A University Experience: Chapter 3 - The Courses

Introduction

Hello and welcome back!

So far I've spoken about my reasoning for going to university and the troubles I had with accommodation.

Today I'm hoping to talk about the 2 courses I have been on in order to earn my Bachelors Degree. Those that know me are already aware that I went to 2 different universities. The first was based in Liverpool and the second was based in Guildford.

I'm sorry for the next bit, though I do feel the need to make this disclaimer.

My aim for this blog is not to offend or discredit. I personally believe that there is enough negativity online without me adding to it. I would also like to state that without the parties involved, I would not be where I am today.

This post is to express why I made the choice to switch universities and how that decision changed my learning experience.

I should mention that I am not going to be using the university names out of respect, but instead referring to them as Liverpool and Guildford to distinguish between the two. I will also not be using the names of lecturers, but I may still use their position. For example: Head of the course or Art and Animation Lecturer.

If any people involved would like to talk about this post, please feel free to email me or contact me via LinkedIn.

Before starting University

Before I began the course at Liverpool, I went through an interview process. I found the guy to be giving me more of a sales pitch than asking questions. I do mean that in a good sense, it was probably the first interview I've had where I felt relaxed by the end of it.

I was told that this course would have a group of about 5 or 6 lecturers, each with their own speciality subject. You know, someone for teaching 3D, another for Art, Game Design, 2D Game development, Animations and a small section on Coding.

One thing that sounded pretty interesting to me in this course breakdown I was being given, was how they started off the Foundation Degree by putting us into groups and getting us to make a boardgame. They do this to teach the importance of making a balanced game, before introducing computers. The aim is that by the 3rd year, we should be confident enough to make our own digital products.

In actuality, I would spend most of my time on the course with just 1 lecturer. The reasoning for this was that we'd just come out the other side of the pandemic. The university I had joined wanted to hold somebody responsible for students getting low grades. The solution they found was to demote the head of the course (the guy that interviewed me). It would appear that he left and most of the staff under him followed.

Liverpool

As I just mentioned, we had 1 lecturer that stayed to see our class through 3 years of university. As she was the last lecturer remaining, she was responsible for overseeing the course in its entirety. She specialised in art and walked us through colour theory and perspective drawings, despite most of us saying that we couldn't draw and we aren't artists when it comes to putting pencils or paints to paper. She later pointed out that the students in the year below us were struggling more than us when it came to using the same medium.

However, when it was our time to use software like Maya or Substance 3D Painter. She was as much in the dark as us. In a way, I see that as a good thing. It was good in the sense that we could experiment, make our own mistakes and learn from them. This became more problematic for me when we needed to progress to more advanced learning than making a static mesh barrel or toadstool. If we got stuck on an assignment, there was nobody to turn to. I remember spending days looking online only to find a 10 second fix. This was constant. Frustrated isn't the right word to describe how I felt, but it's close enough.

I tried reaching out to a student union for help or even seeing if I could find somebody that was of a higher authority. I was trying to make myself heard, even if it meant rattling a few cages. Student union members would tell me to speak to the head of my course, unaware that the head was the problem.

I eventually got the attention of somebody higher up and they apologised to me, claiming that they originally thought I was a nuisance. Apparently, he looked me up and discovered that I had a good reputation, attendance record and grades. We collaborated to get some new lecturers in, that would be able to fill the space of those that had left.

At the end of the first year, we had a new lecturer start that specialised in 3D modelling and UVs. He earned my respect almost right away. I still remember what he said after walking in the room:

"Right, what you're doing here. This course. It's going to give you a bit of paper to get you in the door. It's then up to you to prove you belong there".

Walked in the room, told us how it is and then gave us all the same task. I'm not even sure if he told us his name before all that.

He gave us this model that reminded me of a Sentinel robot head from the Matrix movies.

That was the coolest model that we had laid our eyes on at that point.

We were to unwrap the model's UVs. That was the task. This was his way of seeing what level we were at. He told us that in the industry, we would be expected to do that task within about 4 hours but we would have the whole day.

This was one of those lightbulb moments that made me take a second to appreciate that I could do this for a living instead of stacking shelves. I'd taken that first step.

Unfortunately, he left our group to teach another course within the university and we were back on the hunt for another lecturer.

We eventually had a lecturer come over from Ireland, he was working on his masters at the time. He became a sort of Unreal Engine guru for the class, teaching us about the uses of different blueprints and mechanics. Unfortunately for him, he ended up staying at Daniel House while he was with us (read the last blog post if you're unsure why that's a bad thing).

I actually saw this lecturer on a night out in Liverpool, I walked in the place because they had live music that sounded pretty decent. That's what I'd do if I was stressing myself out over coursework. I'd go for a walk and if I liked the music I might go in for a drink or 2.

Those are stories for another time though.

For a while after this, things were going smoothly. We had one lecturer to help us draw and create characters and another to help us with technical issues. We even had visitors from PlayStation and Skyhook Games to answer any questions we had about entering the games industry and the different disciplines available to us.

Before the end of the Foundation course (the end of the second year), our computer wizard lecturer ghosted the class on the day of our submission deadline. I wish I could say I'm making this up, but students couldn't reach him and the university had no idea where he was either.

It turned out that, like us, he also had a deadline for his degree and decided it was more important than his teaching responsibilities.

That for me was the final straw. I was paying £9k a year for this course (not counting student accommodation and travel). When you go to university, you are paying for knowledge of your lecturers, the resources to complete the course and the university building you're sat inside.

Feedback

When I say feedback, what do you imagine?

For me, feedback means to acknowledge what someone has done well and to provide an acceptable amount of criticism, suggesting areas of improvement. Something constructive.

If anyone is thinking about the humming sound that you get from an amplifier, you're my kind of people.

What I got back from Liverpool was neither of those. I would get back a written list of everything I had done. That's it.

I don't mean to sound funny, but I know what I did, I know how I did it. Believe it or not, I was there. How is telling me what I've done counted as feedback?

It's not like I was getting marked at a Distinction level. At best, I was being given a high merit. There was plenty of room for improvement, though I wasn't able to find out how to improve. I was unimpressed with the grades I had earned from my foundation degree. So I looked at moving universities to somewhere a little closer to home.

The main problem was that I had a serious bout of imposter syndrome. Here's why. I knew that the grades I had been given by Liverpool came with a certain weight, meaning that there are certain expectations that come with the achievement.

As I felt I had no help to improve upon my work, I didn't believe that I had the right to say I was working at that level.

I remember going to a networking event to speak with industry professionals to get their opinion on my portfolio. I was told not to look at my grades. I was told not to compare myself to the work I see online, as those artists probably have 10+ years experience.

I was told that nobody could expect me to know everything about game design.

Instead, when I am to join the university in Guildford, I should focus on what I want to do. Where I want to go after university.

One guy I spoke to at the event actually said to me that I shouldn't worry about what grade I get at all as long as I get a BA. Just try and direct the project towards the kind of work you want to be doing. He goes "it's terrible advice, but the guy that's hiring you for the job will see what you were trying to achieve".

Guildford - Critical Review

After leaving Liverpool, I had completed levels 4 and 5 in order to get a Foundation Degree. So the top-up would only need to cover Level 6 in order for me to earn a BA.

Guildford had an accelerated course, meaning that students would cover levels 4, 5 and 6 in the space of 2 years instead of 3. So when I applied, I was told that my grades would need to be evaluated. There was a possibility that I needed to retake a year, so they knew I was up to speed for the Level 6. Frankly, I was open to the idea. It would have been a chance to reinforce my learning and boost my confidence in my own capabilities. I had to send off this document called an RPL form (recognition of prior learning). To simplify things, this form was for me to compare the modules from Liverpool's course to that of Guildford. Then attempt to match up the marks I have. I was later accepted to join the Level 6 students in January. Meaning that I'd have a term to wait before my studies continued. I asked if there was anything I could do to prepare myself for January and I was told not to worry. As it happens, my first task was to write a dissertation. Something I was not prepared for by any stretch of the imagination. I hadn't done that type of writing ever and the other students in my class had spent the whole of the last term preparing.

I sat down with my Games Industry Critical Review lecturer and explained my situation to her (pretty much everything I have written about above). She gave me access to past lecture slides to look through and give me the same chances as everyone else.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I gave myself a 3 day crash course in critical writing. Everything from choosing a topic, structures, workflows and bibliographies to types of research and their credibility.

Where I had spent this time learning how to write this way, I hadn't even chosen a topic a week into the assignment. I remember having these 1 to 1's with the Critical Writing lecturer over Zoom. I'd be writing down virtually everything she was saying and making sounds like "uh huh" every once in a while so she knew I was still there.

I was so nervous over this module that I hardly slept, when I did it was for a couple of hours at the most. I had no idea where I stood against the other students on the course, I sure as hell hadn't prepared myself for the possibility of writing a dissertation. Even when I was writing it, I wasn't sure if I was doing any of it correctly.

I ended up doing this case study on the importance of in person gaming events from a sales point of view. Comparing the sales figures of games sold before, during and after the lockdowns. I looked at the lockdown because online was the only way for games companies to reach their audience. Many reduced the price of older games because they were losing money on new titles.

Feedback... Part 2?

I know I've done a section on feedback already, but I think it is crucial that I share the difference.

After submitting my dissertation and waiting very impatiently for results. I got feedback in the form of 800 words talking about what I had done well and where I could improve. I was told that my evidence needed more refining, that I should have compared these events with the likes of Comic-Con or tournaments. There should have been more detailing on certain companies and the localisation marketing strategies adopted in different countries and how they changed over the years I looked at.

I read this and more and I freaked out. It didn't help that I didn't understand their grading system, so I was seeing what was written and thinking to myself that I hadn't even passed.

As it turns out, I got a First in that module.

They gave me a First and still offered me a whole page of notes for me to improve my work from a student to a professional standard. It gave me a scare because I wasn't prepared for it, but THAT is exactly what I wanted from Liverpool or any university setting I go to.

Guildford - Art and Animation

My first day at Guildford, I arrived early to the wrong room. I had a lecturer ask me where my guitar was before I woke up and noticed something was off. Forget being in the wrong room, I was in the wrong building entirely.

I ran all the way over to the correct building and found out that my class was on the top floor and started 5 minutes ago. What a way to make an impression. I walked into the room and saw students but no lecturer. So I went up to the student nearest the door and asked if I was in the right place. I didn't exactly want to make the same mistake twice in one morning. Turned out I was and the lecturer was stuck in traffic. So I sat down and acted like nothing happened.

I sat down with the Art and Animation lecturer when she arrived and explained the best I could that I didn't know if I knew what I was supposed to know. You know?

I showed her my portfolio, which peaked her interest.

The following conversation went a bit like this:

Lecturer: So what job would you like when you get into the industry?

Me: I'm looking for something where I can help make part of a game that people will see. Something art based.

Lecturer: That's when you get into the industry, what would you like to do after that? What's your end goal?

I didn't have an answer.

To be honest with you, I felt a little embarrassed that I'd been so focused on the next step that I didn't know what I really wanted out of the course or what I wanted out of a career in the games industry.

At the time, what I came out with sounded like a pipe dream to me. I said that one day I'd like to be a director of a game. That I'd like to have my own studio somewhere down the line.

There was a part of me that saw this as being as much of a joke as telling someone I wanted to be a time traveller. At the time, both seemed equally impossible.

It was impossible for the next 5 seconds. After a moment to think, my Art and Animation lecturer listed off what I needed to focus on, showcase in my work and what I needed to avoid. She then went on to show me example work being done my a mix of indie game developers and AAA studios. All these designers and directors were focusing on the storytelling elements of the game.

I use the term "storytelling elements" because storytelling in games isn't just about the narrative, this can refer to the materials you create, the wear and tear of an object in a scene. It can even relate to the lighting and moods you create in a scene.

That realisation is what led me to wanting to create environments. Being able to make a scene or a world that players can walk around and interact with.

Art and animation turned into my self driven project that I had to research and incorporate an industry standard technique into my work. For this, I chose to attempt 2 different lighting setups. One for an indoors setting and another for lighting an outside environment.

Guildford - Portfolio Review

My final module was about building this site.

I found out that building a portfolio site is a bit more complicated than I first thought. You've got to look at the site from a recruitment standpoint, if something doesn't load in under 6 seconds chances are it won't get looked at. You also need to think that nobody wants to be clicking on each of your projects to open it up. That's why I kept the Environment page as a full page slideshow. If a project interests them, they can click on it for development shots and a write up.

As for the 3D Models, I try to showcase my top 3 models first. Any other models are hidden under a "show more" button. That keeps the loading time for the page down and maintains a tidy display.

My homepage is currently a static image, though I'm thinking about changing that to a reel. Showcasing a series of my more advanced projects on the landing page.

I did finish the website for a submission deadline, though I have a feeling that this site will be a rolling development project of its own.

Conclusion

I've been trying to think of a few takeaway points from this blog. That doesn't mean that this is good advice.

I think I'll begin by saying that it's okay to be unhappy with your course, even if you're the only one willing to speak up about it.

What you need to realise about a student loan is that you're the one who will be paying it back. It's your money that the university is spending. Make sure you're not disappointed with the experience or results you're getting.

A good university will try and push you, help you achieve your goals in any way that they can. Any feedback you get should be thorough and advise you in improving your work from a university to a professional level.

Do not settle for less!

I didn't mention this earlier, but I was a student rep while at Liverpool. I know that it's a position that most students will shy away from. At the beginning of the course, I didn't want to be a rep either. In the second year at Liverpool, I took it because I needed to be in charge of my own learning, to try and change things for the better. Not for everyone else on the course, but because I knew my learning experience would improve because of it. That is how I was able to get lecturers for my course, I was also able to put in a word to remove online restrictions (Epic game store was originally blocked as it included the word Game).

It's good to make the most of your education, but the course isn't everything. I moved to Guildford and had a far greater learning experience, I genuinely feel that I learnt more in 2 terms there than I did in 2 years at Liverpool.

That said, I wouldn't give up my time in Liverpool for anything. I got to meet some incredible people that I am still in touch with, I got to go to the Casbah, Jacaranda and the Cavern Club. I will never forget walking up Bold Street toward St Luke's bombed out church nearly every day. Or sliding half way down an icy hill to the pub because my mates want to have a drink and watch everyone else fall over.

Make sure to have a dream that is far fetched and outrageous. Something that seems incredible to you and nuts to everyone else. Hold onto that dream tight. Then work towards it.

The first time you do anything, you're probably going to be bad at it. Guess what. That's your starting point, your first step.

If you get stuck, ask questions even if you feel stupid asking. Definitely ask those questions if you think you should know the answers already.

The reason I say that is because it took me a while to realise that by asking questions I felt I should know, I'd get the answer and be wiser for it.

Keep moving forward towards your dream and work out the next steps towards making it a reality. Most importantly, don't forget to enjoy the journey.

Thanks for reading this far, I really appreciate it!

Please feel free to look at another blog post or maybe some of my 3D work.