Games Art

The BA (Hons) Games Art course is designed to develop students' skills in the research, development and production of video game assets. It is designed for students who wish to turn their artistic talents into a career in the games industry.

During the three-year course, students will learn and utilise techniques in 3D modelling, texturing and lighting, concept art, animation and life drawing. Students will learn alongside others who are passionate about games and will be taught both software and traditional techniques from introductory to advanced level. The course is also registered as an Apple developer, meaning students will work together in the three years to produce and submit a game to the iOS platform. This valuable experience combined with small class sizes delivers a bespoke course for future game artists.

Our Games Art courses are delivered in one of the UK's games industry hubs, Royal Leamington Spa. Written and developed with over 10 local games studios, this course will teach you how to research, develop and produce industry standard video game assets and indie games.

This course is industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based industries, and carries the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark which indicates courses best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries.

In year one, you will begin developing your digital toolkit tailored to creating art assets for video game production. You will hone your artistic vision as you delve into the fundamentals of art processes and techniques, refining your ability to bring imagination to life on the digital canvas. Through optimised industry pipelines, you'll be introduced to the principles of 3D modelling, setting the stage for crafting captivating game assets with precision and finesse. As you navigate these projects, you'll sharpen your academic study skills whilst cultivating entrepreneurial thinking through the application of game design principles.

During year two, you will further build on your technical skills and contextual framework developed in year one, whilst being encouraged to look towards the wider professional environment. This will include continued working on live briefs set by employers and gaining work placements in order to develop your professional working skills. Practical modules such as Organic and Hard-surface Asset Production will help you to continue developing core skills necessary for games artists. You will complete the second year with the Game Production Project module, working as a group towards a game for PC or mobile through our in-house studio, Studio 694.

In the third year, you will be encouraged to specialise in a chosen field. Showcasing your practical ability to craft a portfolio of work that will be showcased to industry professionals. This will be expanded upon through modules such as Research Theory and Design that will allow you delve into contemporary theories within the games development space. There is opportunity for you to work within a team to produce a final game alongside exploring additional workflows to further supplement your portfolio, preparing you for a job in the games industry.

The delivery of the course is through lecture-based sessions, practical workshops, independent study, group and individual tutorials. You will have access to two main base rooms, industry standard equipment and green screening studios equipt for animation and photogrammetry.

This course is delivered and awarded by Warwickshire College and is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS).

For our Higher Education Terms and Conditions please visit https://wcg.ac.uk/page/701/terms-and-conditions

Course Modules

Modules may include:

Year 1 - Level 4

Academic Study Skills, Employability and T-Shaped (ASSET)
Principles of Modelling Low Poly
Principles of Modelling High Poly
Texturing for Games
Principles of Animation
Art Process and Techniques
Introduction to Sculpting
Reflection
Concept Art

Year 2 - Level 5

Environment Production for Games
Organic Asset Production for Games
Hard-Surface Asset Production for Games
Work-based and Placement Learning
Game Production Project
UI

Year 3 - Level 6

Research Theory and Design
Capstone Project
Games Production Pipeline
Games Industry Simulation
Professional Portfolio

Students are expected to complete 160 hours of work-based or placement learning by the end of Level 5.

For further details about this course, please refer to the programme specification here:

https://blob.wcg.ac.uk/pdf/definitive-programme-specification-ba-hons-games-art-v2-acc-a2b7ca63bf70a4d05913ec0e1a3cea75.pdf

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated, please contact us for the latest information.

The modules are integrated into a programme of continuous assessment through assignments.

There are no exams associated with this course.