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introduction
In view of the poor state of the domestic industry, many developers may choose to study abroad to gain exposure to more advanced game design concepts, effectively improve their game design capabilities, and win more for themselves. Of course, studying game design abroad is no different from studying other majors. Choosing a school is always an essential and complicated step. However, when we spread out the list of schools, we will indeed find such a problem, that is, what we imagined There are not that many majors related to game design, and in the face of course syllabus and project outline, it is difficult for us to truly understand what a certain major in a school looks like.
The above is the background for planning this series of topics. We hope that through real contact with international students who have participated in professional studies, we can help everyone understand the current situation of overseas study in game design majors, the characteristics that different schools focus on, and other related issues. Friends who are interested in this planning are also welcome to contact us and share your experiences.
This issue introduces you to the French Game School ().
Q&A
Please briefly introduce yourself.
Gao Mingya:
Hello everyone! My name is Gao Mingya. I have a bachelor's degree in digital media technology from Beijing University of Technology and a master's degree in Game from the French Game Institute.
Currently, I have completed school courses and projects and am looking for an internship in France.
Q&A
Can you tell us about your background in choosing gaming as your major?
Gao Mingya:
I was introduced to games when I was young, including Bully, Game Boy, and PC games. At first, I played Red Alert, Delta, and StarCraft 2 with my father, brother, and younger brothers. Later, I also raised cats, planted flowers, opened a store, and participated in the excitement of martial arts games. . But after the second grade of junior high school, the game was classified as a scourge, and very few people played it.
After I went to college, I majored in games, but when I came into contact with games again, I found that games had developed into something I didn't recognize. At that time, I was a young film artist full of emotions, but because of my professional technical orientation, I often struggled in the whirlpool of traditional film language and modern special effects, thinking about the nature of film art and the integration of technology and art. My dream was to go to the Nortel Directing Department to study for graduate school. I still remember that I applied the day before Shanghai GDC in 2013, because I missed the high-speed train to Shanghai that afternoon (of course I took the earliest train there the next day). Otherwise, fate cannot be changed).
At Shanghai GDC, Chen Xinghan’s speech made my blood boil: Games are simply a virgin experimental field for the integration of art and technology! Change my impression that the opium of game spirit harms the country and the people. You know, I haven’t played games for many years. I didn’t even understand what PS3 was at that time, but I still said to myself: games are the interactive expression of the future. So I decided to make a game. After returning from GDC, the undergraduate program was launched. Many classmates came to me and wanted to cooperate: "You are planning to make a movie for your graduation, and I will help you with the special effects." I said, "No, I am going to make a game for my graduation." My instructor was also surprised. He felt it was a pity, but he still support me. So I learned it from scratch and finally made an application using it. This project was severely criticized by other teachers during the defense because the function was too simple and did not constitute a game. But I still graduated and started playing games. (In case anyone is curious – I didn't end up taking the Nortel graduate exam.)
Q&A
The domestic understanding of French game design schools and atmosphere is relatively limited. Can you talk about these situations and do some popular science for us?
Gao Mingya:
France's specialized game schools include ISART, ICAN, etc. Some public universities also have game-related majors. But as far as I know it is the only public gaming academy.
France is one of the major game countries in Europe. The well-known studios include Dream, , , , etc. Every year, graduates of professional game schools have the opportunity to enter these studios for internships and even work.
Q&A
Reasons for choosing France?
Gao Mingya:
At that time, I decided to study abroad, but my family was not very supportive. So France’s public free education system was a big reason why I chose France.
As for other things, France supports art practitioners and is tolerant of new things (the feminist movement, the new wave of movies, it’s very literary and youthful), France has Ubisoft and Dream, you can learn another French language and study for a master’s degree in France It is three years (one year for language and two years for majors) instead of one year in the UK. France has public schools and French social welfare is complete… Various reasons made me choose France in the end.
Q&A
Why did you choose the game project?
Gao Mingya:
It is the first and only (as far as I know) public professional gaming academy in France. The selection is strict and the graduates have a good reputation. In fact, it is also the best choice for French people to learn games.
There are only master's () level projects, there are no undergraduate projects. Application for admission requires proof of graduation from a bachelor's degree or equivalent (more than 3 years). If you are a practitioner who leaves your job for further studies, it seems that it is OK to have proof of employment, but you need to check the school website for details on how many years it is required.
Q&A
Can you talk about the characteristics that distinguish it from other colleges and universities?
Gao Mingya:
It is a professional game college. Its real name is École du jeu et des médias numé du Cnam, so there are only game-related majors here: Game, , , sound, and. The college has two grades, M1 and M2, with about 40 to 50 students in each grade. students, so it is a very small education system.
The school has only one permanent administrative department, and the teachers are all from other schools or companies. They come to class by train in the morning, attend classes for 2-3 days, and then leave by train. Some teachers and students only meet once in 2 years. Compared with public universities, our courses are quite concentrated. Sometimes I feel like I am back in a domestic high school, and there are no elective courses. There are many reasons why schools choose this model, and there are pros and cons. The choice is a matter of personal preference and habits.
Q&A
Let’s talk about the specific course schedule.
Gao Mingya:
There are many courses in the first semester of M1, mainly theoretical and technical foundations. There is a 3-month small project in the second semester of M1. Of course, I also have to attend classes. The first semester of M2 is a 6-month long project. The big project is followed by a 4-6 month internship.
Q&A
What is the specific project development situation like?
Gao Mingya:
M1's 3-month small project is not limited to content and can be games, interactive applications or experiences. Everyone can submit a pitch and give a small speech to the whole class, and then everyone votes to choose the project they want to participate in. In the end, any project that can form a team can be passed. Each team ranges from 3 to 6 people. One person can participate in 2 projects, and does not necessarily have to do his own professional work (planning can do programming, art, etc.). At the end of the period, the results will be reported in the form of a game exhibition.
The 6-month M2 project is a professional-focused project. The teacher team will select and submit 8 pitches, and then everyone will vote to select the final 6 pitches. Each team consists of 9 or 10 people, each with their own professional division of labor. The final results report is of course a big one, with the purpose of promoting the game, so in fact the school’s intention is that everyone can turn this report into a show.
Q&A
What was your understanding of game design before starting your studies? Have you ever tried making a game?
Gao Mingya:
Before I started my studies, I had a very vague concept of game design. I only thought that game design was about designing gameplay, levels, controls, and narrative. I don’t know much about the more specific work content.
What I liked at that time was ICO, : A tale of two sons, games that were artistic and focused on emotional expression, so for me Game is about creating and exploring game themes, emotional experiences and expressions, similar to an interactive artist or director. For film work. At that time, my attempts at game production were limited to using the engine to realize some mechanical functions and imagining the gameplay.
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Q&A
What changes has this period of study brought to you? What substantive skills have you learned, or what changes have been made in your philosophy?
Gao Mingya:
My initial understanding of Game mentioned above is actually work.
This period of study made me understand that planning is actually a very technical job, which requires some creativity, but basically it can be achieved by anyone who likes to think about things. Planning requires meticulousness, rigor, realism, strong analytical skills, and the ability to discover and solve problems. The requirements for language proficiency are relatively high (learn English well and be famous all over the world), and it is best to have some reliable personality charm and speaking talent.
90% of the planning in the industry is mechanism planning, and only 10% is plot planning. In fact, Game major also includes Level, and regardless of GD or LD, they all have practical methodologies for already existing and relatively mature game types. The school gave me a rough idea of what planning is, but as for how to do it, it was really an endless process of personal exploration.
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Q&A
What do you think is the relationship between learning content and practice?
Gao Mingya:
The course offerings are improving all the time, but as of now there are still a lot of courses that are not very relevant to the game. Such as cognitive psychology, emotional psychology, etc. It sounds awesome, but in fact it is all taught by purely theoretical teachers who have never played games or even studied interaction. They show some traditional theories and classic experiments, and they disappear after three days of exposure. These courses may be useful for majors, but for other majors, the more necessary technical foundation has not yet been established, so these courses are indeed like castles in the air.
What has always been talked about is the training mechanism of "small project-big project-internship", which is indeed the essence of its master's degree. However, the lack of guidance and companionship during the project process is a big problem – there are no permanent teachers, and there are many problems in the project team cooperation process. Sometimes it is really not something that a group of students in their early 20s with no social experience can solve by themselves. (Regarding this, I discovered the problem by comparing it with my undergraduate study – my teachers gave me great help and guidance during my undergraduate study, which I think is very valuable.)
But in the final analysis, we have trained a large number of game professionals over the years, and our students have traveled all over the French studios (France & Canada), which is very helpful for work connections.
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Q&A
What is the application process? Are there any areas that require special attention?
Gao Mingya:
The application process is much more complicated than that of ordinary public universities. The application document topic for that year will be released on the school website around February every year. Applicants generally have about a month to conceive a game around this topic and create a game explanation document of about 30 pages. The specific requirements vary according to the major. Upload the document, motivation letter, and various fancy materials to the school website before the deadline, and then wait.
A team of teachers will screen the documents, and then students who pass the document screening will go to Paris to take a written exam around May. Students who pass the written examination will attend interviews around July. The final admission results will be announced on the school website around August.
Regarding Game’s admissions standards, students’ ideas and passion are valued more than their skills, and the requirements for French are slightly higher. However, having a technical or language foundation is also a very important plus point.
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Q&A
What is the composition of the classmates, the proportion of Chinese?
Gao Mingya:
The students are mainly French. There are about 5 foreigners among the 50 or so students every year, including 1 Chinese. Of course, this number changes every year, but the proportion of foreign students who have passed strict screening is indeed not high.
As a game school, the ratio of men to women is inevitably imbalanced, but teachers will try to balance it as much as possible when recruiting students. The Class of 2017 (Class of 2015) finally has a girl in the Program major, and everyone is very excited about it.
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Q&A
What are your options after graduation, and how are these options developing?
Gao Mingya:
After graduation, students mainly work in game studios. Some people will go to other European countries, but most people will stay in France right after graduation.
The future career direction can be to stay in a large company, or some people can set up their own studio after working in the company for a period of time.
Some M2 projects will receive investment after the speech, and a few students will stay and continue to complete the game. However, becoming an independent game producer after stepping out of school is often a lonely and difficult road.
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Q&A
How is the atmosphere? What about the gaming atmosphere in your city?
Gao Mingya:
It's a geek carnival, or an older kindergarten. The atmosphere and style of each class are different. There are no teachers in the kindergarten, and the state is very primitive – some are very good, and some are relatively rigid.
In a small town called , there are about 50,000 people in the city center, plus 110,000 in the surrounding suburbs. The cost of living is not high, about 600-700 euros per month. Some people like it because it is quiet. For some people who are used to lively lives, life in a small town may be too calm.
Famous in Europe for its annual Comics Festival, as well as public facilities such as the Author's House, the town has many comics and animation creators, but not many game developers. However, every year I think there will be some game-related lectures, game demonstrations and game jams at the stronghold to add some vitality to the independent game development in the small town.
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Q&A
Is there anything else you would like to add for readers of this series?
Gao Mingya:
The domestic game market is now very prosperous, and no matter where the industry is in game production, technology is far more important than art (I'm not just talking about the artistic style of art, but mainly the function of games as art media). So work first, have a general understanding of the game industry, and then use studying abroad as a springboard. In fact, you can go smoothly. The above are just personal opinions, I hope it can be helpful to friends in need. The game field is full of infinite possibilities. Keep curious and passionate about all subjects, and you will also design your own game.
