? These things tend to be dangerously specific, but you've probably got a shot at junior programmer (or equivalent) positions elsewhere.

Reply 2

protazoid

Compuet games devlopment is a tiny niche market, therefore it is unlikely that you will get a job.

I would go for something more generic like software devlopment

Reply 3

NR09

10

sweet **** all

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

OP

Original post by protazoid

Compuet games devlopment is a tiny niche market, therefore it is unlikely that you will get a job.

I would go for something more generic like software devlopment

You realize the gaming industry hasn't stopped growing ... ever. Lol. Don't you?

Reply 5

protazoid

Original post by Mase94

You realize the gaming industry hasn't stopped growing ... ever. Lol. Don't you?

The computer games industry has seen a massive reduction in growth and has decreased in size due to the reccession it was very badly hit. And it will always be a niche market with very very limited opportunities.

The fact is that they will choose a graduate from a good university like strathclyde or edinburgh over someone with a HND. They can more than afford to be picky.

You do realise that dont you lol

Reply 6

OP

Original post by TheUnbeliever

What have you covered? These things tend to be dangerously specific, but you've probably got a shot at junior programmer (or equivalent) positions elsewhere.

Nothing yet, I haven't started it yet. I put it on my CV thats what I am studying. not what I have yet :smile:

.

But it will cover things like *goes and gets sheet from college*

Games Technology
IT Applications
3D Animation (<3)
Computing: Planning
Structured programming
Working within a project team (</3)
Graded unit: computer games development
Mathematics (for interactive gaming) ((I was told this would be similar to higher level maths and if it is im probobly not gonna pass it anyway)

Digital media audio
Personal devleopment planning
3D level editing
User interface design (<3)

:confused:

Reply 7

OP

Original post by protazoid

The computer games industry has seen a massive reduction in growth and has decreased in size due to the reccession it was very badly hit. And it will always be a niche market with very very limited opportunities.

The fact is that they will choose a graduate from a good university like strathclyde or edinburgh over someone with a HND. They can more than afford to be picky.

You do realise that dont you lol

I re-read what you said and I think I misunderstood it sowwwy.

But anyways I intend(ed?) on going onto uni to continue it but I think piling up qualifications in gaming industry will hinder me getting a part time job until I graduate and start looking for work specifically in that sector! :s-smilie:

Reply 8

Delaney

Original post by Mase94

You realize the gaming industry hasn't stopped growing ... ever. Lol. Don't you?

You realize the amount of students studying video games related courses grossly outweighs the number of video games related jobs in the market? Scotland related, the cut of government subsidies has hit the industry pretty hard.

With regard to your HNC it would depend on which units you study (they're not the same throughout all colleges) however an entry level programming role wouldn't be entirely unimaginable.

I would strongly recommend a more generic course as it would greatly increase your employ-ability and transferable skills. If you do go for a games development course, please please please make sure it is SkillSet accredited - http://www.skillset.org/. If it isn't, the value of your course (from the view-point of both an employer and a student) is massively reduced.

Also, if you're going for a graphics or programming related role it would be very useful for you to have your own portfolio of graphics or software that you have created in your spare time. Qualifications get you an interview, passion and knowledge of the subject matter gets you the job.

TL;DR - Do software development. Otherwise, make sure it is SkillSet accredited.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 9

mwnciau

Original post by Mase94

Working within a project team (</3)

You do realise that in practically all software engineering jobs (especially games development) you have to work in a project team?

WRT the original question, I doubt employers will look past your degree if you're going to uni.

Reply 10

OP

Original post by Delaney

You realize the amount of students studying video games related courses grossly outweighs the number of video games related jobs in the market?

With regard to your HNC it would depend on which units you study (they're not the same throughout all colleges) however an entry level programming role wouldn't be entirely unimaginable.

I would strongly recommend a more generic course as it would greatly increase your employ-ability and transferable skills. If you do go for a games development course, please please please make sure it is SkillSet accredited - http://www.skillset.org/. If it isn't, the value of your course (from the view-point of both an employer and a student) is massively reduced.

Also, if you're going for a graphics or programming related role it would be very useful for you to have your own portfolio of graphics or software that you have created in your spare time. Qualifications get you an interview, passion and knowledge of the subject matter gets you the job.

TL;DR - Do software development. Otherwise, make sure it is SkillSet accredited.

I don't understand what your linking me 2 lol, its 2 late to surf a website to work it out! :smile:

Sqa courses may have different titles from college to college (as I learned from my last course) but they are the same units (I was told this by my lecturer not 2 days ago :smile:

)

So on that note I don't get why your linking me this site, sorry :/

Reply 11

parasitic

11

To be honest you should consider a degree course and not HND as it won't be enough to cover things in enough detail to give you a chance at getting a job, be it in a games industry or other creative sectors.

I'm doing Computer Games Technology and we covered lots of software skills, like photo editing, graphics, 3d modelling, website making then pure art and programming and similar. Then we get to specialise in graphics or programming area. Which leads to various jobs.

It really depends what your course teaches you. Is it more art/graphics based or programming (c++/c# ? ).
If you're learning games programming, the real stuff and not silly flash scripting, then realisticaly if you get good, have code portfolios and programs to show, you can easily get a job in the games industry- obviously small indie companies but some other 'bigger' UK based ones too like Climax, Jagex games. Thery always reqruit graduates. You can even take your skills to software programming, making complex databases, websites just everything to do with the programming language you learnt. So make sure to get good with C++ then other languages will come naturaly.

If your qualification is more about 3d modelling/graphics then there are jobs in the films industry, special effects, rigging all that jazz. TV adverts, music videos even medical applications. Media based stuff is all around us really, you could be modelling the next ferarri car from someones technical drawings :biggrin:

you never know.

However seriously consider if HND is worth it, if it covers enough ground on the skills you need to get a job. Is it a reputable HND? How many other students went out to get jobs after finishing it? Ask the lecturers, other current students.

Reply 12

OP

Original post by mwnciau

You do realise that in practically all software engineering jobs (especially games development) you have to work in a project team?

WRT the original question, I doubt employers will look past your degree if you're going to uni.

What do you mean look past my degree?
I know these type of jobs call for working within teams but I don't fancy working within teams of neds like my last course. Perhaps because this is the HNC and not the NC the amount of neds will be limited but I'd rather work with normal people who are actually tolerable.

I remmember at a point in my last course I was paired up with a massively neddy ned and an incrediably annoying handicapped guy and everyone else was paired fairly. I doubt the amount of these types of people dwindle as you go higher up the framework but meh. I'm sure some stay on for a few more years.

Thanks for your reply :smile:

Reply 13

Delaney

Original post by Mase94

I don't understand what your linking me 2 lol, its 2 late to surf a website to work it out! :smile:

Sqa courses may have different titles from college to college (as I learned from my last course) but they are the same units (I was told this by my lecturer not 2 days ago :smile:

)

So on that note I don't get why your linking me this site, sorry :/

SkillSet accreditation is like the industry standard for a good course that will teach you job-related stuff. They have the same mandatory units however there are optional units that you are taught to give you enough credits for the HNC. These vary from college to college (I've recently finished my HNC).

SkillSet accreditation is possibly the most important factor for choosing a creative-based course.

Reply 14

OP

Original post by parasitic

To be honest you should consider a degree course and not HND as it won't be enough to cover things in enough detail to give you a chance at getting a job, be it in a games industry or other creative sectors.

I'm doing Computer Games Technology and we covered lots of software skills, like photo editing, graphics, 3d modelling, website making then pure art and programming and similar. Then we get to specialise in graphics or programming area. Which leads to various jobs.

It really depends what your course teaches you. Is it more art/graphics based or programming (c++/c# ? ).
If you're learning games programming, the real stuff and not silly flash scripting, then realisticaly if you get good, have code portfolios and programs to show, you can easily get a job in the games industry- obviously small indie companies but some other 'bigger' UK based ones too like Climax, Jagex games. Thery always reqruit graduates. You can even take your skills to software programming, making complex databases, websites just everything to do with the programming language you learnt. So make sure to get good with C++ then other languages will come naturaly.

If your qualification is more about 3d modelling/graphics then there are jobs in the films industry, special effects, rigging all that jazz. TV adverts, music videos even medical applications. Media based stuff is all around us really, you could be modelling the next ferarri car from someones technical drawings :biggrin:

you never know.

However seriously consider if HND is worth it, if it covers enough ground on the skills you need to get a job. Is it a reputable HND? How many other students went out to get jobs after finishing it? Ask the lecturers, other current students.

I'm doing an HNC but this brings up another question I had. Could I get into a university with just an HNC or would I need highers? I really want a job in games development not to fussed about doing what but something that I wouldn't feel I had to drag myself to everyday (like my last course :smile:

) but I don't have any highers and dunno if a uni would take me with just an HNC :frown:

Reply 15

OP

Original post by Delaney

SkillSet accreditation is like the industry standard for a good course that will teach you job-related stuff. They have the same mandatory units however there are optional units that you are taught to give you enough credits for the HNC. These vary from college to college (I've recently finished my HNC).

SkillSet accreditation is possibly the most important factor for choosing a creative-based course.

HNC in games development? How was it? More to the point, the maths? *gulp*.

Reply 16

mwnciau

Original post by Mase94

What do you mean look past my degree?
I know these type of jobs call for working within teams but I don't fancy working within teams of neds like my last course. Perhaps because this is the HNC and not the NC the amount of neds will be limited but I'd rather work with normal people who are actually tolerable.

I remmember at a point in my last course I was paired up with a massively neddy ned and an incrediably annoying handicapped guy and everyone else was paired fairly. I doubt the amount of these types of people dwindle as you go higher up the framework but meh. I'm sure some stay on for a few more years.

Thanks for your reply :smile:

What I mean is that if you have a degree in software engineering, a HNC in games development won't make much of a difference, if any.

Reply 17

TheUnbeliever

Original post by Mase94

Nothing yet, I haven't started it yet. I put it on my CV thats what I am studying. not what I have yet :smile:

.

Ah, okay.

Are you aiming to go into industry directly afterwards or via university? A generic software engineering degree is more easily marketable, especially when a lot of places have automated systems which will reject CVs which don't meet their requirements before they're ever seen by a person. Given the silliness of some requirements, this is always a concern. On the other hand, if you can get experience in industry, it's entirely possible to succeed without a degree, particularly in a field quite so dynamic as the games industry.

Games Technology
IT Applications
3D Animation (<3)
Computing: Planning
Structured programming
Working within a project team (</3)
Graded unit: computer games development
Mathematics (for interactive gaming) ((I was told this would be similar to higher level maths and if it is im probobly not gonna pass it anyway)

Okay, these are fairly vague titles so I'm going to skip the first two with the caution that if they're overview courses or courses that teach you how to use specific tools, they're of relatively little use (although being able to list skills with these is never going to hurt).

3D animation is potentially applicable to quite a few roles outside the games industry itself. Mobile phones and the ubiquity of high(er) bandwidth connections have expanded the market for augmented and mediated ('virtual') reality apps. There's a lot of research into pushing the boundaries here, particularly in the military who see it as a useful tool for commanders, pilots and drivers as well as a training tool. Here, obviously, you'd probably work for e.g. Lockheed Martin rather than the armed forces themselves.

Another alternative is the special effects industry, largely based in London (as you'd expect) but which is pretty successful, punching above its weight internationally and is in (as I understand it) dire need of capable new hires.

Planning and structured programming are probably general 'skills' courses again. Team work is, too - but make the most of this, there's potential for a real selling point here to get you through competency-based interviews and possibly an end product you can talk about.

Maths there doesn't sound too challenging, but do your best at it - a lot of graphics work involves a fair bit of knowledge of linear algebra, which is 'real' maths. Even if you're not going to be doing proofs or too many by-hand calculations, understanding concepts and transformations will be useful. Additionally, if you can succeed here there's the simulation market, generally supported by generic engineering companies.

Digital media audio
Personal devleopment planning
3D level editing

All sound fairly hard to sell to employers, sorry.

User interface design (<3)

If you really get into this, you can actually have a career in this alone. User experience and HCI work is available at almost all large companies and would be a lot more varied than your average programming joe job.

Original post by Mase94

You realize the gaming industry hasn't stopped growing ... ever. Lol. Don't you?

I wouldn't stretch to 'tiny' but it is fairly specific compared to a lot of other things. The market is certainly orders of magnitude smaller than that for generic business software. There have also been some straits in the UK recently, although some have been beating the downturn. You're doing the right thing to consider alternatives in case things don't work out. :smile:

Reply 18

OP

Original post by mwnciau

What I mean is that if you have a degree in software engineering, a HNC in games development won't make much of a difference, if any.

I think I get what you mean but I'm talking about the present when I don't have a degree. Thats like saying if you have a standard grade when you get an NC the standard grade won't make a difference. Is it not? and if it is I fail to see the relevance of your post if it's not I'm sorry but I think it's too late at night for anymore of an explanation :smile:

I should really ask these types of questions when I'm fully awake lol. :smile:

Reply 19

Delaney