IT and games design student Simon reflects on his course at Deakin University.
Where do you study? What's the name of the course?
I'm currently doing my Bachelor of Information Technology Games Design and Development stream at Deakin University. I am also completing the units that are part of the Computer Science/Software Development stream.
How did you find out about the course you're doing?
I found out about the Computer Science/Software Development Stream from the VTAC guide when I was looking at university courses. I found out about the Games stream after starting at Deakin.
Was the course easy to get into? What did you have to do to qualify?
The course didn't have very steep requirements to get into, all it needed was a study score of at least 20 (I think) in any Year 12 Maths unit, and of course completing VCE was a requirement.
What made you decide that you wanted to study how to make games?
I've always loved playing games, and always loved tinkering with things, so making games has been high on my list of things I wanted to do ever since I was a kid.
What sort of things do you study as part of learning to make games?
I study a broad range of things to do with making games, from the early concept and design stages to developing a pitch for the concept right through to the development of content.
What's the hardest part about designing a game?
There is a lot of challenging aspects to making a game, some of the things that I found tougher we're some of the early concept stages, doing some of the documentation. And there's always the Math that's involved too - that's always 'fun'.
What's the most fun part about designing a game?
Making content is the fun part, and also can be a rather frustrating part, but seeing the content that you've made "come to life", so to speak, is really cool.
How big a part of your life are games?
Very big. There is a lot of game research to be done and I think I'm one of the people that should do it. I've grown up playing games and I don't think I will stop playing as I get older.
What's your favourite game? Why?
That's a tough question. I don't think I have a single favorite, but on my shortlist would be games like Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 10, Chrono Trigger, the Need for Speed series, Call of Duty series, and a new addition recently: Trackmania!
What kind of job do you want to end up with?
Anything that's to do with game production I think I'll enjoy. I think as long as I am part of making games I'll be fairly happy.
