Digital Media Applications
Games Design and Production With Foundation Year
Full-time
Four year
September 2024
In a nutshell
The world of arts and media is changing at a phenomenal rate, and there has never been a better time to explore your creativity and the ways in which you can apply it to the world around you.
This Foundation Year provides the perfect opportunity for you to explore the key principles of art, design and media. The course is designed to help you develop your creative skills, it gives you a chance to build a larger portfolio, and provides a good transition period to familiarise yourself with the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology and life as a student at Salford. You will then be in a strong position to progress onto your chosen degree pathway.
This is a shared Foundation Year across Art, Design and Media disciplines, and will give you a collaborative environment to explore ideas, take creative risks and become confident independent learners. You will be joining a thriving and creative community.
The Foundation Year of this four-year programme aims to provide you with an understanding of the subject to allow you to progress on to the BA (Hons) Games Design and Production course.
Find out more by signing up to our upcoming Open Day, or if you have any general questions please contact course enquiries.
You can also find helpful FAQs, learn more about student life at Salford or explore all our Creative Digital Media and Gaming courses. Continue reading to understand more about this BA (Hons) Games Design and Production with Foundation Year course.
You will:
- develop your creative skills and academic confidence
- familiarise yourself with student life
- prepare to study on one of our degree programmes
This is for you if...
You have a passion for creative and entertainment technologies
You have a clear aptitude for either computer science or art and design
You want to advance the field of computer games, not just replicate what has gone before
All about the course
The Foundation Year will provide you with a dynamic, exciting and collaborative environment in which you will become a confident self-learner, with the underpinning skills and knowledge to apply in your studies. You will be taught with students interested in progressing to different art, design and media programmes, and study modules that will help you increase your knowledge and understanding of basic art and design as well as other aspects of creative thinking.
Our strong connections within Greater Manchester’s thriving creative sector mean you will also hear from practitioners working in the industry right now about their practice, journey into the world or art and design.
In the first term you will study modules that introduce the key concepts, skills and knowledge of art and design. Modules will help you to develop your study skills such as note-taking and structuring reports. In the second semester, you will further develop your creative practice and be introduced to the creative industries.
The assignments are flexible enough to allow you to interpret and tailor your submissions to your preferred area of study. Tutors will help and support you, in creating a portfolio of work to progress onto the BSc (Hons) Games Design and Production here at the University of Salford. You will be integrated slowly into the degree course with opportunities to meet tutors from the BSc and by using our shared collaborative facilities within our vibrant New Adelphi building.
This programme prepares you to study on the three-year University undergraduate programme, meaning the duration of your degree is four years in total. The Foundation Year is not a standalone qualification.
Following the Foundation Year, the three years of BSc (Hons) Games Design and Production:
Throughout our games design degree, you will study gaming in a range of contexts, from the basics of games design and digital arts, to the fundamentals of programming. As you move into the second and third years of your degree, you will be able to focus on the area of specialism that interests you, choosing from optional modules taught by leading experts in the field. You will become experienced in group working through agile methods, you will learn about narrative and storytelling, human computer interaction and user experience, developing a broad understanding of historical and emergent technology. You will investigate developing trends while building knowledge and understanding of the broader digital creative industries.
The optional placement module and intensive team-based learning environment will give you the chance to apply your skills in a real-world setting.
This module helps you to become more familiar and confident with technology. As well as learning creative software and photography skills, it will allow you to explore a creative subject of your choice and give you essential time management and research skills.
Creative Methods
This module will enable you to examine the creative and professional practice of others as a way of reflecting on your own practice. You’ll create a range of outcomes to help you build a dedicated portfolio as well as learning about major influences in art and design.
Introduction to Creative Coding
This module will provide you with a foundation in computer coding within the context of digital art creation.
Creative Practice Major Project
This module is designed to allow you to bring together all your prior learning from the previous modules. It gives you the opportunity to propose and create your own brief based on a theme, topic, or issue that you are passionate about. Within this module you’ll be supported by tutors who will guide you in creating a meaningful body of work that demonstrates confidence in your chosen area. Your work will be exhibited in the Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology's end of year Degree Show.
Introduction to the Creative Industries
This module allows you to explore the creative industries and its career opportunities. You’ll learn about a range of subjects including responsible design and future trends within your chosen area of art and design. It will allow you to build on the technical skills that you gained in the first semester to produce a creative publication.
Introduction to Programming
Within this module you will receive a solid introduction to the foundations of computer programming, you will study code structures and principles, you will prototype, test and bug fix. You will investigate flexible configurable systems and receive an introduction to games engines. If you have any kind of phobia towards computer science relax, this is about experience, understanding, risk taking and having fun. You will receive all the support you need to progress. If you are already familiar with programming, we have the expertise to help you develop to the next level at a more accelerated pace.
Visual Arts
Within this module you will follow a Bauhaus model engaging with a number of creative processes and practices. You will be encouraged to develop your independent creative capabilities, you will learn about portraiture and life drawing, product and vehicle design, and get hands on in the workshop building physical pieces. Throughout this module you will develop design skills, building confidence to communicate your ideas. Even if you are a programmer and have little prior artistic capability it does not matter, at this stage it is about the experience, learning more about the creative process and its application.
Game Design Fundamentals
Within this module you will learn the fundamentals of games design, you will study the theory of play, rules and mechanic. You will investigate design methods and process, you will conceptualise and build board game prototypes, before testing and polishing toward a professional product. This module is rich and fast paced and lays the foundations for the design pathway across the next three years.
Digital Graphics
This module is in essence a continuation of the visual arts module in the first semester, in that it engages the same design methods and traditional arts practices, only this time the final outputs will be digital. The module covers photographic theory, composition, digital image theory, image retouching, pixel and vector art, digital painting, graphical layout and an introduction to 3D modelling. The module is rich and fasted paced, and the outputs are varied. Again, if you are a programmer at heart this module offers a supportive opportunity to understand more about digital arts methods, processes, and pipelines.
Entertainment Technologies
Entertainment Technologies has two strands, firstly the study of technologies from the past, the present, and in the future. The module aims to equip you with the foundation knowledge required by a creative digital practitioner, not only in the game's domain, but across the broader digital industries. Within the second part of this module, you will conceptualise and build interactive prototypes in our maker space, using technologies such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino and rudimentary Processing to realise your ideas.
Principles of Digital Game Design
Within this module you will work in production teams to build your first 2D digital game. You will engage with industry methods within an agile framework, to conceptualise, design, prototype and test your ideas. We aim to build functional product and the outputs at this stage are expected to reach a high standard. Groups will consist of individuals taking on distinct roles, as we drive with a strong professional work ethic to achieve our goals.
Agile Production Management
Digital Narrative Technologies
You will learn the theory of storytelling and narrative and apply this knowledge through creative practice to a digital artifact. This process of understanding, applying, and bridging traditional narrative from myth and legend, script and screen, to a contemporary immersive manifestation is designed to give you a broader understanding of narrative from a cultural perspective. The themes covered in the module will typically include: The Power, Importance and Origin of Story, Story Structures, The Hero’s Journey, The Power of Myth, Narration and Focalisation, The Art of Characterisation, Environmental Storytelling, Writing a Treatment, Storyboarding Techniques, Narrative and Emergent technologies, Immersion & Interactivity, and Spatial Narratives.
Games Design Planning
Games Design Prototyping
You will also choose one of the following two optional modules
Games Engine Programming
This module will echo the group-based production modules already undertaken, and will utilise the same processes and pipelines, it will though, step up a level in complexity and edge closer to a commercial standard, the visual elements will be more organic and detailed, the gameplay will be richer, and the systems will become more dynamic. The themes typically covered within this module will include: third person controllers, aesthetic and technical aspects, controlling game agent’s animations, interacting with agents, combat mechanics, interacting with conversational systems, game cinematic components, constructing open landscapes, advanced game mechanics, advanced level design techniques, game analytics and telemetrics.
Digital Environment Art
Within this elective module you will be introduced to the processes and skills required to design, develop and deploy 3D virtual games environments. You will learn how to employ traditional design processes to conceive and plan for the construction of modular components that can be transposed into game engine technologies. The module will focus on the construction of well crafted, low detail, optimised 3D topology, it will develop fundamental 3D modelling and texturing skills. Emphasis will be put on the quality of the product, employing industry standards and production pipelines. Rather than being a technical training module, you will be expected to demonstrate a capability to engage technical tools alongside traditional creative process. Everything in this module feeds back directly into your group-based game production.
In addition, you will choose one of the below optional modules
Advanced Games Engine Programming
This programming module continues to develop knowledge learned and applied in the first semester of the second year. You will again build an understanding of more complex underlying programming paradigms before applying these back to extend off the shelf games engines. The topics covered in this module will typically include: Tool construction, Advanced code systems; flocking, pathfinding, obstacle avoidance, Knowledge of Open GL Shaders, Local networks and Global networking for online gaming, Sound/Audio programming, Play analysis, Security awareness, Risk Assessment, Encryption. Mobile Application Deployment, Testing and Reporting, Beta Deployment and testing techniques. Quality Assurance, Business Management; marketing, in-app purchase Pay to Win versus Paid Apps and in App Advertising.
Digital Character Art
Within this module you will learn to conceive, design, develop and animate 3D characters for real-time and pre-rendered applications. Persona and narrative will be considered as well as aesthetic and proportion, you will learn how to apply traditional art and design methods to craft your ideas. Focus will be put on the creation of elegant topology and form, students will first learn how to sculpt low polygon organic geometry before moving towards more complex sculptural tools. Students will investigate and apply texturing through contemporary tools and methods. Learning will culminate in the rigging and animation of a character with games ready animation sets.
Final Project Development
The final design module continues the work undertaken within Final Project Proposal and Prototyping as it moves to a phase of full-scale production. It is our goal, within a realistic scope, to drive these projects as close to an industry standard as possible, and we expect at this stage to see the application of a full spectrum of production methods and processes. You will at this point have identified your areas of expertise and will contribute to multiple roles within your team. The objective of this module is twofold, to generate the highest quality example of your individual and group working capability, while building momentum, confidence and competence to support your transition into industry.
Creative Portfolio
Within this module you will initially focus on the realities of finding meaningful employment in the digital creative industries. You will be encouraged to investigate the personas of practicing professionals and the structure of the companies you identify as relevant to your career progression.
Subsequent sessions will ask challenging questions of your current capabilities within a supportive, positive environment. This process is intended to identify strengths and possible weaknesses before building a structured plan to develop your capabilities and core competencies.
You will be asked to develop a professional persona based on where you would like to be positioned in the coming years. All other learning and project elements will then be built around a persona statement. You will learn how to best communicate your persona and how to align work examples to support your persona statement, you will learn how to best frame and distribute your evidence of capability in both a physical and digital format. You will learn how to strategically plan a pathway into employment, which will include contingency. This module is designed to build awareness, a focused personal vision, capability and a road map into employment.
Practice Based Dissertation
Within this module you will have the opportunity to develop a purely written or practice-based dissertation. This process has proved invaluable in supporting students to find their first employment opportunities, as it allows you to build a contemporary area of expertise. The module also equips students with the necessary academic skills required to progress to master's degree or PhD. The module is supportive through a network of passionate academics. Elements typically covered within the module include: practise based research, qualitative and quantitative research, critical evaluation, advanced academic writing, research strategies and reflective practice.
Please note that it may not be possible to deliver the full list of options every year as this will depend on factors such as how many students choose a particular option. Exact modules may also vary in order to keep content current. When accepting your offer of a place to study on this programme, you should be aware that not all optional modules will be running each year. Your tutor will be able to advise you as to the available options on or before the start of the programme. Whilst the University tries to ensure that you are able to undertake your preferred options, it cannot guarantee this.
SALFORD SCHOOL OF ARTS, MEDIA AND CREATIVE TECHNOLOGy
All our Film, TV and Media courses are delivered by the Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology.
Our School and University have strong and long-lasting relationships with local and national industry.
Once you graduate with us, you’ll join a thriving alumni community in Greater Manchester and beyond.
Facilities
This course benefits from our fantastic facilities at MediaCityUK. These include a five-camera HD TV studio, a three-camera HD TV studio and a digital performance studio with full green screen capability. There are two radio/audio recording studios, and 5.1 surround sound audio post production theatre, with Foley Booth. Audition v3 audio editing and Final Cut Pro and Avid software-enabled suites are throughout the building.
What about after uni?
Graduates from this course have gone to work in a variety of fields across the games industry, including level / game designer, 3D artist, tools / engine programmer and producer.
Previous students have gained positions with regional and international names such as, Rockstar, Travellers Takes, Sony, EA, Sega, Smashmouth Games, Namco, Blitz and Lamp Light Studios. The course also has strong connections with the BBC and across the digital industry.
Career Links
The course involves industry partners on several levels ranging from guest lecturers, live briefs and placement opportunities.
What you need to know
This course isn’t suitable for international students. If you are an international student and interested in studying a foundation year, please visit our International Foundation Year course page.
By applying to this Foundation Year you are applying to a four year programme - the shared Foundation Year, followed by a three year art, design or media degree here at University of Salford. The Foundation Year is not a standalone qualification.
APPLICATION PROCESS
As part of the selection process, you may be invited to submit an online portfolio of your work. You may then be invited for an interview with our tutors. If you are called for interview we will send you further guidance well in advance.
GCSE
English Language and Maths at grade C/level 4 or above (or equivalent).
You must fulfil our GCSE entry requirements as well as one of the requirements listed below.
A Levels
64 tariff points from A-levels (or equivalent) to include an Arts & Design qualification preferred
T Levels
Pass: D or E in core subject
This should be in a relevant subject.
UCAS tariff points
64 tariff points from A-levels (or equivalent) to include an Art and Design qualification preferred
BTEC National Diploma
MPP including Art & Design
Access to HE
Pass Level 3 Access to HE Diploma with 64 points (relevant subject)
Scottish Highers
64 points including Art & Design
Irish Leaving Certificate
64 points including Art & Design
International Baccalaureate
24 points
European Baccalaureate
Pass Diploma with at least 60% overall
Salford Alternative Entry Scheme (SAES)
We welcome applications from students who may not meet the stated entry criteria but who can demonstrate their ability to pursue the course successfully. Once we have received your application we will assess it and recommend it for SAES if you are an eligible candidate.
There are two different routes through the Salford Alternative Entry Scheme and applicants will be directed to the one appropriate for their course. Assessment will either be through a review of prior learning or through a formal test.
How much?
Type of study | Year | Fees |
---|---|---|
Full-time home | 2024/25 | £8,250.00 for Foundation Year and £9,250.00 for subsequent years. |
Full-time home | 2025/26 | £8,250.00 for Foundation Year and £9,250.00 for subsequent years. |
Additional costs
You should also consider further costs which may include books, stationery, printing, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits.