A question about games programming

[Darkgoosey666]

Hi there, im Chris and im interested in taking a games programming course at university.

This is all well and good but the course is very vague when it comes to requirements, so im wondering if anyone out there has taken a similar course or knows about it and can tell me some general requirements.

I didn't take ICT at GCSE or A level, will this set me back?

Also i didn't know whether this was gaming discussion or not so i put it here, sorry about that :3

 

[TallestGargoyle]

Hi there, im Chris and im interested in taking a games programming course at university.

This is all well and good but the course is very vague when it comes to requirements, so im wondering if anyone out there has taken a similar course or knows about it and can tell me some general requirements.

I didn't take ICT at GCSE or A level, will this set me back?

Also i didn't know whether this was gaming discussion or not so i put it here, sorry about that :3

It may do, but it really just depends on the university. The one I go to (Keele) didn't have any specific A Level requirements, it just needed B C C grades.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention mine's just a Computer Science course. It has game programming focused modules across the course though.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Saying which university, or even which nation it is in in your title would have helped.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

 

[Fiery Killer]

Why not find the room and ask the professor, or ask someone you know who's taking the class? They should have an answer.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I would say not to go into such specific classes, take a normal programming class, you will cover all the bases and if you decide not to go into the gaming industry you have a universal skill.

 

[Darkgoosey666]

Why not find the room and ask the professor, or ask someone you know who's taking the class? They should have an answer.

I would, but i dont live in England right now ( The university in question is Staffordshire, in england)

Saying which university, or even which nation it is in in your title would have helped.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

Oops, im really sending out a good image here arent I?

Anyway as i mentioned, Staffordshire university in england is the one im looking at.

EDIT: They say that the entry requirements are just 2 A levels, but that info isnt specific to the course.

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/courses_and_study/undergraduate_courses/subjects/computer_games_programming/index.jsp

Heres the computer games programming page.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Saying which university, or even which nation it is in in your title would have helped.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

Oops, im really sending out a good image here arent I?

Anyway as i mentioned, Staffordshire university in england is the one im looking at.

Well, more or less everyone here does that. You mentioned GCSEs, which narrow things down a bit, but people will often ask about legal matters without specifying their nation or state.

 

[Musiclly enhanced]

A level ICT wont set you back because its all like ICT in the workplace but possibly the maths and physics could of helped,
(i dunno if you diddnt take them or not)

 

[TallestGargoyle]

Why not find the room and ask the professor, or ask someone you know who's taking the class? They should have an answer.

I would, but i dont live in England right now ( The university in question is Staffordshire, in england)

Saying which university, or even which nation it is in in your title would have helped.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

Oops, im really sending out a good image here arent I?

Anyway as i mentioned, Staffordshire university in england is the one im looking at.

EDIT: They say that the entry requirements are just 2 A levels, but that info isnt specific to the course.

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/courses_and_study/undergraduate_courses/subjects/computer_games_programming/index.jsp

Heres the computer games programming page.

Staffordshire uni I'm rather certain is 240 UCAS points, or three Cs. I was looking at either there or Keele as my choices xD I used to live rather close to the uni.

I would, however, suggest you do go for a more general programming/computing course, purely for the increased job prospects and wider range of things you'd get to learn.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

I didn't take ICT at GCSE or A level, will this set me back?

Not in the slightest. I've done both and neither one of them has had programming in, yet. Programming isn't a compulsory module for ICT so many schools don't do it and choose to go for the more office oriented modules.

The university will teach you how to code from scratch unless it says otherwise in the prospectus or the website.

 

[Darkgoosey666]

A level ICT wont set you back because its all like ICT in the workplace but possibly the maths and physics could of helped,
(i dunno if you diddnt take them or not)

Ok Im just going to list my Gcses and A levels.

Gcse- english language- A
-Literature- A*
-Maths- B
-Physics- A
-Geography- A*
-History- A
- Drama- C
-Business studies- B
-Biology- B

A level- (currently doing)

Geography
Drama
Literature
Business studies
English language ( stopped after AS level)

For the above A level subjects i also did the AS course that comes before.

 

[Darkgoosey666]

Why not find the room and ask the professor, or ask someone you know who's taking the class? They should have an answer.

I would, but i dont live in England right now ( The university in question is Staffordshire, in england)

Saying which university, or even which nation it is in in your title would have helped.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

Oops, im really sending out a good image here arent I?

Anyway as i mentioned, Staffordshire university in england is the one im looking at.

EDIT: They say that the entry requirements are just 2 A levels, but that info isnt specific to the course.



http://www.staffs.ac.uk/courses_and_study/undergraduate_courses/subjects/computer_games_programming/index.jsp

Heres the computer games programming page.

Staffordshire uni I'm rather certain is 240 UCAS points, or three Cs. I was looking at either there or Keele as my choices xD I used to live rather close to the uni.

I would, however, suggest you do go for a more general programming/computing course, purely for the increased job prospects and wider range of things you'd get to learn.

Oh really? well thanks for your advice, much appreciated

 

[Embz]

Ive just finished a Bsc in Computer Science and got a first, I didn't have and GCSE's or A-levels that were computer related. A lot of my friends who did computer related GCSE's and A-levels said that what they did was not relevant at all to programming.
Id go for it if I were you I don't see any reason why you couldn't do it

 

[BeerTent]

I don't know shit on a university level, but here's what you need...

A good IDE with a good computer.
A sandbox environment, and the ability to admit you don't know something.
The ability to research and learn about something you don't know about.
This book, [http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-C-4th-Walter-Savitch/dp/0136083811/ref=pd_sim_b_5] is the best book my friends have ever seen on picking up the language. C++ is the primary language used by game programmers.

Good luck!

 

[Darkgoosey666]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I have read all the posts and considered everything that you said, and it really looks like i will be able to do this so thanks for helping me realise that

 

[Heart of Darkness]

The fastest way to get the answers you need is to talk to one of your advisors about the course.

 

[Bvenged]

I didn't take ICT at GCSE or A level, will this set me back?

Any understanding of the foundations of computing would help a great deal. ICT is not the subject in question, Computing A-Level is as that covers things like algorithms, hardware, computer theory, programming, testing, planning etc. of which all you will need to know about to be a good programmer.
programming is like learning another language, and it is also very, very logical. Maths would help but that is a preference (I despise maths but I learned computing / programming fine), Physics would show your competence to your seniors. But other than that just a good understanding would help.

 

[Esotera]

Hi there, im Chris and im interested in taking a games programming course at university.

This is all well and good but the course is very vague when it comes to requirements, so im wondering if anyone out there has taken a similar course or knows about it and can tell me some general requirements.

I didn't take ICT at GCSE or A level, will this set me back?

Also i didn't know whether this was gaming discussion or not so i put it here, sorry about that :3

This is the best advice so far:

I would say not to go into such specific classes, take a normal programming class, you will cover all the bases and if you decide not to go into the gaming industry you have a universal skill.

You don't even need to have a degree in computer science or programming, you could just do something like maths. Good programmers are made by lots and lots of practice, the specific qualifications don't matter. As an example I'm a biochemist by degree, and there are plenty of programming positions that accept my degree.

Also game programming pays very poorly compared to other aspects of programming. It's nice having a backup.