Straight into industry
Andrew Smith, Managing Director of Spilt Milk Studios, is just one of many graduates from Abertay’s computer games degrees to step straight into a job after graduating…
“The Computer Arts course at Abertay had a truly wide open and varied set of modules, which allowed me to get experience in all the aspects of production that I now manage in my role as a Game Designer.
“We covered 2D and 3D art, music production, a little bit of programming and even game design itself. This all means that I had a base on which to direct the various departments and skill sets that need to work together effectively in order to make good games.
“Without the course giving me the exposure to all these various aspects I would’ve spent longer learning them (if I got the chance at all) in the industry itself.”
Starting a business
Working through jobs at Visual Science, Realtime Worlds and Proper Games, Andrew moved on to start his own business, Spilt Milk Studios.
“On the one hand it means I’ve now moved up to Managing Director, but also means I can make the games I always wanted to!
“I’ve been lucky enough to work on a variety of different projects as a consultant, keeping my oar in the world of triple-A console game development, while making two iPhone games – one a cool little maths-based puzzle game for Crunch Accountants (out now for free) and a second one that is currently in beta, this time made purely out of the desire and spotting a niche, but again on iPhone.”
Would you recommend Abertay?
Andrew is very clear – he’d recommend Abertay and the BA (Hons) Computer Arts course to anyone.
“I would totally recommend Abertay because of their attitude to learning – rather than just teaching you skills, they apply them in industry-relevant projects, and make a point of ensuring you work to industry standards where possible.
“Add to this the respect the institution has in the industry (Skillset accreditation counts for a lot!) and the links it has, plus the amazing new studios and working environment they’ve built.”
Links
Find out more about Spilt Milk Studios online, including updates on Andrew’s forthcoming release:
The free iPhone game ‘Crunch’ can be downloaded now from iTunes.
The computer art and games courses available at Abertay are:
Computer Arts & Design
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
BA (Hons) Visual Communication & Media Design
Computer Games
BA (Hons) Game Design & Production Management
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Applications Development
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
MSc Computer Games Technology
MProf Games Development