Multimedia and Computer Games Development

Seifer

I know its only new this year but I was wondering if anyone on here is doing it?
If so what's it like? ie. work-load, interest value etc.

Vuk

As the course stands, you'll share the first 2 semesters with Computer Systems and Information Systems, i.e. modules are exactly the same.
I'm in 1st yr comp sys, so i think my perspective applies.
Anway about first year. You won't be touching much games related material(very little actually), but what you will get is a solid foundation and understanding on how computers work.
In first year you'll have about 20 contact hours, between lectures, labs and tutorials. After this it's entirely up to you.
I mean, you can go home , go on the beer or piss around and do nothing. There's not too many assignments and nobody will be breathing down your neck to do them!
Not much material has to be regurgitated like the LC, it's more about understanding concepts.
But for this you'll need practice or perhaps like some of my class mates, you'll 'get it' from the word go.
So the work load boils down to what you need to do, if you're good with a computer language to start, then you'll find the first semester really easy(as it's the one thing you'll need to practice the most). If you've never even seen one before, they will take you from the beginning anyway! We're doing C++, not the most beautiful language in the world, but not too bad a start.
As for the interest value, the lecturers I've had so far, have been pretty damn good and will do their best to make it interesting, again tho, it's down to how interesting you find the whole subject area and how hard you are willing or need to work at it.
If you'd like more info on particular modules, just pm me and I'l fill you in, as best as possible.
I would very much recommend contacting the University and having a chat with them about your interest and get a better feel for whether this is for you or not! I did this and I was probably better prepared for the course structure than those who just made a mark on a CAO form.
Anway, best of luck!

Alan

Peteee

Well as Vuk said, the course is the first year of comp sys, then it branches off.

Since i'm 3rd year comp sys, I'll explain.

To do the games course you've got to first of all like computers. I dont mean you Xbox or PS2, actual computers. Messing around with them etc etc

There is quite a lot of maths (Which I hate) but its definetly doable. I got a B1 in pass maths (But was doing honours for a year and a half before I switched)

I'd reckon that the Games dev course is more 'programming' intensive then computer systems (Because in comp sys you can branch off into networks etc) You'll learn C++ in 1st year, then possibly Java. Some people are good programmers, and some are not. You have to be very patient and have the right brain for it. I'm not a good programmer, and am going to try and avoid it through the next few years if I can.

Why exactly do you want to do the course and what do you hope to achieve by don it??? If you are interested in games development (Which, I think, would be an extremely hard profession, both mentally, and through lack of jobs etc)

PM me if you need any more info. Although as Vuk said, i'd definetly talk to the university first

Vuk

Well put Peteee, I think these type of courses have a reputation of not being what people expected them to be.
To re-iterate, get as much info as you can before committing, esp in the comp sys like environment and it goes for any course you're interested in.
It's a shame and a sin, that the secondary school environment doesn't cater properly for this (well it didn't when I was there).
Then again Seifer, you may be a mature student, where choosing a direction becomes a little bit easier!

Seifer

While I'm not a mature student I am currently in my second year of chemical engineering in UCD but I can't stand my course now. I've absolutely no interest in what we're doing. So I've been looking into other options.
We did C in first year and I liked it; kinda gave me second thoughts about whether I should've done cs or not (was lower down on my cao form).
I've emailed the guy in charge of he course so hopefully that will be helpful.
I will readily admit that I got into Chem. Eng. for all the wrong reasons and basic lack of information so that's why I'm trying to gain as much knowledge as I can before I make any big decisions.
Thanks for the quick replies, they were really useful.