5th June 2020

Meet the Games Design student who created a futuristic Liverpool

At The City of Liverpool College, we love hearing about the amazing work our students have been producing, and recently our Digital and Games Design department brought to our attention a very special and impressive student project. Steafan Collins is studying on our BA course in Games Design and Concept Art and based his final major project on a famous area in Liverpool which viewers may just recognise. We recently caught up with Steafan, who with the assistance of his tutors has been completing his studies at home, about his experience of the College and his vision for the game environment set in Liverpool in the year 2077. Here’s what he had to say:

Could you tell us about the course you are studying?

“I’m studying a BA in Games Design & Concept Art. I always had a massive interest in games and was artistic growing up, so the course really stood out to me. I am from Ireland and was moving to Liverpool to be with my girlfriend and had made the decision to go back to school, the City of Liverpool College and the course both looked like something I would love to be part of.

“The course is great, the briefs are well laid out so you can focus on the important learning outcomes but also allow for a lot of freedom to work on what you want. They cover various important aspects of the game design industry and as long as you are committed, by the end you will know what area of the industry you want to work in.”

Tell us about your most recent work, what is it about?

“For my final major project, I wanted to create a game environment which incorporated techniques applied by environment artists in the industry and an important skill is the use of narrative, being able to tell a good story that the player can ‘read’ without there necessarily being any words. At the time of starting the project there was a competition for game artists running in an online forum called the Cyberpunk Challenge so I thought it would be good to enter my work into it as it gave the chance to interact with other artists taking part. The scene itself was mostly created in Unreal Engine but used many different skills I learned over the last couple of years doing the course. Given the cyberpunk theme I knew I wanted to show the past being taken over by the future and thought it would be good to have a real life place to base it in, so I looked at famous places of heritage in the city and eventually decided on the Royal Albert Dock as a location to tell a good story.”

The Albert Dock, Liverpool, a once upmarket location frequented and inhabited by the rich now left to the poorer members of society trying to survive any way they can in a world run by the mega corporations. Their security forces regularly patrol the city now enforcing their version of the law.

What’s it like studying at The City of Liverpool College?

“The Arts Centre where the course is taught is in a great location and has recently been renovated – it has high-end gaming PC’s which are perfect for a game developer or artist.

“The tutors are also excellent and have a wide range of skills to help students on the course, you can learn design and development, both 2D and 3D skills, actual industry experience as well as gain important academical knowledge. They are all always easily reached if needed and do everything they can to help you progress.”

What career would you like to go into after College?

“I feel I am now well prepared to go into a role as a 3D artist but would ultimately love to be an environment artist. I have also been very lucky to have spent a good part of my final year gaining important work experience at an awesome Liverpool immersive technology company called Draw & Code, learning to work within a team of professionals over a range of cool projects has allowed me to really progress. I worked on everything from games to VR / AR experiences and was even lucky enough to be part of an award-winning project for rock band Pink Floyd.

“For anyone out there thinking about getting into the games industry I would say, be prepared to work very hard, it’s a very competitive industry but is also a lot of fun and very rewarding, and there are a lot of opportunities out there, especially if you are prepared to move abroad. Don’t expect to be playing games every day though, you will be too busy learning how to make them!  I went into my course at the college not knowing the first thing on how to create content for games to working on rewarding projects for the actual industry!”

We’d like to say a huge thank you and well done to Steafan for his great work, everyone at The City of Liverpool College wishes you the best with the rest of your studies and future career.

If you’re interested in a career in Digital, ICT or Games Development, or would like to find out more about our courses, click here.