Games Design and Sonic Arts BA

About the Course

This course is aimed at students who want to develop a comprehensive understanding of the factors which shape the games industry and the techniques and principles used in the design of games, in addition to studying music technology as a creative tool. You will have the opportunity to design and analyse digital games as well as studying Sonic Arts at a high level and developing an informed understanding of current debates in the subject.

About the School of Arts at Brunel

The School of Arts at Brunel includes single and joint honours degree courses in English, Journalism, Music and Sonic Arts, Film and Television Studies and Modern Drama. This is a vibrant, friendly and creative place to study. Research conducted by staff provides the basis for much of our teaching, ensuring that modules are connected to debates and issues that are current within these interdisciplinary areas.

Each programme develops basic skills within its discipline but allows you to explore your own particular interests through a range of optional modules.

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Aims

Taught by a team who specialise in research into the theoretical analysis of digital games or who are professionals in the games design industry, this new degree will introduce you to ideas and practices at the forefront of game studies and game design. Your second subject will also provide ideas and concepts that you can use in your study and design of games.

Enquiries

Douglas Brown
Subject Leader, Games Design

School of Arts
Brunel University
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB8 3PH

Email: douglas.brown@brunel.ac.uk

Related Courses

• Games Design and English BA
• Games Design and Creative Writing BA
• Games Design and Film and Television Studies BA

Special Features

• The programme is taught by a team who specialise in research into the theoretical analysis of digital games or who are professionals who have worked or who currently work as game designers in the industry. The composition of the teaching team will introduce you to ideas at the forefront of the discipline as well as providing a knowledge and understanding of professional practice.
  
  
• There is a vibrant student performance culture on campus comprising several ensembles performing contemporary and classical music, improvisation, jazz, and live electronics.
  
  
• Facilities include a computer suite fully equipped for sound design and notation, studios for individual work, individual practice rooms and larger spaces for group rehearsals.
  
  
• You will be part of a highly dynamic music department with a strong profile in the Greater London area. The University hosts weekly recitals and concerts, and our new Arts@Artaud series showcases new performance work by students, staff and visiting artists in the newly refurbished surroundings of the Antonin Artaud building.

Facts and Figures

Brunel has an unequalled concentration of contemporary music practitioners of national and international reputation, including the composers John Croft, Carl Faia, Christopher Fox, Harald Muenz, Colin Riley, Jennifer Walshe and Peter Wiegold, the pianist Sarah Kingdom, the jazz musician Frank Griffith, and the musicologist Bob Gilmore. The presence of associate artists and ensembles including Piano Circus and the London Contemporary Orchestra provides an incomparable resource that few institutions can match.

Course Content

In each year of your degree, you will study theory modules aimed at developing your analytical understanding of the cultural and social significance of games and their historical contexts. Design modules will aid your ability to produce creative, realisable strategies in relation to set briefs. Application modules will provide you with a comprehensive knowledge of the communication skills currently used in the games industry, including presentation and prototyping skills. You will also study a selection of core and optional modules from your chosen second subject.

Games Design

At each level you take modules in:

• Theory, which develops your understanding of methods and approaches used in the analysis of games, their cultural and social significance, and historical contexts.
• Design, which will aid your development of creative strategies for generating game design ideas and game design projects. You undertake design projects, developing a practical understanding of creative game design.
• Application (industry relevant skills and contexts), which will provide you with a comprehensive knowledge of the skills used currently in the games industry.

Sonic Arts

You will become familiar with a range of techniques and approaches to computer music and sonic arts, and with the history of sonic art and related traditions.

You do not need to have a music qualification or to read music to apply for this programme, but a large number of options in performance, orchestration, composition and music history are available for students with appropriate musicianship skills.

Typical Modules

Level 1

• Theory 1: ‘Reading’ Games – methods for, and practice of, analysing the formal components of games
• Design 1: Introduction to Game Design – practical exercises, working to set briefs
• Application 1: Methods for, and practice of, communicating design concepts and ideas
• Academic Practice
• Introduction to Sonic Arts
• Currents in Electronic Music

Level 2

• Theory 2: Approaches to analysing games and players
• Design 2: Large game design projects, working to a brief  
• Application 2: Prototyping game designs and understanding the games industry

Three modules to be selected from the following:

• Sonic Arts Project
• History of Computer Music
• Live Performance and Electronics
• Sonic Arts Computing

Level 3

• Theory 3: Socio-Cultural Contexts – Analysing the social and cultural implications of games
• EITHER Major Design Project
• OR Major Theoretical Project
• OR Medium Design Project AND Medium Theoretical Project
• Music Special Project
• Advanced Topics in Computer Music
• Acousmatic Project
  

Teaching and Learning

Lectures, workshops, seminars, play sessions and tutorials will provide you with different ways of engaging with relevant materials. Use will be made of the programme’s online forum to aid in the development of knowledge and to solicit discussion.

Assessment

Practical work is assessed by a range of projects throughout the programme, some of which are carried out in groups. Throughout the programme, assessed practical exercises and projects require increasingly more complex knowledge of markets, parameters and techniques. Written essays which accompany projects require evaluation of your own work using a range of theoretical and critical tools. The project modules enable a more sustained engagement in which detailed knowledge and understanding is tested.

Employability

You will acquire core transferable skills of effective communication, leadership, self-management, initiative and personal responsibility.

Our undergraduate programmes are designed to sharpen creative and analytical skills, develop confidence in working in teams and in problem-solving techniques.

Careers

The course will prepare you for a career in the digital games industry or allow specialisation within the field of Digital Games in combination with Sonic Arts.

Fees for 2013/14 entry

UK/EU students: £9,000 full-time; £6,750 part-time

International students: £12,000 full-time

We are introducing over 700 scholarships for 2013, meaning that one in five applicants who join Brunel next year will receive financial support from the University. See our fees and funding page for full details

Fees quoted are per annum and are subject to an annual increase.

Entry Requirements for 2013 Entry

• GCE A-level BBB, including A-level Music at grade B (General Studies/Critical Thinking accepted).
• Irish Leaving Certificate ABBBB, including Music.
• Scottish Advanced Highers BBB, including Music.
• Advanced Diploma Progression Diploma grade B in Creative and Media plus grade B in Music at A-level for Additional and Specialist Learning.
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DDM in a related subject.
• IBDP 32 points in HL 6 in Music.
• Access Complete and pass a related subject Access course with 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2 with Merits in all units.

All candidates without A-level Music at grade B or equivalent or Grade 8 ABRSM, LCMM or Trinity College will be required to pass a brief entrance test, details of which will be provided upon application.

For all of the above, 5 GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above are also required, to include English and Maths (please note that these must have been gained by the time you submit your UCAS application).

English Language Requirements

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.