My name's Keith Morrison and I study HNC: Digital Design and Development (Games).
I just completed my first year and it has been a very enjoyable course. There's been a lot that we've covered in digital design. It’s a course that sort of incorporates a lot of things that you might not have thought about when working in the games industry, from things like 3D level design, which is what I found quite a passion for this year, to things like 2D character animation and coding. Also things like website design as well, which plays an important part in the marketability and digital design aspect, and there are other things like teamworking and character development.
This year we've had the chance to design a board game, which has been quite an eye-opening experience and something I have very greatly enjoyed, as have a lot of my classmates.
So the reason I came to Fife College was that I wanted a big change in my life. I'm a mature student and I had worked in several business administration roles and I hadn't really found my place. I have always had a passion for video games since I was three or four years old. I remember playing games on MS-DOS and so I took the leap to study and design video games with the hope of pursuing a career in the Scottish games industry, which is booming. Being here in Fife College is actually a great location to be because we are slap bang between Edinburgh which is home to companies like Rockstar, but also Dundee and there you've got Abertay University and there are a lot of smaller games companies there as well. Fife College is kind of the ideal place to study games development
Next year I will go on and do the HND, doing a lot more things in 3D design. Post-study, I do hope to go on into the games industry, working maybe as a level designer, which really does seem to be where I've greatly enjoyed making things in the Unreal Engine. It has also given me skills to maybe work in the TT RPG industry, creating books for companies maybe for like Modiphius or Cubicle 7, maybe even Dungeons and Dragons. This course offers a lot more than just video games...it's gaming as a whole and learning how to design a lot of elements.
I would absolutely recommend Fife College. It has been a great experience here. The teaching staff are great. We have access to a lot of facilities. The 3D printer has been a particular favourite of mine this year for creating miniatures for both the board game project and then for the Dungeons and Dragons Club. The Fife College Student Association is very helpful, very hands on, and there are a lot of opportunities. If you are interested in joining clubs you can join one of the pre-existing ones or create your own.
