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Bachelor of Games Development

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Overview

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Download our Degree Brochure 2021-2022, including payment plan and options:

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Course Overview

Undertake the Bachelor of Games Development at SAE and build your expertise in programming or games design. Apply skills and knowledge in this exciting industry in areas such as level design, social and mobile game development, game engine programming, gameplay programming, game design, project management, serious games and much more. During your time at SAE you will work with industry standard software and hardware, and learn to use industry standard programming languages.

You will undertake specialized units designed for students to participate in real-world projects under the guidance of expert SAE staff. With this unique teaching style, you will demonstrate your skills and technical knowledge in a collaborative and creative studio-based learning environment.

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Your Studies:

Each degree program is broken up into discrete stages, each designed to promote different skills.

Stage I – Foundational Skills Development
In Stage I, you will undertake a number of foundational units which will give you the essential technical skills and knowledge not only relevant to your discipline area but also give you the skills required to collaborate with other creative media students and professionals in later stages of the program.

  • Gameplay Scripting and Gameplay Programming
  • Level Design and Development
  • Principles of Game Design
  • Project Management and Professional Etiquette
  • Critical and creative thinking
  • Contemporary industry overview

Stage II – Interdisciplinary Projects, Media and Cultural Studies
In Stage II you will be working in simulated project groups where you are working towards large scale deliverables each trimester. Within Stage II we will not only get you to apply your Stage I skills in a deeper context but help you work within the contemporary creative media workforce.

In Stage II we show you how your work contributes to and interacts with broader culture and media practice. This knowledge will enable you to work with a variety of other disciplines and artists and expand your potential on the global stage.  

You will complete a number of real-world projects with students not only in your own discipline but in all other SAE disciplines.

In Stage II, you will be given the opportunity to work as project specialists within the following areas. The types of projects and project roles you choose to undertake will determine what area of specialization you fall within. Stage II has two studio modules with projects based on the following areas;

1. Games Programming

The SAE Games Programming degree is a highly focused program which delves deep into game-play and game engine programming. You will build your skills in existing software packages and frameworks such as Unreal Engine and Unity, using these to build your technical skillset and develop your own game tools, libraries, and engines. You will enhance your knowledge of C++ and object-oriented programming to build complex games and tools.
Throughout the program, you will be working with students from all other disciplines to build a rich and high-quality portfolio of work. 

2. Games Design

In the Game Design specialization you will work on a range of projects with your peers and SAE Facilitators which will build your skills and knowledge within the diverse scope of Game Design.
During the program, you will be able to pursue all facets of Game Design such as level design, systems design, economy design, combat, and AI design, balancing, player psychology and much more. Best of all, we will give you the tools you need to be able to articulate design ideas into real working games. You will also explore complex artistic ideas that lead to original, personal games that are artistically meaningful to you. Work alongside other like-minded students and staff from all SAE disciplines to build a massive portfolio of projects.

Stage III
Stage III is the final part of your studies. Here you will undertake an interdisciplinary project of your choice to be the final and most ambitious portfolio project that you will undertake.

You will also finalize your studies by undertaking an elective module and completing a compulsory internship.

By the time you graduate, you will have; a professional online presence that you will have begun building at the start of the program, a wide range of interdisciplinary projects present in your portfolio, and a deeper understanding of the creative media fields and real-world experience.

Upon graduating from the programming or game design specialization, you will have significant experience working in simulated production environments. You will have learned industry standard workflow and product lifecycle. You will have a portfolio of game projects used to either begin your own startup or build your professional practice further.

Students in the programming specialization will have a range of portfolio projects which demonstrate an applied knowledge of C++ in the context of game-play programming and game engine programming. You will also have a demonstrated knowledge of building tools for game engines in languages like C#.

Game design students will graduate with a strong technical understanding of game development pipeline and tools such as Unity, UDK, 3D Studio Max and Maya. Game design students will have the opportunity to engage in a diverse range of skills including visual arts, audio, story or character development and to explore artistic visions for what games could be. Designers will practice the creative development of games, working to be original, expressive and innovative.


QUALIFICATION

Bachelor of Games Development


INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

  • Ubisoft
  • Board.com
  • Pixel Hunters
  • Pixel Bug
  • NGT2
  • Sound Force
  • Andante
  • Metroplis
  • Fetcher
  • V&S Games
  • Virsix
  • Dragon Master
  • After Work Games

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Courses

Your learning experience

SAE has implemented a remote flexible learning option for current and future students. The range of tools developed by SAE will not only allow students to collaborate online but also gain experience in remote working practices widely used within the creative industries.

  • Learn advanced-level industry-standard C++ programming language with a specialised focus on games development.
  • Use industry-standard middleware and development packages such as Havoc, Direct X, Ogre, OpenGL, UDK, Unity, and many more.
  • Experience a course designed in collaboration with industry partners, develop the skills the games industry wants.
  • Learn game play programming, game engine programming and tools development – you will be able to develop your own engines from the ground up and create your own tools including importers/exporters and scene managers.
  • Learn the design and technical skills to be able to articulate and implement high-level games concepts – these are key professional attributes required by the games industry and often not addressed in other HE games courses.
  • Develop high-level skills in games design, programming, 3D pipeline, games psychology, and working prototypes – learn how to make your ideas a reality.
  • Start making games in your first trimester.
  • Work with artists, designers, web and mobile developers, film makers, animators and audio specialists.

BACHELOR OF GAMES DEVELOPMENT

The Games Development degree program is broken up into discrete stages, each designed to promote different skills.

Stages of Games Degree

Stage I – Foundational Skills Development
In Stage I, students will undertake a number of foundational units which will give students the essential technical skills and knowledge not only relevant to the chosen discipline area, but also give students the skills required to collaborate with other creative media students and professionals in later stages of the Film course.

  • Gameplay Scripting and Gameplay Programming
  • Level Design and Development
  • Principles of Game Design
  • Project Management and Professional Etiquette
  • Critical and creative thinking
  • Contemporary industry overview

Stage II – Interdisciplinary Projects, Media and Cultural Studies
In Stage II we show students how their work in Games contributes to and interacts with broader culture and media practice. This knowledge will enable students to work with a variety of other disciplines and artists and expand their potential on the global stage.

Students will complete a number of real-world projects with students not only in their own discipline, but also in all other SAE disciplines.

Stage II has three studio modules with projects based on the following areas;

1. Games Programming

The SAE Games Programming degree is a highly focused program that delves deep into game-play and game engine programming. Students will build skills in existing software packages and frameworks such as Unreal Engine and Unity, to build technical skillset and develop game tools, libraries and engines. Students will also enhance their knowledge of C++ and object-oriented programming to build complex games and tools.
Throughout the program, students will cross-collaborate from all other disciplines to build a rich and high quality portfolio of work.

2. Games Design

In the Game Design specialisation students will work on a range of projects with peers and SAE Facilitators, which will build skills and knowledge within the diverse scope of Game Design.

During the program students will be able to pursue all facets of Game Design such as level design, systems design, economy design, combat and AI design, balancing, player psychology and much more. Best of all, SAE will provide the tools to be able to articulate design ideas into real working games, explore complex artistic ideas that lead to original, personal games that are artistically and meaningful to the student. Students have the opportunity to work alongside other like-minded students and staff from all SAE disciplines to build a massive portfolio of projects.

Stage III
Stage III is the final part of study. Here you will undertake an interdisciplinary project of choice to be the final and most ambitious portfolio project that a student will undertake.

Students will also finalise their studies by undertaking a Games elective module and completing a compulsory internship.

 

Careers

Career options

  • Games programmer
  • Games designer
  • Graphics programmer
  • Level developer
  • Mobile game developer
  • Simulation specialists
  • Physics programmer
  • Game physics engineer
  • Game lighting artist
  • Engine programmer
  • Game effects programmer
  • Game economy designer
  • Character designer
  • Control developer
  • Lead level designer
  • System designer
  • Character profiler
  • Game product manager
  • Game tester

Employers

SAE Dubai Games Development graduates have been involved with many outstanding creative media companies, including:

  • Ubisoft
  • Board.com
  • Pixel Hunters
  • Pixel bug
  • NGT2
  • Sound Force
  • Andante
  • Metroplis
  • Fetcher
  • V&S Games
  • Virsix
  • Dragon Master
  • After Work Games

Units

Bachelor of Games Development (Games Design)
VIEW UNIT
Trimester 1 (1st Year)
Game ScriptingGame Mechanics & Dynamics
Trimester 2
Contemporary Industrial PracticesThinking about GamesGame Asset Production
Trimester 3
Media StudiesGames Studio 1
Trimester 4 (2nd Year)
Games Studio 2
Trimester 5
Games Studio 3
Trimester 6
Cultural PerspectivesGames Studio 4
Trimester 7 (3rd Year)
Work Integrated LearningMajor Project Development
Trimester 8
Creative MediaElectiveMajor Project Production
  • Discipline Specialisation Unit
  • Creative Industry Unit
  • Elective Unit

Note: 
Elective unit is selected from any other bachelor course, trimester 1 or 2 units.
Studios are professionally oriented production units modelled on real-world work environments.

Exit point options:

Option to complete your studies with a Diploma after 80 credit points or an Associate Degree of Games after 160 credit points.

With the Diploma of Games Development you will learn the key fundamentals in game development. You can become:

  • an Entry level Game designer, Game level designer, Games writer, Community manager
  • a Quality assurance officer
  • a Production assistant
  • an App developer

Through the Associate Degree of Games Development you spend time in a studio environment using industry-standard software and you will be developing for existing technologies. With the Associate Degree you can become:

  • a Level, User interface, Lightning, System or Content designer
  • a Software or Game play engineer
  • a Community manager
Trimester 1
Game Scripting
Game Mechanics & Dynamics
Trimester 2
Contemporary Industrial Practices
Thinking about Games
Game Asset Production
Trimester 3
Media Studies
Games Studio 1
Trimester 4
Games Studio 2
Trimester 5
Games Studio 3
Trimester 6
Cultural Perspectives
Games Studio 4
Trimester 7
Work Integrated Learning
Major Project Development
Trimester 8
Creative Media
Elective
Major Project Production
  • Discipline Specialisation Unit
  • Creative Industry Unit
  • Elective Unit

Note: 
Elective unit is selected from any other bachelor course, trimester 1 or 2 units.
Studios are professionally oriented production units modelled on real-world work environments.

Exit point options:

Option to complete your studies with a Diploma after 80 credit points or an Associate Degree of Games after 160 credit points.

With the Diploma of Games Development you will learn the key fundamentals in game development. You can become:

  • an Entry level Game designer, Game level designer, Games writer, Community manager
  • a Quality assurance officer
  • a Production assistant
  • an App developer

Through the Associate Degree of Games Development you spend time in a studio environment using industry-standard software and you will be developing for existing technologies. With the Associate Degree you can become:

  • a Level, User interface, Lightning, System or Content designer
  • a Software or Game play engineer
  • a Community manager
  • Games Student
    The student environment at SAE Institute Dubai has a warm and friendly atmosphere, which helps bring the students together from all departments to share their talents and creative outlets.
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  • Games Alumnus
    SAE Institute is the best. It was a great experience that not only expanded my soft skills, but also assisted me in achieving one of my milestones, which was to become a software engineer.
    -
  • Games Alumnus
    SAE Institute to me, personally, was the best option to study digital media in Dubai. The degree programs have an accelerated option which allows students to complete their Bachelor's degree in 2 years. This program is definitely exciting for the creative youth and you get a lot of hands-on experience in your chosen field.
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