BA (Hons) Game Art Bachelor's degree at Futureworks

An introduction to the fundamentals of applied artistic knowledge, covering core principles such as form and volume, perspective, figure, gesture, light, and colour, alongside observational and life drawing workshops.

Designed to introduce you to basic modelling techniques with an industry-standard 3D modelling package and familiarise you with 3D modelling workflows. It aims to provide a solid foundation of game engine ready asset creation and enable you to create a portfolio of 3D modelled work.

This focuses on the foundational concepts of design, analysis successful practices, the theories behind good design, shape language, environmental design, character design and prop design which are all used in the creation of concept art. Framing the learning around constant iteration and development of ideas, formulating good design ideas and peer to peer feedback.

This module encourages you to engage with the history of their mediums, with a chronological study of the history of art and their movements (placing the techniques you are learning against the backdrop of their historical development) and how these movements have influenced the visuals of games. Key skills like writing, research, referencing, and presentation skills are also developed.

You will explore the forms of the human body, familiarising yourselves with the creation of a character through digital sculpting, detailing, retopologising, baking and texturing phases. This both strengthens the core understanding of anatomy as well as enriches the appreciation of how the production pipeline works.

Enhance your practical skills in 3D modelling and texturing software and analyse the process for preparing game art assets for use within a game engine. You will construct a level using a game engine, incorporating modular modelling, trim sheets and PBR (physics-based rendering) texturing.

This module expands your visual design skills and introduces more advanced levels of concept design methodology and theory as well as allowing you to specialise in your chosen field within the realm of visual design and concept art.

In this module you will be tasked with taking a project from beginning to end, writing your own brief, creating a project schedule and working independently. You will be guided through an independent brief which you will negotiate with your tutor which will allow you to choose your own game art specialism. This module will teach you how to write briefs, formulate schedules and manage your project.

To best prepare for the production elements of your Final Year Project (FYP), you will write your FYP brief along with rigorous research, testing, development, and self-education, relating to your brief requirements and developing skills sets. Along with this, you will write an academic journal, tracking their progression and reflect on their decisions and progress.

This module is the actual execution of what was researched, developed, and practiced in the Practical Research module. Continuing to enforce the importance of project management, scheduling, and risk assessments, you will utilize all the practice from the previous module to create your best work. Effectively you will undertake work in this module that you want to pursue professionally in industry.

You will choose from a variety of professional set briefs, either co-written with an external games development studio, or written by your tutor. The assignment would be an example of how briefs maybe written in that studio, with the specified requirements, terminology, milestones, expected deliverables. Briefs would be split into categories to allow you to follow your chosen specialisation but would run with the same strictness that would be expected in a studio environment.

This module aims to investigate and evaluate game art created by contemporary artists, building upon your visual design skills through the creation of a professional 2D game art portfolio. It enables you to create your own project briefs that are appropriate for and complement your chosen specialism and provides an opportunity to prepare portfolios in readiness for job interviews for game art roles within the industry.

A module focusing on getting you a job: everything from CVs, websites, showreels and portfolios, to how and where to network, interview practice and how to find work as a freelancer.