Current Students
We reached out to a few current games education students to see how they’re faring, what they’re learning, and what the future looks like for them.
CASEY THOMAS AIE Incubator, Sydney
Casey Thomas is currently working on Drone VR, a VR drone-racing game, in AIE’s intensive Incubator program. “Prior to my second year design course, I had never heard about VR and this growing technology”, she says. “My class assignment challenged me to research, develop and implement a VR immersive experience. I was instantly hooked, and I would not be here today without my teacher Peter Chown’s support, instruction and guidance.” She and her team at Dark Shadow Studios are aiming to show the game at PAX Australia, and eventually release it. “We want to give people the chance to play something that we are passionate about and share our idea with the world”, she says. “We want to build a high level of visual content that is easily picked up and understood by anyone, from no background in
drone racing through to experts. As a collective we are all very excited to be working on a drone based game, to help facilitate training and enjoyment of this developing sport.”
MADDISON ROVERE Games and Interactivity (Bachelor of Arts), Swinburne.
Maddison is about to enter into their final year of university. “This course has opened my eyes into the variety of roles I could pursue into games”, they said. “It’s also clarified that just ‘being the designer’ isn’t really viable, at least not here in Australia. You’ve got to be multi skilled or highly skilled in one sub field, like audio or animation.” Maddison entered the course with “a love of games”, but has come to understand the local industry much better over the last few years. “The best moments have come from being accomplished- finishing that game project or design, and reflecting on the whole process afterwards”, they said. “There have also been moments where I’ve had clashes with other students with work ethic or creative direction, and sometimes, straight up not being respected. But I guess that’s great in a way, it’s just like I’m preparing for a creative business! I’ve seen people on my course fighting to put disrespectful content in their games (like illustrating women as sexual objects), but our education staff are really good at cracking down on that sort of behaviour.”
CASSANDA GRAY Advanced Diploma of Game Development: Game Design and Production, AIE Melbourne
Cassandra is a firstyear student at AIE, but she already feels like her studies have helped her. “It’s definitely helped me to figure exactly what part of the industry I’m keenest to work in”, she says. “Coming into the course I was still vague about what exactly I wanted to do beyond just ‘design’ or ‘making games’, but as the course has gone on I’ve found myself taking on the role of producer. It’s become such a natural fit that it’s all I want to do now.” The course has given her a better understanding of the industry too. “Before I began my course I was mostly teaching myself things like basic programming and how to use various game engines, but I had no idea what the actual process of getting a game released was, or what the process of creating a game is actually like.” Cassandra’s highlight of the first year was when she was selected for vocational placement at Opaque Multimedia, a local VR company. “It was nice to know that they trusted me to represent AIE in a professional setting”, she says. “It tells me I must be doing something right.”
IVE SOROCUK Bachelor of Design (Games), RMIT, Melbourne
Ive is currently wrapping up the final semester of his three-year degree, and by the time this article is published he will have made a decision on whether or not to pursue Honours next year. “I’m not sure what I’ll be doing work-wise”, he says, “but I will definitely continue working on my own games in my own time”. Despite coming from an art and visual design background, Ive found himself unexpectedly interested in Unity development. “There are things I had no interest in learning when I applied but will definitely continue to work on”. The networking aspect of the degree has also appealed to him – some of his highlights include being mentored by Michael McMaster and Jake Strasser from House House (Push Me Pull You) and having Douglas Wilson (Johann Sebastian Joust) as a tutor. “The degree has been great in making us aware of the local indie scene and encourages us to be a part of it”, he says. “We’ve had former students return as guest speakers, all of them with differing careers but all of them had their behind the scenes stories about developing, releasing and promoting games”.
YOU HAVE TO BE MULTI SKILLED OR HIGHLY SKILLED IN ONE SUB FIELD, LIKE AUDIO OR ANIMATION