BA (Hons) Game Arts and Design

Your degree in Game Arts and Design could lead to a career as a game artist, 3D modeler, gameplay coder, level designer, technical game designer, technical artist, producer, or many other roles in the games industry. Your transferable creative and technology skills could also lead to employment as a designer, programmer or producer in other creative and tech industries.

Where could your game design degree take you?

• Learn 3D modelling with industry-standard software like Maya, Blender, ZBrush and Substance Painter.
• Hone your 2D art and animation skills, using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate and After Effects.
• Create epic level designs in Unity and Unreal Engine.
• Develop your coding skills with C# and Blueprints.
• Taught by industry experts, with a focus on preparing you for a career in the games industry.
• Amazing national and international field trips to gaming expos and festivals, such as meeting professionals from top games studios at EGX Rezzed in London and exploring immersive gameplay Amsterdam.
• Explore sound design, narrative and game design theory, and study the psychology of games and gamification.
• Access to the latest hardware, including high-spec gaming PCs and VR headsets.
• Get a head-start in the industry with an optional placement year (for example, one of our students has secured a placement at Criterion Games).
• Get ready for a career as a game artist, 3D modeler, game designer, level designer or gameplay coder, joining Plymouth graduates who have gone on to work at the world's top games companies including Electronic Arts, Frontier Developments and Bossa Studios.
• We annually review the skills, software and hardware we teach, to ensure the course is always up to date.
• Our dedicated lab space is open until 10pm, other amazing facilities, include our 35-seat, 360° immersive vision theatre, VR kits, graphics tablets, game controllers, 3D printers and even an extensive collection of boardgames.
• Teaching and learning are practical and project-based - sometimes working individually, and sometimes in teams.
• Your assessments are 100 per cent coursework – no exams.
• No prior knowledge requirements – we teach everything from the ground up (but if you do already have art and coding skills, we can’t wait to see how much further you can take them with our help!).

• Year 1

• Get straight into learning the art and coding skills you need as a game designer. You are introduced to 2D design and 3D modelling software, game engines and gameplay coding. Bring your drawings to life with animation and interactivity, and create your first 3D models and games. Learn about storytelling and build your own gaming hardware.
  

  Core modules

  • DAT406 Digital Making

    This module introduces students to a key set of digital technologies that are core to the production of current digital artwork. This will include exposure to a wide range of software, hardware and networking components commonly used by digital artists and designers. This is a Plymouth Plus module.

  • DAT411 Disruptive Design Strategies

    This module introduces students to practical and creative processes that encourage experimentation and foster critical thinking. Through conceptual understanding of artistic practice combined with technical production skills in a range of areas, such as 2D and 3D design, digital fabrication, and physical computing (electronics and microcontrollers), students are expected to develop physical prototypes and media outputs that demonstrate innovative thinking within a multi-disciplinary context. Induction is given to a fully-equipped maker space, digital fabrication suites, and a 360° Immersive Vision Theatre.

  • GAD403 Introduction to Immersive Technologies

    This module introduces issues and techniques involved in designing and developing immersive experiences. This module takes a user-centred approach to the production of virtual and blended reality environments (including a wide range of different styles and types of game. The key to this module is the combination and integration of sensory stimuli to produce an engaging and compelling, whilst at the same time coherent user experience.

  • GAD404 Game Programming

    This module introduces coding for game designers, explored through the creation of a playful interactive project. Working with programming languages and game engines, students learn to use code to make their drawings and animations come to life with dynamic and interactive behaviours. Key programming concepts such as variables and conditional logic, are introduced alongside relevant game studies topics. Students will apply what they have learnt to solve problems and create engaging gameplay.

  • GAD406 Character and Environment Design

    Students create character and environment concepts as digital paintings, and realise their designs as detailed 3D models. Drawing and painting skills are developed, exploring figure, proportion, lighting, colour and value. Students learn advanced modelling and texturing skills using state-of-the-art software platforms, rigging their characters for animation and exporting them to game engines. In addition, students develop presentation skills and showcase their work in a digital portfolio.

  • GAD407 Interactive Narrative

    You will explore interactive storytelling and animation / sequence creation within your work via a range of traditional and digital media and formats. Storytelling, narrative pacing, creative writing and animation are features of this module. Critical reflective writing underpins practical work.

• Year 2

• Master more advanced 3D modelling and game programming techniques, and hone your level design skills. Learn about working in the creative industries from visiting speakers, and work with Illustration students to further develop your drawing skills.
  

  Core modules

  • DAT502 Creative Industries

    This module explores the dynamic changes that are sweeping through traditional media and communications industries, brought about by the impact of new technologies. It explores, through group production projects, the practical issues underpinning the management of distributed organisations. The module includes an international field trip

  • DAT517 Virtuality and Immersion

    This module provides a firm introduction to virtuality and immersion ¿ augmented reality, virtual reality, and dome environments. During this module, students explore and utilize a range of immersive technologies and design practices on subjects such as scientific simulation, virtual heritage, architectural visualization, and more. Techniques like 3D capture and photogrammetry are also introduced, and a range of resources are provided, such as AR and VR headsets, for developing complete immersive solutions, applications, and artworks. The module is optional, and it is recommended for students that are interested in pursuing specialization on immersive media.

  • FAPY200 Stage 2 Placement Preparation

    Building on the Level 1 module (FAPY100), this module continues to support you with the search for your placement and preparation for the placement itself.

  • GAD503 Game Development

    This module builds on the generic programming skills developed to this point, and applies them to working with a professional game engine. Students work individually to produce a game that demonstrates the application of animation, physics, artificial intelligence, user interface, and game state management.

  • GAD512 Level Design

    This module focuses on designing virtual environments and game levels. Students will consider the ludic and narrative role of level design and apply these to the production of an interactive game environment. Students will be presented with a variety of theoretical frameworks that will help them better understand human cognitive processes and thus aid them in designing and creating more engaging game levels. Automated procedural generation will also be explored.

• Placement year (optional)

• An optional paid 48-week work placement offers invaluable practical work experience. We recommend pursuing a placement, as it enhances your final year of study and improves your employability on graduation.
  

  Core modules

  • FAPY604 Digital Art and Technology/Internet Design Placement

    An extend period of professional training (at least the duration of both teaching semesters - 36 weeks) spent as the third year of a sandwich programme undertaking an approved placement with a suitable company (either a paid placement or unpaid internship). This provides an opportunity for the student to gain relevant industrial experience to consolidate the first two stages of study and to prepare for the final stage and employment after graduation.

• Final year

• Focus on your own particular areas of interest by selecting from a range of optional modules and set your creativity free in your epic final year project.
  

  Core modules

  • DAT603 Gameplay

    This module explores games design, entertainment systems and the broader field of 'play' within a technological context. Student centred practical projects will be informed through a grounding in relevant cultural, social, psychological and economic theory.

  • GAD631 Final Year Project

    The Final Year Project is student-led, negotiated through close liaison with an allocated supervisor. Students are expected to develop a creative, practical industry-standard project, accompanied with a written work that demonstrates sophisticated research methods, a critical engagement to theoretical discourses and debates, an understanding of production processes, and a developed awareness of markets, audiences, and industrial contexts. The practical element needs to comprise of a significant digital media production that is innovative and experimental in its approach and placed within a contemporary framework. Resources such as software, hardware, and labs, as well as tutorials in research and writing are given to the students to ensure they are fully-equipped to produce a sophisticated result. The final works are exhibited on the Degree Show at the end of the school year.

  Optional modules

  • DAT601 Realtime

    This module develops audio and visual production skills with a specific application to the manifestation of information drawn from a variety of sources, disciplines and media. Students will develop techniques for rendering visual and acoustic representations across a range of resolutions through animation, illustration, dynamic data, and immersive dome environments.

  • DAT602 Everyware

    Through practical project work the module explores the evolution of the Internet of Things, the emergence of Pervasive Media and the application of Physical Computing. Projects are framed within a critical exploration of space as a cultural, social and technological phenomenon and models of architecture, communities and personal identity.

  • DAT604 Venture Culture

    This module introduces students to the concepts of entrepreneurship through the practical exploration of individual, collaborative and organisational creative enterprise. Operating as a pragmatic vehicle for generating new ventures within the creative industries, the formation of prototype companies enables students to rehearse the commercialisation of their practice.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA Hons Game Arts and Design Programme Specification 2019 20 5837

UCAS tariff

96 - 120