MSc in Computer Games Technology
Course content
This course is designed for graduates of computing-related degrees who want
to develop their career in the games industry by further specialising their
existing undergraduate education or who wish to update their skills after
time in industry as a computing professional, and for those with equivalent
experience.
The course is delivered in the evenings for both full and part-time students.
In particular, the project component gives students an opportunity to carry
out an extended piece of work under the supervision of one of our specialist
academic and research staff, at the cutting edge of games technology, in an
industrial or academic context.
The course covers both game-specific topics and key professional skills that
will allow you to apply games technologies in an industrial context. It comprises
eight core modules, followed by a project:
8 core module(s):
Click on a module title to display key features.- Computer Games Architecture
- Show how a well-designed games engine can support development
- Relate the structure of games engines to what tasks they perform
- Explain the specialist nature of games hardware
- Account for and exploit differences in hardware when developing high-performance games software
- Computer graphics
- Apply the mathematical concepts underlying computer graphics
- Appreciate the graphics pipeline and how this is realised in software
- Apply algorithms for practical graphical tasks in games
- Develop graphical software in a gaming context
- Game physics and AI
- Apply the mathematical concepts underlying game physics
- Appreciate how physics and artificial intelligence can enhance the gaming experience
- Apply artificial intelligence technologies in a gaming context
- Develop software that uses physics and artificial intelligence concepts
- Games development process
- Appreciate the stages of games development and how it relates to the business model of the industry
- As a tools developer, support the asset production pipeline
- Show awareness of the dynamics of teams of creative and technical professions
- Use good software engineering practice in games development
- Music Technology for Games
- Explain the mathematical and physical concepts underlying games audio
- Appreciate how audio can enhance the gaming experience
- Develop audio software using industry applicable standards
- Use advanced music informatics techniques in a games setting
- Programming in C++
- Analyse substantial well-written C++ programs and adapt them to new requirements
- Design and create classes and programs in C++ that are correct, robust and capable of being understood, reused and modified by others
- Apply various object oriented features, including inheritance, multiple inheritance and genericity, to enhance software quality
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the core features of C++ and their application to programming problems
- Research methods and professional issues
- Research activity in terms of the effectiveness of its approach and implementation
- Understand and apply a range of research methodologies such as inductive and deductive reasoning, explanation and prediction in the evaluation of published research
- Recognise and use a range of secondary data sources when performing a research task
- Communicate effectively with individuals and groups using a range of media
- Evaluate the legal, ethical and professional dimensions of typical information professions and information industry practices
- Systems Specification
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the changing nature of software intensive systems and the range of new methods, tools and techniques available to develop these systems
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the challenges of requirements elicitation
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the fundamentals of software quality assurance techniques
- Apply the principles and concepts involved in object-oriented analysis and design and build object-oriented analysis and design models using the constructs of the Unified Modelling Language (UML)