EDGE interview with our programme leaders
Why should students choose Derby? What makes you stand apart from other universities and colleges?
Tommy Thompson: I think for many it’s the culture of the course: our team is very hands-on and we promote the individual thinker. All staff who teach on CGP are either former developers in the games industry or wider software industry. We inject a lot of our own experiences into what we teach. In addition we have a range of extra-curricular events that run throughout the year, including Game Jams, Brown Bags (the students' own lecture series) and the Games@Derby Expo.
Phil Morris: Games development programmes at the University of Derby combine academic research with industry experience, teaching specific skills that will be valued in the industry to maximise future employment potential. Students attending the University of Derby will benefit from the real-life experience of both industry experts and technical specialists. As an example, the University can offer technical expertise in both graphics and artificial intelligence and theory and practise modules are deliberately interconnected. The University’s games development courses have consistently been rated as the best in the country giving the University the highest scores for satisfaction in the National Student Survey. Not only that, high percentages of the students who have graduated from the University’s CGP and CGMA courses have found employment in the games industry.
How closely do you work with active studios and developers to construct your syllabus?
TT: Given we are all ex-developers we keep in touch with colleagues in industry about trends in technology and practices. Also, given we place such an emphasis on the second year transition to placements, we speak with our contacts at companies who take on our students to ensure we’re keeping things relevant. If our students do not have the skills to attain a placement or are not satisfying their team leaders while out there, we’re not doing our job right. Hence maintaining these industry links is crucial.
PM: The CGP and CGMA degree programmes have a broad, engaging and highly relevant range of modules. The University also has innovative links with industry experts and attracts guest speakers, such as Jed Ashworth, Senior Designer with Evolution Studios, to ensure that students receive the most up-to-date industry perspective and the best possible preparation for future careers in the industry.
And what industry experience can students gain on your course/s?
TT: Our one-year placement is crucial here. This is a mandatory component of the degree between second and final year. The growth of a student’s skills and confidence while out there is undeniable. For the majority of our students this leaves them in a comfortable position to transition onto graduate employment, many of whom have jobs lined up before finishing the course.
PM: Students work to industry briefs and for added real-life industry experience, CGMA students in their third year can opt for placements with high-profile gaming developers (compulsory for CGP third year students), which have resulted both in future employment with these companies, and a growing number of graduates becoming self-employed games developers or working as independent artists and programmers.
What do you think are the key skills students hoping to gain a foothold in the industry need these days?
TT: One area I have placed a lot of focus on is building soft skills. You can be the best developer out there, but if you can’t sell yourself, you won’t make it. Many students fail to appreciate that they have to work in teams and report to team leads, project managers or even the general public! It’s not guys hiding in cubicles bashing out code. Hence not only must you be a sharp developer with an eye for quality. They must be able to present this work to others either online or in person. They need to get out there and build contacts within the industry, ask for their advice, take their criticism and grow from it.
PM: The key skills students need include the ability to work in teams, specialisation and a tenacious attitude to see a project through from beginning to end.
What are the biggest challenges facing today's students?
TT: I think one of the biggest challenges they now face is each other. The academic landscape has changed significantly. Rather than the handful of games-related degrees that existed less than 10 years ago, there are now thousands of graduates from a range of courses who have trained specifically to work in the games industry: which as we know is a pretty tough job sector. I reinforce this on day one: you need to start making the industry care, now. Get those cool portfolio pieces developed, get the portfolio site in place, release mobile or web games. Build your skills, build your presence and make yourself known.
PM: The main challenge for students today is having the necessary skills and experience to stand out from the competition and knowing their area of specialisation. Lots of AAA studios are closing meaning the competition for games development positions is even more intense than before.
And what software packages and tools are the focus these days - presumably Unity is a huge part?
TT: Unity has certainly became more prominent in our teaching of late as our students flooded towards it and we took heed. We have spent many years working in XNA and UDK due to our partnerships with Microsoft and Epic. Of course times are changing are we’re moving to suit. So while we continue to teach UDK, we’ve moved towards Unity, Visual Studio 2012, Direct X11 and Windows 8. Furthermore we update the curriculum annually to keep us up to date and relevant.
PM: We use Unity, UDK, Maya, Photoshop, and DirectX11
How are you gearing up for the arrival of the next-generation?
TT: Our first step was moving our lab computers over to Windows 8 and introducing Windows 8 App development into the curriculum. We’ve got students as early as first year porting games over onto Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 apps. In addition, we’re once again overhauling our hardware capabilities – a process we conduct annually – so our students are working on hardware suited for the next-generation transition.
PM: We have consoles to suit next generation, we use the latest equipment and will be using DirectX 11
How has game education changed in light of the industry's huge shift to mobile, free-to-play and indie? Can a rigidly structured course still offer the same benefits that it could, say, ten years ago?
TT: I think a course can still offer those benefits provided we remain current and focus on building student’s skills, flexibility and confidence. I would argue historically our course has focused towards the AAA; you’re going to learn how things work in the big-bad studios because that’s ultimately where you’re going. However, the industry has transformed dramatically this generation. As a result, I would now say our focus is crafting students who can go either way. To have the confidence to build games and port them to different platforms, to work on different ideas that break from the AAA model. This brings game education somewhere more in-line with a traditional computer science route, since lessons can be learned from the approaches taken in enterprise-business software. Thus far we’ve seen very positive results, with many students going into business for themselves while studying; they set up companies and publish their own mobile titles to help build their portfolio.
PM: Yes it can. A lot of students are starting their own companies
What's great about the city of Derby? What can it offer students?
TT: Derby was recently voted one of the best places to live in the UK. Not only does it have a lively city centre in its own right, but it is a train ride away from the likes of Leicester and Nottingham.
PM: Derby is an engineering heartland and the principal engineering location for world-renowned companies such as Rolls-Royce and Bombardier. It is also perfectly located in the country as a whole, and is notably easily accessible for London and Liverpool games development studios. The East Midlands region could be described as the hub of games development in the UK as the home of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider, Straw Dog Studios and Crytek.
What games have caught your eye recently?
TT: Out in the industry it would have to be Watch Dogs; which appears to follow Ubisoft’s continued drive to create more immersive and rich game worlds in the vein of Far Cry and Assassins Creed. However two games that I’m watching out for come from our own students. S.S. Eternity by ‘OarBoar’ which is a wonderful concept that mixes the ideas of Portal with the aesthetic of BioShock. Also watching out for the tablet-based space shooter ‘Lazarus’ by Spilt Milk Studios and our own Andrew Roper which has been making the rounds at GamesCity and Eurogamer Expo.
PM: Last of Us and the Tomb Raider reboot
Who do you count among your alumni, and who are you still in touch with regularly?
PM: Our courses have a good employment rate and we stay in touch with our Alumni through our course Facebook. We also invite our past students back as guest lecturers.
From your annual intakes, do you see any evidence of the industry's gender split shifting to a more even division?
TT: We have not seen a trend towards a more even division yet, which is a real shame. Right now it is somewhat sporadic. I really hope we can change that in the coming years.
PM: We haven’t seen a major shift to even numbers but have some very good female developers on our CGMA course who are producing just the sort of innovative work our placement company contacts are looking for.
Tell me about what being a member of the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance benefits students.
TT: The real benefits of the MSDNAA is to allow our students access to a range of Microsoft development tools. Given that we use a lot of their tools as part of the teaching process, it’s crucial for our guys to be able to set up their own home computers to have the same tools and software that we are using in class; allowing them to develop work in their own time at night or at weekends.
PM: They provide us with software, which is a major benefit to our programmes and also host games jams, providing valuable experience for our students. We are very grateful for our very successful, long-standing relationship with Microsoft who have been extremely supportive to our students.
Talk me through your Next Generation Development Suite and what facilities it offers.
TT: We have two suites that are dedicated solely for the games students. These are equipped not only with the best machines we have available but also a range of dev kits including 360 and PS3. We currently have big plans for expansion that should equip our guys even further for the next generation shift.
You say your game courses are regarded by the industry as some of the best in the UK - do you have any endorsements you could share?
PM: "We (The Pixel Bullies) have been working with Derby for a number of years now. We have a passion for games and it's great to work with people brimming with ideas and ambition. For the last year or so, we have been working with the 2nd years on a live module where the students work in parallel with our dev team on exactly the same brief. Most of the students have been working on our mobile race game - Formula Force, which will be completed by the end of summer. With a little more work, we hope to include some of the best of the students work in our release, as they are already producing work at a professional level." Andy Gahan – The Pixel Bullies
How are work placements allocated/pitched - are students expected to find their own, or do you work with partners?
TT: It is expected that our guys find their own placements. However, we maintain a series of partners who come back every year offering placement opportunities. We have a team of administrative staff in our school who focus on helping our guys get placements: they run workshops on improving your CV and conduct mock interviews.
PM: For CGMA, placements are optional. The students have a placement officer for overall advice and as far as helping them get placements go we do what we can, so if we see jobs posted we will put them up on the CGMA Facebook group. Also we have contacts in the industry who from time to time have roles for students which we also post on the site. Some of our students decide to form their own games companies (indieskies, pillowdrift) for their placement year and students have had the opportunity to use premises at the Derby Uni Enterprise centre to help them get up and running.
Do you have any anecdotes you'd like to share about your courses or the people who've studied on them?
TT: We actually have a course mascot – Senor Squirrel. He’s a toy squirrel, that’s about it. It was a gift to one of my colleagues Dave Voorhis and we thought it would be amusing to take him to a lecture one time. Very soon he’d became a fixture for the course; students asked for his return to lectures, he became the poster child of the Facebook page. He even has his name on our office door. He’s now considered a member of the staff on CGP. It’s an easy one for us in terms of costs, since we just pay him in nuts. Even then that’s ridiculous, given he’s a toy squirrel.
PM: None you can print!
Is there anything else we haven't covered above that you'd like to talk about?
Both: Beyond everything else, we have our Games@Derby Expo, which was reported on by Edge back in December. We’re continuing to run these events this year to highlight the biggest and best games and portfolio work our students have to offer. We have big plans for these events this year and we hope that a lot of potential students come along to see what we have in store. It’s going to be amazing.
