BA (Hons)Computer Games (Art)

Core modules

Game Studio 1

This module lets you apply standard coding and design skills to build your own video game, while mastering the professional workflows used across the industry. You’ll learn how to navigate production pipelines, create essential development documentation, hit key milestones and collaborate across disciplines while working within a simulated studio environment.

Game Ready Art

In this module you will investigate the current methodologies and techniques to create game ready art in support of creating contemporary immersive and engaging games. You'll focus on enhancing your modelling and texturing techniques to meet the needs of contemporary game development. And using a suite of industry standard tools, software, and techniques you'll build and modify your assets to make them more game engine friendly, enhancing the player’s experience.

Organic Art

This module introduces creation processes for humanoid characters. You'll explore new game art theories, tools, and techniques, as well as the essentials of the character game art production pipeline, and how to implement your own game actors in a game engine. Knowledge of these methods will enable you to understand the relationships between game actors (characters and npcs) and non-actors (environments and props) and allow you to successfully populate your own game levels.

3D Art 101

This module explores some of the key theories and software techniques required for creating 3D art assets and render them using different software. The module seeks to demonstrate a practical and reusable asset creation pipeline that can be applied to different scenarios and explain the theory and techniques required for good asset creation. Many of the skills learned will provide the foundational knowledge required to create 3D art assets for use in games and visual effects.

Core modules

Painted Assets

This module builds on previous experience creating vivid and striking textures and materials to enhance 3D assets. Through this module you'll develop your existing texture creation experience in creating painted assets by exploring different rendering styles, more advanced techniques and procedural texture generation to broaden your artistic pallet and knowledge of different game styles and visual narratives.

Game Studio 2

In this module, you'll work in multi-discipline team(s) within a simulated studio environment on a videogame project following industry-standard development and project pipelines. The key difference between the Studio 1 module and this module is the expectation that the skills, knowledge and team-work applied will be to a higher standard and will produce a product of greater polish and sophistication.

Realising Game Worlds

As a culmination of your first two years on your degree you will create an artistic element of a game world that demonstrates everything you have learned. This will be your best portfolio piece to-date and a springboard into your final major project.

Optional modules

Please note: Not all optional modules are guaranteed to run each year.

The Creature Shop

One of the most exciting areas within digital character art is creature FX. This practical, studio-based module introduces you to the key technical and creative elements of the field, giving you a strong foundation you can continue to develop as you specialise in your final major project (FMP). Typical topics covered include rigging and muscle systems, hair and fur grooming, cloth and flesh simulation, and facial blend shapes.

Capture Technologies

In this module, you'll explore different capture technologies in a simulated studio environment, transforming the physical world into digital assets. Typical technologies you'll use will be mocap, photogrammetry, LiDAR scanning, HDRI capture and on-set data. You’ll experiment, research and test one method in depth to build specialised, industry-ready skills.

Thinking Procedurally

With the complexities of modern digital production, it is often not efficient to produce individual assets, but rather produce procedural definitions which can be used to generate multiple assets with differing properties. This more technical approach to asset creation is highly sought after and is becoming ubiquitous in the games, CGI and VFX industries. This module explores node graphs and visual scripting methods to create procedural asset definitions of increasing complexity using Houdini.

Creature and Character

In this module you'll dive into the world of humanoid character development and sculpting. You'll learn about humanoid anatomy, muscle groups and physiology, combining this knowledge to build exciting characters. You'll also build a solid knowledge of sculpting software, while being made aware of key industry techniques to visualise your designs using the software.

Core modules

Game Studio 4

Building on previous Game Studio modules, you'll again collaborate in multidisciplinary teams to build a sophisticated videogame. You’ll also enjoy greater independence, shaping the genre, style and content of your project. Alongside applying advanced coding, art and design skills, you’ll learn how real studios operate, working to professional pipelines, producing key documentation, planning effectively and hitting key milestones.

Project Sprints

In this module you'll build industry ready skills through mini projects designed to boost your technical confidence and prepare you for your final major project. You’ll explore new tools and workflows, complete essential previz and concept work, and shape the expertise you want to showcase to future employers. Each mini project targets a specific technique or pipeline element, helping you discover the methods best suited to your creative goals. You’ll also collaborate with students working on similar topics to share knowledge, solve problems, and strengthen your practice.

Final Major Project

Showcase your talent and demonstrate your expertise with your major final year project. This module brings together everything you’ve learned and offers your biggest opportunity to collaborate across the course and with other creative disciplines. Your project will sit within art, technical art, or research, allowing you to specialise in the area that aligns with your skills and career ambitions. Working in a studio environment and independently, you’ll develop a substantial creative or technical outcome.

Optional modules

Please note: Not all optional modules are guaranteed to run each year.

Creature and Character

In this module you'll dive into the world of humanoid character development and sculpting. You'll learn about humanoid anatomy, muscle groups and physiology, combining this knowledge to build exciting characters. You'll also build a solid knowledge of sculpting software, while being made aware of key industry techniques to visualise your designs using the software.

Capture Technologies

In this module, you'll explore different capture technologies in a simulated studio environment, transforming the physical world into digital assets. Typical technologies you'll use will be mocap, photogrammetry, LiDAR scanning, HDRI capture and on-set data. You’ll experiment, research and test one method in depth to build specialised, industry-ready skills.

The Creature Shop

One of the most exciting areas within digital character art is creature FX. This practical, studio-based module introduces you to the key technical and creative elements of the field, giving you a strong foundation you can continue to develop as you specialise in your final major project (FMP). Typical topics covered include rigging and muscle systems, hair and fur grooming, cloth and flesh simulation, and facial blend shapes.

Thinking Procedurally

With the complexities of modern digital production, it is often not efficient to produce individual assets, but rather produce procedural definitions which can be used to generate multiple assets with differing properties. This more technical approach to asset creation is highly sought after and is becoming ubiquitous in the games, CGI and VFX industries. This module explores node graphs and visual scripting methods to create procedural asset definitions of increasing complexity using Houdini.