Posted February 4, 2008 yeeah ^^ maybe i wouldnt be freaking out as often if i'd actually moved away to uni... (i lived at home while i was doing my degree~) this is the first time i'll have lived away from home, so i'm kind of doing it to the extreeeeeeeeeeeeeme! hehe. but!! thats obviously the way i roll *prays for internet access...* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 haha if I have to live in halls without internet access I'm stuffed. Right here's my problem. I like both sheffield hallam and manchester mmu (unis) sheffield I'll be doing game design with photography/animation/film effects, at manchester I'd be doing computing - ai/3d modelling/database etc. Now my problem is that I don't particularly mind doing both courses, though I would prefer to do game design as I reckon I'd be happy at it. Hwoever when visiting both unis manchester pushes for getting a job wherea sheffield makes it that you have to do it all yourself, which doesn't both me but uni is so I can get a job nearly straight away. The living costs nor the state of the towns do not bother me because I think both are similar, nor the halls. This is going straight off the courses and how they appealed to me in each apsect. I'm really confused, go for the one which will get me the job, but have a year of which I don't like then do modules I do like...with a friend in college when I'd rather start afreash. Or go to the uni that does the course I'd love to be doing but not be pushed for a job, which would help and start anew.. I'd really like to hear people's opinions of what they'd do and what you lot think would be sensible. Because right now I'm confused. ='[ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 I'd go for the place where you'd feel happy all the way through and that'd you'd enjoy coming out with a degree with. Plus if I can I might go Sheffield. I've read up on it and it's got two of the things I specifically looked for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Hmm, I was thinking about it today and realised that maybe manc might be the way forward, sheffield isn't really thinking about the future, I'm still not sure, sigh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Well, both are for the future. If you do a 4 year sandwich course you get a placement in your third year. Most, if not all people who do this get asked to come back after they finish their final year. I plan to do that wherever I go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 I'd have a placement at both unis because both are sandwich courses. However manc seem mre gear at getting you that placement as well as a job when you leave, sheffield just sprouted how they are connected to sony and codemasters, which is great but what happens when they only pick one person and I'm not that person... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 They have more connections though. I was looking at the site, they have plenty of connections. Even Kuju....they make bloody Battalion Wars! When I went to the Huddersfield open day they kept going on about having a contract with M$ and are connected with other places. Sure you might not get a place at a games company straight away or whatever you want but it could be worked on. I want to get far away from home, Sheffield is that little bit farther so I'm gearing more to there...if I can get a place. Manchester is too large for a Uni I think. I've lived here 18 years, I see students around Manchester and my brother goes to Man Met. It doesn't feel like a nice Uni place. It's your decision in the end. You choose where you want to go, no-one can really tell you to go to Manchester or go to Sheffield. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 They have more connections though. I was looking at the site, they have plenty of connections. Even Kuju....they make bloody Battalion Wars! I live pretty near RockStar North, beat that. :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 No but it'd help. Both manc and shef are quite near to me, both around an hour. When looking at the jobs manc provide it seemed like manc had a better range, sheffield gave me TWO, TWO! i guess it was maybe because I didn't ask but then there was only really photography students, there was me and one other person there for game design..I used to live in manchester, well altringham really, so it's new but not new. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Hmm, I was thinking about it today and realised that maybe manc might be the way forward, sheffield isn't really thinking about the future, I'm still not sure, sigh. I think you're probably right. Courses in Game Design are... well, this is what Matthew Jeffrey, head of EA's European recruitment, said about them: "There has been a recent proliferation of games degrees and game design courses. This is a huge concern for EA. We prefer that game design programmes be done as a master's level specialisation. There are very few opportunities for entry-level game designers anywhere in the industry and the best ones usually have a diverse background of education and project development. Of the past 350 hires we made at the UK studio, only two were entry-level designers and they didn't come from a games design degree. This compares to 33% of the 350 hires being graduate entrants in programming and art. "Games degrees are the latest fashion accessory with universities clamouring to set up courses. I always ask this question of academics rushing to set up a games course: 'If your student cannot get a job in the games undustry, where will they be able to work?' Games degrees are not readily transferable outside of this sector. Graduating with a classical degree opens up more opportunities outside of the games industry. Students need to really think seriously about their choice of degree. Right now, the biggest needs of the industry are for programmers, technical artists, and computer graphic artists. These require depth in the specialisation area." I just copied that out of Edge's Get Into Games '08 supplement. It isn't particularly nice to hear, but I thought it would be worth passing on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Right now, the biggest needs of the industry are for programmers, technical artists, and computer graphic artists. These require depth in the specialisation area." I just copied that out of Edge's Get Into Games '08 supplement. It isn't particularly nice to hear, but I thought it would be worth passing on. Out of interest, does that magazine say (or does anyone know) how much an average salary for a programmer at a midsized games company is? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 This is why I was asking manchester about 3d modelling, I've never kid myself that jobs were easy to come by in website or game design, but I would love to do it, but with multimedia on the list of modules in manchester I can wait a year and learn lots of things then specialise in my second year. Each time I write on here it makes me more and more sure that maybe sheffield isn't the way to go, I need to consider my future and not just now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Bollocks to that. I want to do Games Design and have done for ages. I've always hung on the fact if you do good and impress when at Uni you can get places. Plus if I add Japanese then I could get a place.. nightwolf: When you say jobs they provide what you mean? If by connections then you should have asked. If it's connections you want check: Industry connections then industry partners. If you prefer Manchester then stop thinking of Sheffield. I'm no good at advice! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Out of interest, does that magazine say (or does anyone know) how much an average salary for a programmer at a midsized games company is? I can't see any mention of wages in it, I'm afraid. I remember seeing something about a report on UK games industry wages about a week or so ago, but I can't seem to track it down. This is the nearest thing I could find, although it's almost a year old now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Haha I can't stop thinking of sheffield because I'd love to be at sheffield, the problem is that I may end up at sheffield and go ''oh shit this isn't what I should be doing'' *confused again* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 You've got till May to choose anyway if you went through UCAS. Maybe go to the town again and think about what it would be like to live there. Kotaku had an entry about wages a while ago. I don't know how to find it though, meaning key words.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Probably a good idea, yes I did it through ucas, I'd just like things sorted now so I don't change my mind xD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 A-ha! Found it. The bit you were after, Gizmo: Development Programmer:Junior: £18-£25k Regular: £20-£35k Senior: £35k-£50k Lead: £40-£60k Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 I know what you mean. While reading on here people, including yourself, saying Sheffield is a good place. I checked it out and it's nearly the same as Huddersfield but I might not have to pay for the Japanese. I've been told it's bigger than Huddersfield but that won't stop me if I can go there. I just need to find out if I need to pay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Manchester and sheffield to me are exactly the same, they both have metro, same student life and even gig life! So thats why its basing it straight off the course instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 I know :P i'm girl, what do you expect Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 Is there such a thing as the 2 year itch? I've been with my girlfriend for 2 years and 7 months now and things are starting to feel just well perhaps not as right, as they were... I dunno what it is. We've leaved together about a year and half now...first at uni and now with my parents whilst we save for somewhere and plan our next career moves... and now I just dunno, we disagree on somethings like I want to go travelling round europe this summer whilst she would rather move into a place of our own, but I'm going back to uni for another year to get my teaching qualification so we may not be able to affod that with just 1 income... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 I could say what I expect but then that would go waaay off track. not in that sense... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 4, 2008 I could say what I expect but then that would go waaay off track. not in that sense... haha oh dear. Flameboy, don't worry too much, I'm guessing that it's because right now you both want to do different things, which is causing abit of a rift, it might be a suggestion to sit down and discuss with each other what's possible and what isn't. Then work out where you go from there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
