Computer Games Development

LLCoolConor · 09-09-2012 9:48pm #1

Anyone already doing it?

What is it like?

I know its mostly programming and maths, but is things like graphics and stuff fun?

Is it fun to work with the physics engines?

Anyone going into first year this year here?

kenzolo · 13-09-2012 10:52pm

i did it 2 years ago. i failed first year and left it after that. maths runs through all the classes e.g programming, graphics and architecture.

graphics is fun. you start off on very basic stuff of drawing lines to the screen then shapes and leads up to you making a scrolling background , ala contra style. one of my projects was to remake duck hunt.

you only touch into physics engines in second year so i cant comment on that but i know you use ogre3D and other tools.

Genghiz Cohen · 14-09-2012 3:07pm

I finished the course a few years ago, was actually in the first year that came through the CAO.
My advice, go to the lectures, all of them. Seriously.
Saying you will study later does not work. I saw it for myself.
My year started with ~58 people.
9 graduated.

Do take notes, stuff like what is a matrix, dot products and cross products. What is a Gamut. Converting from base 2 to base 10 and back. Just sketch them down as the lecturer says them, and have that in your programming labs as a reference.

Keep a copy of EVERYTHING YOU DO! I really really really regret not doing this. Google Drive/DropBox will suffice but for real power, use Subversion or GIT.
If you are not familiar with those, get familiar. You'll be marked on using it anyway at some stage. Google free SVN or GIT storage and then use it for every project. I completely screwed up an AI project in 4th year and with SVN it would have been a 1 click undo, rather than like 3 hours trying to track down crappy code.

If you have an artist friend looking for some portfolio work, get him on board to do some art for you. The stuff you do will be technically impressive, but there was very little to do with creating art assets when I did it. Most of your projects will be ugly as sin.

Do code after hours, even messing around with sprites. I coded 9-5 then stopped, I should have put more effort in.

Get comfy headphones. Music helps.

Get involved in some kind of sport. You have time in 1st year that will disappear in later years, put it to good use rather than getting hammered every night.

TheStook · 08-11-2012 2:03am

Was also thinking of doing this.

I'm in ordinary maths though, the entry requirement is a B3 which I'm well capable of achieving but how much of a disadvantage will I have, coming from ordinary?

And is any prior knowledge of programming and all that jazz needed?

Thanks in advance

Genghiz Cohen · 12-11-2012 3:25pm

TheStook wrote: »

Was also thinking of doing this.

I'm in ordinary maths though, the entry requirement is a B3 which I'm well capable of achieving but how much of a disadvantage will I have, coming from ordinary?

And is any prior knowledge of programming and all that jazz needed?

Thanks in advance

You are in the same boat I was then.

I graduated

Math in first year was very difficult for me. Rea Jordan was my lecturer and he graciously made time for people struggling with the subject. There is also the Retention Center (Awful name) that does math grinds.

You don't need any experience but anything you do now will help a lot.

This might help. You'll be using a lot of C# and similar languages.

Dboy85 · 13-11-2012 9:00pm

I'm in 4th year now and I came from ordinary maths and I never had much trouble. The course is mostly continuous assessment so you can get a 40% mark by just going into classes and doing what you're supposed to.

TheStook · 13-11-2012 9:20pm

Cool, and what are the hours like?

I'm not sure if its the same every year but in general is there a lot of classes?

Thanks for all that info

Dboy85 · 13-11-2012 11:18pm

Here is the 1st year timetable

Daniel L · 03-12-2012 10:37pm

Dboy85 wrote: »

Here is the 1st year timetable

Is that the same for all colleges?

Dboy85 · 03-12-2012 11:25pm

Daniel L wrote: »

Is that the same for all colleges?

No ya mad hoor its just for Carlow IT

Daniel L · 11-12-2012 1:14pm

ahah ok

cuz im doin games development in sligo next year is it a good course? because ive programmed a few games already , helped a company make an iphone game and i teach people how to program in my school and im 17 so does it get much more complicated :L?

Dboy85 · 11-12-2012 5:04pm

Well it will help that you can code already but there's a world of computer science that you still have to learn to know exactly what your doing. Following tutorials is fine until you're asked to do or create something ad-hoc. Have a look at path finding algorithms, flocking etc to get more of a taste for AI behaviors.
There's also more to games development than programming. There's modeling, artwork, networking and more. Its a lot of fun if you have the interest

Genghiz Cohen · 11-12-2012 5:39pm

Daniel L wrote: »

does it get much more complicated :L?

If you have to ask that, then yes, much much more complicated.

TheStook · 08-01-2013 11:14pm

I'm just wondering about the points needed for the course in Carlow I.T?

For the points it says: Max: 480 Aver: 375 Cut-off: 325

I'm quite confuzzled by this as there is quite a gap between the max and the Cut-off...
If the Cut-off last year was 325 do ye reckon anything over 350 would get me the course?

_SpaZ_ · 03-02-2013 3:00am

I'm doing first year atm (having done ordinary maths for LC - 365pts total) and find it very easy. If you're interested in the course you shouldn't have a problem. That said, however, I've seen a lot of lads drop out coz they didnt attend etc and couldn't keep up with the work.
I can't say with certainty which parts are more enjoyable: My best friend loves the architecture and maths, both of which come last in my order of preference.
Just make sure you're not doing the course because you like gaming; the course is for development: you're not the athlete, your the kid making his runners.

YoungPayters · 28-03-2013 12:04pm

_SpaZ_ wrote: »

I'm doing first year atm (having done ordinary maths for LC - 365pts total) and find it very easy. If you're interested in the course you shouldn't have a problem. That said, however, I've seen a lot of lads drop out coz they didnt attend etc and couldn't keep up with the work.
I can't say with certainty which parts are more enjoyable: My best friend loves the architecture and maths, both of which come last in my order of preference.
Just make sure you're not doing the course because you like gaming; the course is for development: you're not the athlete, your the kid making his runners.

Nice analogy. When I started this course I wasn't fully aware of all the aspects course. However I was a lucky one as I enjoyed the technical aspect of it all (and the maths).
However you are thinking that it is all Asset creation, level design, 3D modelling, etc. you will not enjoy this course at all.

It is mostly coding and using lots of different engines (Graphics engines, Physics Engine & Game Engines) in later years.
You learn the basic of programming using C# and some C++ and then move into mainly C++ with some Java and C# (all depending on the platform you are working on whether it is Android, Microsoft XNA or PC using Ogre3D graphics engine)

You need to give it the time it deserves as you simply cant bash out assignments at the last minute as programming is a time consuming business. Attend lectures to get the understanding and code, code, code to get the practical aspect of what you learned.

All the best with it. It's a very good course and Carlow is a great spot for students where everyone has just a touch of mental which makes for some interesting nights.

koppy · 02-07-2017 8:17pm

How are people that have done this course getting on with employment etc..are there many jobs in Ireland or have most people gone abroad ..

Computer Games Development

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