SME Profiles - Ash Gaming
Student Case Study
University: University of Portsmouth Course: (BSc) Computer Games Technology Position: Junior Developer
Sam Danbury
www.top50.gd/ashgaming
What is the social life like at Ash Gaming Everybody is very friendly, welcoming, and supportive, which makes for a superb social atmosphere at the company! There are endless opportunities to socialise with everyone, after work, during lunch times and on events outside of the office. We have been for drinks and meals together, attended launch lunches and recently we all went to Epsom Races on a team building exercise, which was amazing. The team enjoys monthly poker nights with a plentiful supply of pizza and refreshments. There is a large pool table and recently we all took part in a pool tournament. I was also delighted to discover that there was a wide-screen television and several games consoles available on which to challenge my colleagues. A day in the life of a Junior Developer at Ash Gaming Responsibility is given very early on in the placement, becoming involved in a wide range of different projects, starting with making demo versions of games for the marketing department to display to clients. Also, for the entirety of the placement I was also given the large responsibility of being the person to come to regarding test applications for each of the games, which are used to ensure each of the new games are paying out the correct amounts! The main task of my typical working day however, is to develop the front-end of games for well-known, professional clients. Working on a commercial project in turn gives me the opportunity to program games at an industry standard, which I find a considerable motivation, due to the experience and techniques I am learning being transferable to not only my University course, but also to my future career within a computer science based industry.
In-between developing games I am also given the opportunity to work on personal projects which are either assigned or an idea of my own choice. The projects in all cases have been very flexible in that I am able to use different programming languages depending on the project. Skills developed Thanks to Ash Gaming I have learnt a staggering amount about games development whilst in a friendly, welcoming and encouraging environment. Some important experiences where I have learnt crucial skills include: • Working towards milestones and client deadlines • Working within small and large teams within my own, as well as other departments • Understanding where I fit into the product lifecycle of a game and how each department intertwines • The industry standard testing procedure and how I approach fixing bugs in my games • Developing my own programming ability within a professional environment, where I have been able to learn good code techniques and best code practices.
“The placement was very well-organised. Little by little I was working on more complicated things, until finally I started to produce actual games for clients.” - Student from the University of Warwick “Quote from Student Reviews at RateMyPlacement”
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