Lego Star Wars Lead Programmer speaks to Fife College students

Fife College students heard from a leading games programmer as he gave a talk on his career and how to get a job in the industry.

Cameron McNicol is a Game Programmer at Tt Games and having started as a Junior Game Mechanics Programmer, he then progressed over the last five years to become a Lead Games Programmer.

His latest work was on the new release, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which came out earlier this year.

Cameron was invited to speak at the College by lecturers to give students on the Games, Digital Design and 3D courses some valuable insight into working in the industry.

In the lecture he spoke about the importance of having a portfolio for interviews, the need to work effectively as part of a team, and how to apply to game studios.

He also spoke about the importance of having knowledge of game engines like Unity and Unreal – both of which are used in Fife College courses.

Speaking after the lecture Cameron McNicol, who grew up in Fife, said:

“Being asked back to speak to students in the area I grew up in was really special.

“As much as I loved games & was an able programmer, I had never put the two together until it was suggested to me by others – so my hope is that I might have illuminated the way to those that haven’t considered this career path. 

“My advice to the students was to do what you love and love what you do. The industry is full of passionate individuals, it’s a creative field & you should strive to work on the type of games that you love.

“It’s amazing to see institutions like Fife College investing in games development and providing students with courses to help them on their way to joining the industry.

“These courses not only provide a great launch point for the students to get started in their learning, but also provide a collaboration space where they can work together to make amazing & more unique games.

“It was great to meet so many enthusiastic students thinking about the games industry as a career path. I wish them the best for the rest of their studies and maybe one day I might have the pleasure of being their peer in the industry.”

Academic and Quality Manager in the Department of Computing and Technologies at Fife College, Rebecca Blyth said:

“It was great to have Cameron come along and speak to our students about his experience in the industry.

“We always try to hold industry guest speaker talks whenever we can to allow our current students to see the skills and progression opportunities there are in the games industry.

“This not only helps them to realise they can get a job in this area, but it shows them the relevance of their current course to industry.”