Stefano Zanetti

MSc Computer Games Technology

From Italy

" First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Stefano Zanetti and I have been attending the MSc in Computer Games Technology during the academic year 2002/2003 in Liverpool John Moores University.

Before starting the course I was looking forward to improve my academic qualification. Nevertheless, the possibility of working as game programmer has always been a dream for me. This course gave me the opportunity to reach both those objectives.

My background in IT was built on a Diploma in computer science and four years of commercial experience developing business management solutions. Thanks to my work experience I have been accepted on the course even if the required qualification is a BSc in computer science. This course has been a great opportunity for me.

I have attended the course in a very professional way. My main objective has always been to learn as much as possible about game development concentrating on the skills most required by the market as game programmer. A characteristic of the course, that I have strongly appreciated, is the freedom left to the student in the development of their project. The lecturers have always been open to discuss and agree the use of specific development techniques and languages that could improve the development of my future career. The modular structure of the course also improves the possibility to concentrate on the areas that we consider more interesting.

This MSc is hard and the workload very high but it could provide an effective knowledge of game development. For these reasons I suggest, to any student that has a strong passion for games and wants to become a game developer, to start showing all his/her passion and capability in this course from the first day. This is a great opportunity to learn a lot and to develop good demos to make you outstanding in front of a future employer. Conversely, to anyone that think to attend this course just to spent a year more as student without any passion for game or willingness to work hard I suggest avoiding this course and go for something else. In fact, the complexity of the course is increased by the passion that many students dedicate to it. This makes the average quality of the coursework higher than usual, making the MSc even more competitive.

The course covers the full life cycle of the game development, from creating a design document to the implementation and testing of the final product. Particular attention is dedicated to the development of the game from the software design and implementation points of view. This has been very pleasant to me since my objective is to become a game programmer. The course also aims to develop good research skills. An entire module is dedicated to research methods and the thesis dissertation is given a strong relevance in the overall course mark. This will prove extremely useful to anyone that would like to work as researcher or attending a PHD.

The university facilities are excellent. They involve well-furnished libraries open 24 hours a day and a high number of computers available to the students with broadband Internet. For games technology studies a dedicated lab is also available, that involves latest generation PCs and consoles with their respective development kits.

To any international student like me, I also suggest concentrating on your language knowledge before starting the course. In fact, it involves a substantial amount of reading and writing that will push your knowledge of English to its limits. However, attending the course would provide you the opportunity to acquire a strong command of the English language.

Liverpool is a nice city big enough to offer many facilities and small enough to be easy to live and travel about in. Due to the presence of various universities and colleges the city also provides many student facilities from cheap accommodation to pubs and clubs open till late.

I consider my experience in Liverpool extremely positive. I have made many friends and achieved a high academic qualification. I have learned a lot, not only from the course, but also from the living experience in a foreign country. Living abroad allows opening your mind towards new ideas and cultures that could improve you as a person."