Abertay University Courses

Video Game Design and Development: A Bit-by-Bit History of Video Game Music: Video Game Sound and Music

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Chart the history of video game music, bit by bitFrom early arcade games to modern open-world adventures, video game soundtracks have made an indelible mark on our culture.On this course, you’ll get an introduction to video game music and the platforms that define it (including Atari and NES), focusing on the evolution of the classic 8-bit sound.Featuring exclusive interviews with top video game composers and musicians, you’ll get hands-on with recorded examples, downloadable demos, and sample code.You’ll draw on technology, musicology, and cultural studies to chart the development of the best video game music – from Pong to the complex arrangements of today’s first-person shooters.This course is designed for anyone interested in game design and development. This includes those considering studying it at university and entering the games industry or becoming a video game music composer.It will also appeal to anyone interested in electronic or gaming music, movie soundtracks, screen media, and video games.Some experience of music notation and music theory would be helpful, but no prior knowledge is required or assumed.No specific software or hardware is required for this course.

Video Game Design and Development: Introduction to Game Programming

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Learn the basics of game development to understand how great gamesare designedVideo games have become a multi-billion-dollar industry, even recently overshadowing cinema as the globe’s go-to entertainment medium of choice.Training to become a video game developer gives you access to this thriving industry, letting you be creative in the process, while gaining key transferable skills.On this course, you’ll get an introduction to the major concepts of game programming, including user input, rendering and collision detection. You’ll take a detailed look at core programming concepts such as loops, conditional statements and data storage.This course would appeal to those with a general interest in programming and/or game programming. Some prior programming knowledge would be useful but is not required. Some mathematical understanding is required to understand programming structures.No specific hardware, software or resources required.

Video Game Design and Development: Video Game Character Design

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Discover great video game character design and how to make your own charactersFrom Lara Croft to Super Mario, video game characters have become part of our cultural lexicon. But what makes a great game character? And how can you create your own?On this course, you’ll learn how gamers identify with the characters they control and interact with in-game worlds. You’ll explore anatomy, graphic design, narrative and gameplay, to provide you with a broad knowledge and understanding of the field of video game character design.Ultimately, you’ll discover how studying human nature can help you design characters that gamers will recognise and understand.This course is designed for anyone interested in game design and development. This includes those who are considering studying it at university or entering the games industry to become a developer or designer.It will be particularly suitable for those interested in the field of character design.No specific software is required to study this course.

Design Board Games for Socio-Political Change

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Turn social events into social change with board games that engage and educateBoard games naturally support social interaction, and are often a reflection of a culture’s values and beliefs. They also happen to be one of today’s fastest-growing hobbies.With all that in mind, it makes sense that playing board games can affect what individuals think about important issues. And it follows that these games have the power to foster political and social change.On this three-week course from the renowned Abertay University School of Design and Informatics, you’ll gain skills to analyse the use of board games in socio-political debates and learn how to develop your own game design concept.Deconstruct and understand the basics of board gamesBefore you start working on games for social change you’ll learn the fundamentals, processes,and techniques of good design.You’ll play, analyse, and deconstruct existing games that were developed to benefit society, and will see their potential as a way to encourage activism for political change, climate action, and other important causes.Create the social and political change you want to seeOnce you understand the theory behind producing board games that encourage socio-political reforms, you’ll get a chance to do it yourself.Not only will you get to develop your own concepts, but you’ll also gain extra insights from the constructive feedback that you get from and give to your peers.Learn from the best board game design expertsThe School of Design and Informatics at Abertay University is the United Kingdom’s Centre of Excellence for Computer Games Education.Their award-winning courses are widely renowned, and you’ll get to take advantage of all this expertise and support as you create board games to make the world a better place.This course is designed for anyone interested in board game design, especially as a tool to create political or social change. No prior knowledge is required, but a genuine love of board games will make the course even more enjoyable and meaningful.