Analysis of skills
Primary Skills
Above is a bar chart showing my rating of my primary skills that I have developed over the course of my time at college that will be useful within the games industry, Overall I am very happy with the state that my primary skills are in as I am pretty confident in most of what I have learnt with the main one’s being my construct, unity and level design skills despite this I will still try to improve myself in these area’s however since I am not the best at art and animation and do not wish to pursue a career that will heavily relies on those things I am going to spend more time on my other skills since it would be more useful to focus on my level design skills since that’s my favourite area of the industry.
Secondary Skills
Above is a bar chart showing my rating of my secondary skills that I have developed over the course of my time at college that will greatly help me in the working world, Once again I am quite happy with were these skills are at since I am pretty confident in all of them with the main ones being my time management, organisation and problem solving skills all of which have been a focus of mine since starting college since they were not something I was the best at previously. I still wish to improve all of these skills further since there is always room for improvement however the main two I am currently focusing on are my leadership and communication skills as I am not terrible at them I do not particularly enjoy doing those things and would like to be more confident in those aspect plus being able to effectively communicate ideas is something very important in the industry.
Overall I believe that my current skills set is quite good and shall help me within the games industry, Both my primary skill set and secondary skill set are pretty equal in terms of were they are at currently so I will continue to improve both of them as a whole and improve the specific skills that I previously mentioned.
Problem Solving Example
A problem I had was my idle animation cancelling out other animations which I found via testing my own game, I found the solution by looking back in my code to see that my idle animation played if the player was standing still for more than 3 seconds and so I changed the code by adding a Boolean so that that line of code would only activate while the Boolean was set to true and then made it so that when I had code that played another animation it would set the Boolean to false so that the idle animation wouldn’t cancel it out and then after that code that played for example the walk cycle stopped it would set the Boolean back to true so the idle animation would play again. The solution worked quite well and I found no issues with the idle animation cancelling other animations in the final build of the game, while a better solution was probably available at the time this was the best thing that I could code.
Identifying my goals and ambitions
What Do You Want To Do Next?/Ambitions
I want to do either university or the hnd after I finish the course since I want to further develop my skills in the games industry instead of trying to go straight into the industry from the course, currently I am considering both but am leaning more towards doing the hnd since I believe that is what I would prefer to do however I don’t want to put university out of the picture just yet since I still don’t know everything about both of my options. In the industry I am currently thinking about level design/environmental design since that’s my favourite aspect of games design and would enjoy working on those areas the most however UI design would also be something I would enjoy to do in the industry.
Reaching my goals/ambitions
In order to reach my goals of being a level/environment designer or UI designer I will try to get into the industry via either QA testing or an internship so that I get some experience(most likely at sony) that would look good on my cv which would increase my likelihood of getting employed in the industry. I will also need to learn many skills which I have researched and can be seen below.
The skills listed above are things that I will work on in and/or out of the last year of my college course and my time at university/hnd so that I will have at least some of the skills required to enter my desired areas of the industry.
Entering the games industry research
Job Roles Research
I conducted some research into the responsibilities of the job roles I am most interested in.
Level Design
ScreenSkills. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/games/design/level-designer/> [Accessed 17 November 2021].
The level designers are responsible for the total environment of a game level, as well as all of the assets and characters that inhabit it. In the conceptual stage, the level designer imagines a chapter in the overarching story line of the game. He or she must determine where this chapter will take place, what characters and objects the player will encounter, and what the objectives of the level will be. Then the level designer draws up design documentation that details a complete list of required assets and explains objectives and environment layout. On two-dimensional layouts, the level designer marks each asset to be placed in the environment, including where events take place, sound effects, and the placement of scripts that trigger those elements.
UI design
2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Job-Descriptions/UI-Designer.htm> [Accessed 17 November 2021].
ScreenSkills. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/games/design/user-experience-ux-designer/> [Accessed 17 November 2021].
The user interface designer are responsible for creating the HUD and UI for the game, It must include everything the player would need to know such as health, stamina, map, etc in the example of the in game HUD however they would also be responsible for various UI such menus and making sure they are easy to navigate and understand while still looking like it fits in with the rest of the game so that it looks professional.
Entry Level Jobs
Jr Game Designer
Above is an entry level job for level design which is an area of games design I am interested in, the skills required are level design , Verbal, visual and written communication and ideation and concept creation which are all skills I currently have. Other desirable things that are not required but are good to have are Experience using Unity, Interest and experience of Mixed Reality technology games, Understanding and experience of UX design, Knowledge of gameplay styles on different platforms, Storytelling ability, Understanding of programming basics and mathematics and An understanding of video game history.I would need to improve my skills in most of those listen in desirable skills since I only currently have a few of them which are experience in unity, storytelling ability and an understanding of video game history and even then its limited knowledge of those skills so I would need to learn/improve those skills to increase my chances of being hired. I would need to relocate for this entry level job since Leeds is a moderate distance away which is not ideal but would be something I could do since rent is about £100 per week in Leeds and the rough monthly living costs are about £650. I would like to work here since it would be a good way to help improve my skills and it would help me get my foot in the door so that I have a better chance of being hired in other studios. This is a job I could do after college or university.
QA Tester
Above is another entry level job I have found for QA testing which is an area of the industry I would enjoy working in and it would be a good place to start and get experience within the industry which I could then put on my cv to help me get hired in the future, the skills listed wanted are vr testing experience(not required), communication skills written and verbal, passion for games, motivation and willing to relocate which are all things that I can do minus the vr testing experience meaning that I could possibly do over the course of the summer before starting whatever it is I will be doing next and the experience would be defiantly worth any trouble I encountered. The only downside would be the relocating aspect but even then it wouldn’t be the biggest of issues for me since rent is about £100 per week in Leeds and the rough monthly living costs are about £650. . This is a job I could do over the summer between finishing college and starting further education or after finishing further education.
Jr UI Designer
Above is another entry level job I have found for UI design which is an area of the industry I would like working in and it would be a good place to start in the industry which would allow me to get some good experience within the industry which I could then put on my cv. The job is in Manchester which I could travel to with moderate ease since I live close by meaning I could get the train which would cost about £70 a week. The job wants communication skills, an understanding of UI design and a passion for games which are all things I have granted my communication skills still have some room for improvement, the desirable skills are previous experience which I do not have however that is not a requirement. This is a job I could do after university or during my time over the summer between college and university. I would like to work here since it would be a great way to help develop my skills in UI design since its an area I am interested in plus it would be good work experience for the industry to help me get my foot in the door so that I have a better chance of being hired in other studios.
Jr UI Designer
Above is another entry level job I have found for UI design which is an area of the industry I would like working in and it would be a good place to start in the industry which would allow me to get some good experience within the industry which I could then put on my cv. The job is in Brentford which would mean I would have to relocate in order to take this position which would cost roughly around £300-£400 a week for rent onto of living costs. I believe that I would be able to do this job pretty well however with my current projects UI is something that I don’t particularly focus on so I would most likely need to improve upon that to better increase my chances of getting this role . I would like to work here since it would be a great way to help develop my skills in UI design and would be good work experience.
Trainee Games/Software Tester
Above is an entry level job for a Games and Software Tester which I am interested in pursuing, this job is pretty good due to how it is aimed at people who are passionate about games and want a way to enter the industry to develop their skills. This job is in Liverpool meaning I would not have to relocate so I could apply for this position after finishing college and my experience from college would help me in getting this position since due to the no experience needed for this role my skills I have gained could put me ahead of other candidates. Before applying for this position I would need to develop my feedback/communication skills so that I am able to give clear and concise feedback which would be very important for this job role. Overall this job would be a great way to enter the industry and develop my skills which would then help me when applying for other positions in the industry.
QA Tester
While they are not currently hiring at the time of me conducting this research Sony in Liverpool hire QA tester at which is an entry level job that I could apply for to help get experience within the industry and since it is so close transport would not be an issue at all. This is a job I could do over the summer between finishing college and starting further education or after finishing further education.
Senior Position Research
I conducted a bit of research into senior position in areas of the industry I am interested in so that I could look at what the salary and required and desired skills would be so I could have a better understanding,
Below is an example of a job listing for a UI designer that I have found, it is a remote position so travelling or relocating is no issue since I would be working from home. The salary for this position is between £22-42,000 a year which is a good salary, this position is also in an area of the industry I am pretty well interested in as while level design is my favourite aspect of the industry UI design is another area I would like to work in.
Below is an example of a job listing for a level designer that I have found, the studio is based in Liverpool so I would have no problems in traveling there since I live close by. The salary for this position is between £21-43,000 a year which is a good salary, this position is also in the area of the industry I am most interested in that being level design.
University Research
I have conducted research into 5 courses I could do after I finished my time at college so that I can learn more about my options which will allow me to make an informed choice.
Southport College HND
https://www.southport.ac.uk/universitycentre/subjects-and-courses/detail/ucd:MNHNDGDY1
The qualification that this course offers a higher national diploma in games design which is a level 5 degree, while this is a lower qualification than if I were to go to a university I don’t think it has that big of an impact. This course is full time with a duration of two years. It is a non-campus meaning there is no place to live on the site due to it being a college. The course has a good reputation since most people end up getting the qualification that they wanted when they. The staff are professionals so the quality of the teaching on the course would be good. The course is within walking distance of my current house so travel would be no problem and I would not have to relocate in order to attend. From what I could find their are a few ties to the industry that I could get from the course but that’s more of a bonus than something that is needed. Due to the course being 2 years and being a HND it also means its considerably cheaper than going to university since the course only costs just over £6000. The course is interesting to me since it offers a wide range of skills including 3D modelling, project management, user interface design, art development and industrial practice which all of these areas except art development interest me however art is still something I want try before I fully dismiss it.
Bolton University
https://www.bolton.ac.uk/course/GAM002-F-UOB-SX
This course offers a bachelor of science with honours qualification which is a level 6 degree which is better than a HND but lower than a master however its still a pretty good qualification that I would be happy with. The course is full time with a duration of 3 years which would cost about £28000 for the full 3 years. The university while not close is still a manageable distance to travel that I could do however relocating is an option that I could do. The university has an campus which I could use that is only 10 minutes away from the town centre that would cost about £4600 per year plus living costs which is estimated to come to a total of about £8400 which is a large amount of money per year. It has a good reputation as a lot of people choose this course and then proceed to finish with a good qualification and previous students say that the staff are good. From what I could find their are ties to the industry from the course since the staff have experience working in the industry but once again that’s more of a bonus than something that is needed. The course covers both 2D and 3D game environments, concepts and mechanics for all types of game(pc, console, vr, ect) which are once again all areas that I would enjoy doing.
City of Liverpool College University Centre
https://www.liv-coll.ac.uk/courses/games-design-and-concept-art-ba-hons/
This course offers a bachelor of arts with honours which is a level 6 degree which is a good qualification, the course is full time with a duration of 3 years which costs about £25500 for the whole 3 years. The university is close enough that I could travel from my current house which would mean taking the train which would come to about £7 per trip however I could pay yearly in order to save myself a good chunk of money. Due to it being a college university it does not have a campus. It has a good reputation as a lot of people choose this course and then proceed to finish with a good qualification due to its dual pathway of specialist modules and ex students have said that the course and staff are pretty good. From what I could find their are no ties to the industry from the course but once again that’s more of a bonus than something that is needed. This course interests me due to its focus on modelling skills however it does also cover other skills I like such as texturing however there are better courses out there that I would prefer however this is still an alright option.
University Of Cumbria
This course offers a bachelor of arts with honours in games design which is a level 6 degree, it is a little lower than other qualifications however I would still be happy with this qualification. The course is full time with a duration of 3 years which would cost around £28000 for the whole 3 year years. The university is quite far meaning I would have to relocate in order to go here since traveling from Southport is not an option. The university has several campuses however I focused on the ones closest to the actual university site that were within a short walking distance which are all around £4500 per year which then plus living costs of the year would come to about £8500 which is a similar amount to that of Bolton. The university has a solid reputation with previous students that attended graduated with desired qualification and they also say that the staff are good too. I also learnt how the university has some good industry ties since some staff are active professionals in the games industry or have had experience within the industry which is a good bonus. This course interests me because it covers focuses on the art and design aspect of game creation for both 2D and 3D games, you will also be turning these ideas into playable prototypes which is what I currently do at college and I really enjoy doing so, the university also hosts their own game jam which is pretty cool.
University Of Central Lancashire
https://www.uclan.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/games-design-ba?term=games%20deisgn
This courses offers a bachelor of arts with honours in games design which is a level 6 degree, it is a little lower than other qualifications however I would still be happy with this qualification. The course is full time with a duration of 3 years which would cost around £28000 for the whole 3 year years. The university is far meaning I would most likely relocate in order to go here since travelling from Southport wouldn’t be worth it for me. The university has several campuses however I focused on the one that is the closest to the university site which is about £100 per week which then plus living costs of the year would come to about £9500 which is little bit more than other areas. The university has a great reputation with previous students that attended saying many positive things about the university and the course is ranked 1st in the north west for student experience. I also learnt how the university has some really good industry ties since some staff have had experience within the industry plus the university brings in people from close by studios for talks and to look at students work at the end of year show which is a really good bonus. This course interests me since it covers a wide range of skills that I enjoy doing for example modelling as well as many other elements of game design.
Personal Statement Research
Youtube.com. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwXS51Od084&ab_channel=UCASProgress> [Accessed 15 November 2021].
UCAS. 2021. Personal statements: quick-fire questions answered!. [online] Available at: <https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/personal-statements-quick-fire-questions-answered> [Accessed 9 November 2021].
UCAS. 2021. Writing an undergraduate personal statement. [online] Available at: <https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/writing-undergraduate-personal-statement> [Accessed 9 November 2021].
UCAS. 2021. How to complete your personal statement. [online] Available at: <https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/how-complete-your-personal-statement> [Accessed 9 November 2021].
Below is my personal statement which I made after researching what makes a a good personal statement, things such as talking about experience and what you learnt or did from it are good to talk about, focus on the positives and avoid any negatives since you are trying to sell yourself to someone. I also learnt how its best to avoid humour since its a very subjective thing so the person reading it may not find it funny, lastly another key thing is that you must make sure that if you are planning on using it for multiple courses then you should make sure it works for all of them and so you shouldn’t’ mention any specific one as the other will reject you. In order to help me write my personal statement I looked at some support documents on the UCAS website since I knew it would contain good quality information that would be useful to me so that my personal statement was good and I was making good use of the word limit.
UCAS Form
Below are is a screenshot of my completed UCAS form since after college I will continue my studies.
My Personal Statement
Over the years I have noticed my interest in the games industry has grown as I went from just playing games as a hobby to trying to understand their design and how they work to then wanting to make my own since it seemed like it would be a good choice as a career path which has led to me to pursue as career in the games industry, therefore I have chosen to study a course about games design. I am interested in most areas of game design but tend to focus on level design since I enjoy that the most and find that understanding what makes good level design for different genres to be very interesting and find it to be an often-overlooked area of design since it is key to crafting a great experience.
I have had work experience in the past that I gained from my job in retail at a local shop meant I had to deal with customers, keep the shelves stocked with goods and communicate with my fellow employees so no misunderstandings occurred as well as other duties such as helping after closing time and assisting in taking count of the stock, during my time doing this I improve my skills in communication, teamwork, independence and multitasking since I had to utilize these often and these are some of the skills I am still trying to improve upon since they are very useful skills to have in the working world. I also plan to get another job in the future over the winter or summer break so that I get more experience in the working world.
I am also currently doing a games design level 3 extended diploma and am currently on the 2nd year after passing the first year, despite all the issues that occurred due to covid I continued to work to the best of my ability and it showed in the grade I got which was a distinction, I am very passionate about, and it has taught me a lot more about game design. Over the many practical projects that I have done I learned how to use software such as photoshop for creating 2D assets and will be learning how to use it to make textures this year, construct 3 for coding simple 2D games using a visual coder, I am in the process of learning maya so that I can create 3D models, I am also in the process of learning unity to allow me to make 3D games and I will also be learning how to use bolt this year which is another visual coder.
When I am not in college, I enjoy going fishing all around the northwest with my father as it is a nice relaxing pass time that has helped teach me patience and further improve my communication skills. As well as fishing I also enjoy reading fictional stories with my favorite being the sci-fi and fantasy genres. I also have an interest in the development of technology within the gaming/computing industry as it’s interesting to see what new hardware and software are creating to further advance the industry. I also greatly enjoy spending my time playing a range of games mainly with my friends, but I also enjoy analyzing games and questing design choices to see what makes that game fun for me. I believe that my range of interests has taught me skills and the knowledge of a wide range of subjects that will help me in higher education.
My goal is to enter the games industry currently in the level design area at one of my dream studios the main one being rare, and I believe that higher education would assist me in reaching this goal, however this is subject to change as I further develop my knowledge of the industry and hone my skills more.
Personal Statement Feedback
After having written my personal statement I received feedback from A member of staff just to make sure that it was good quality work and then made the recommended adjustments.
Interview Preparation
What preparation you would plan to do for an interview?
I would first research the company I was applying for so that I could show I understand the company such as the company values and I would also research the pay for the job role I was applying for so if I was asked for what I expected my salary to be I could give a reasonable price for my skills. I would also plan out answers to question I would expect to be asked so that I will be able to provide a good answer and not be caught off guard because I was unprepared. If it was a remote interview I would also test my equipment to make sure I encounter no technique difficulties that could ruin my chances of employment and if it was remote I would have notes that I could look at the assist me throughout the interview.
What have you learned about interviews
I have learnt that interviews using remote technology but despite this appearance is still important as it can affect your interviewers first impression of you. I have also learnt how its important to plan out and learn the answers to expected question so that you have the best chance of getting the position.
A list of commonly asked questions and what your answers would be
- Tell me about yourself?
- I am very passionate about the level design aspect of games design and would love to pursue a career in it
- Why do you want to work for us?
- Due to my passion about creating games and then talk about why I chose that studio specifically
- What are your salary expectations?
- About the amount for the position I am applying for
- What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
- Strengths- creative, hardworking, problem solving
- Weakness-Communication but its something I’m working on improving
- What is your greatest achievement?
- Charity work I did in honor of my uncle after his death
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
- Open to ideas but hopefully a senior position at studio you are applying for
- Why should we hire you?
- I always put my best into my work and am very punctual
- What are your hobbies and interests?
- I enjoy playing games and fishing in my free time as both are relaxing activities
- Where else are you interviewing?
- Honest answer such as just looking at a few over jobs in the area
- How do you handle stress?
- I break down the problem causing the stress to make it easier to deal with
- Describe yourself in 3 words
- Trustworthy, hardworking and passionate
- What motivates you at work?
- The workplace environment and the satisfaction of getting the job done
- What makes you unique?
- I will bring a new perspective to the workplace
- Why do you want to leave your current job?
- While I enjoy it I believe I would enjoy and make a better impact working in the games industry since its a passion of mine
- Do you have any questions for me?
- What is the dress code?
- What Software is used?
- What Hardware is used?
Pre-interview reflective evaluation
I feel that I will be somewhat ready for an interview despite my many fears about it since I don’t tend to enjoy stuff like this, I feel I that I could complete an interview semi confidently since I have learnt many things about them as seen above but I still need more preparation in giving my answers confidently and general communication skills still need some work before I could say I am fully confident that I could complete an interview well.
Mock Interview Recording
Post-interview reflective evaluation
After having completed my interview I feel that I did a good job, while I was quite nervous I managed to hide it pretty well and I still came across as quite confident during the entire interview. I managed to answer each question pretty well and clearly/effectively without frequently stuttering or pausing. I believe I did a lot better than I expected since I was not confident before the interview hence why I was so nervous. I believe that my body language was pretty good but could still use a little bit of improvement. Overall I’m surprised at how well it went and I am very happy with my performance however like everything there is still room for improvement however I have learnt from this experience and will use it to help me.
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