BSc (Honours) Games Software Development

Course description
There are two distinct types of careers in games development – the technical programming side, and the creative art and design side. This course prepares you for the first type of career, giving you all the skills you need to work as a software developer in the competitive games industry.
If you are interested in the more artistic side of games development, see our BA (Hons) Games Design course.
What you study
You study the skills and techniques demanded by the industry, such as programming, especially in C++, software engineering and mathematics, optimisation and the use of games hardware on desktop, consoles and mobile platforms.
If you do well in the first two years, you will be eligible for transfer to our related MComp course, an integrated masters course that provides additional depth of study and increased industrial involvement. You may also be selected to work within Steel Minions, our own commercially licensed game development studio, and take part in small-scale commercial development projects.
You graduate with a personal portfolio that you can show prospective employers and we advise you how to maximise its potential.
Key areas include
• advanced programming skills, using C++ as the core language throughout the course
• 3D mathematics
• industry standard APIs such as Microsoft’s DirectX, Unity, Marmalade, Corona, Android SDK, iOS
• programming for the PlayStation® platforms
• technologies and hardware architectures for games software
• project management techniques and tools used within the games industry
• interdisciplinary team game prototype development
• introduction to game design, ethics, game industry business models, 3D graphics and modelling packages.
You also work on web and mobile platforms such as iOS and Android. As well as benefiting from an emphasis on DirectX, you gain experience with cross platform tools like Marmalade and Unity, which can target any device. You also have access to...