Shout out for help

there is nothing above BTEC level in ireland that has any great leaning towards level design or 3d. england is the only option. but to be honest, i would really reconsider your subject choice. level design/3d is a bit specialist for a full degree course. most employers (if gamasutra and EDGE mag etc is anything to go by) do not want such qualifications. they prefer more classic degrees such as design, art or programming. the finer points of level design are ones usually self taught (using online tuition, joining mods etc.) and a crash course in 3d with a private school (escape studios type thing) for a few months will usually suffice.

i hope people from within the industry give you feedback on this one, as i would hate for you to make an ill informed desision. it is your education after all.

I don’t know what’s looked for in design, but for a games programmer, I don’t really think it matters what your course is as long as you are a competent coder, and by competent I mean you are proficient in the basics and some more complex things. Its amazing how many people don’t know the basics. As there are lots of games course graduates going for interviews, if the graduates churned out aren’t up the scratch, the reputation goes down, like whats been happening in recent years. So for code, a computer science grad is probably regarded as having a higher standard of coding proficiency (my opinion anyway of current thinking). For design types…where else can you learn your trade? I think a lot of people come from the mod scene.

Well your best bet for those jobs is looking at job postings, not just junior ones but higher levels ones too and get acquainted with what they require, and then learn those skills. But that is for the here and now really, you do need traditional art skills imo as it allows you to adapt to new technology more easily, tho whether you need to go to an art school is questionable, you just need to learn them, doesnt matter whether that is in college or in your own free time. Also you most remember that after entering the industry you might want to do something else so it would be better to have generalistic art skills in case you change your mind. Tho after saying all that I am not working for any1 just in college so I could be wrong. I do know ppl who are in the industry that know ppl that have no traditional art background so u could probably do without, but it might be harder.

And ‘City of Heroes’ is made by NCSoft that are located here in Brighton, think they are doing a talk in that portfolio night in the coming digital festival so it might be worth going to now or next year:

http://www.brightondigitalfestival.co.uk/programme/dSCAPE_portfolio.php

Also Relentless here are supposed to be very open to students, I know they are doing a few talks in my college for sure. If u decide to come over, give me a shout and I will give u a hand finding accomodation or whatever.

Drawing is like anything man, u get good by practicing, I dont think you need to be born with a natural gift to do it, think that is an excuse most ppl use to never try or others to give themselves confidence or a huge head. A good place to start tho is the structure of man 5 disk set:

http://thestructureofmandvd.blogspot.com/

He teaches you how to draw a man from simple relative lines and 8 head formula to filling it out with knowledge of each major bone and muscle, then goes onto poses, and other advanced concepts. Tis cheap, $40, considering its 40 hours long, and takes months to complete. Think u can watch a few of the dvds for free but in a low resolution at that site. Other than that you could try a few books on generalist drawing like Design first for 3d:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-First-Artists-Geoffrey-Kater/dp/1556220855/ref=sr_1_10/202-1963155-6959003?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192653300&sr=1-10

Drawing is a good skill as its about observing , really seeing and understanding something and trying it out before you ever make it in 3D so you make more mistakes there which are easier to fix than in 3D. There are many more art skills but drawing is a good one to start with imo

drawing is not a MUST, but it is very important for comunicating visual information quickly. art and design is a visual medium, and the more effective you are at comunicating, the more valuble you are as an employee.

for mapping (level design) i would say a good exercise is; create a small, but solid level in your favourite editor every two weeks/month, as well as doing a larger project. the timescale you have set for your GOW project is way to long for a first project. by doing a bunch of small, fast projects you get to learn new stuff, then put into practice what you learned in your next map.
taking a long project when you are not 100 per cent happy wityh your mapping skills, you will find that you will be half way through your map, you will look back and see all the mistakes you made early on, and you will be stuck having to build upon a bad foundation.

as re; drawing. really ask yourself, if you are willing to risk your future professional sucess on NOT having it? after all, in a showdown between two people for a position, all other things being equil, the one with the drawing will get the job. you dont have to be brilliant. just workmanlike. and the way to acheve this is to draw. lots. every day. what you SEE. drawing is not a "gift" like some kind of magic. anyone can learn it. some learn faster because they put the effort in. so just get cracking get an A4 drawing pad, and fill one a week, at least. i did that many (at least) for a year. it helped a lot.