so i'm thinking of going back to school.., dont worry, it's game related, really! Options

[Aku]

ok, so it turns out that you really DO need to live in cali, NYC or a few select other areas to make a living in the video industry. and i dont live anywhere NEAR any of those areas, so i'm going back to school, i think. With devry. i think.

BUT here's my problem. I'm going to go for some sort of programming degree, and of course, i've got two, basic choices. I can take a more general business oriented degree oooooooooorrrrrr...

i can go for "gaming and simulation programming", so my question, is to dumpshock, if anyone has, or knows anyone that's had to or tried to get into the gaming industry, and is it as bad as i've heard, with needing to be a tester for ages, just for the chance to actually get into the actual programming?

[Adarael]

I know about 45 people in the Seattle metro area.
Of those, only six do not work in the gaming industry.
Here's my take on it:

-Certain jobs within the industry are horribly, horribly impacted. Everybody wants to be a game designer, everybody wants to be an ai programmer, and everybody wants to be a 3d character artist. Those jobs are, by and large, full. What studios tend to lack are tools programmers, environment artists, spawners/level designers, and 2d concept artists.
-You do not need to be a tester forever. Any company that makes you be a tester forever just to become a programmer is a company that is wasting your time and who you don't wanna work for. There is, in my experience, almost no vertical mobility for testers. You have to make the jump from QA to production if you want to get anything done, and just hanging around in QA isn't the route to do that.
-Is it as bad as you've heard...? That depends, what have you heard? Not every company is Interplay or EA. A lot are. Expect to work overtime during the late hours of a product cycle. That's no different than any other job in the computer industry, though. Often times you will be expected to do distasteful or annoying things to ensure the product ships. Often it will run past the deadline and people will yell at you.
-People care more about what you can do than what your credentials are. This is one of the wierdest things about the industry. People want to see what you can produce rather than what others say you're qualified to produce. Be prepared to show people demo 'ware, reels, et cetera.

It's totally possible to work in the gaming industry. I've lost track of the number of jobs up here that I wish I could fill with comp sci major friends of mine, because there's a ton. Shit, I started working in it by accident if you can believe it.

[Aku]

well, for just one person, that does make me a bit happier....

I've got no desire to get into the artistry side of it, atleast not the visual side. It is a programming heavy degree, as far as i can tell. I feel, along with my other BS in digital media production (film and video stuff) i'll have bit of "creative" umph, along with the more meats and potato's of programming.

Working long hours i dont really mind, as long as it's something i enjoy doing.

and i guess the "what i've heard" was basically just that it's incredibly hard to get in.

[Zhan Shi]

As to schools...beware of Devry, University of Pheonix, and ITT Technical Institute. I was doing research on potential IT schools, and those 3 seem to have a poor reputation. Check out ripoffreport.com, and do plenty of googling on any school before you attend.

[Aku]

well, im sorry, but for something like ripoffreport....... i cant see that being a good resource for choosing a school, firstly, the people that that job placement is a guarantee, are well, naive. Hell, The art institutes only manged to get me one interview in 6 months, and they say "we find it, you go to to it". Secondly, no one thinks the paper the degree is written on is worth the money you put into it.

Unfortunately, there doesnt seem to be a school locally that offers any sort of remotely related degree (checked NC, NC state, wake, and a couple others i think.) I really beleive that online is going to be my only option, i cant really afford to move to go back to school...

[GrepZen]

I used to work for Origin (IT) and here is some advice the designers gave me:

Get a 4+ year degree in either graphics or CS depending on what you want to specifically do for games and then go to a finishing school to get the specifics.
versatility is important -- Keep in mind that most studios use custom apps/tools and have their own standard platform (ie..Blender, Maya, Photoshop, etc...) so don't specialize (exclusively) on a specific platform unless you are going for a specific role/job and never want to leave said role/job.
Take at least one management course or a few classes on conflict resolution -- you will be dealing with ARTISTS and all that entails. Management courses also help to get you promoted out of the grunt work.
Learn UNIX & *NIX...a good deal of the work is going over to render farms made from clustered *NIX machines so anything you know there can get you a foot in the door.

Do not attempt to become a game programmer if you have an aversion to: alcohol, caffeine, strange-smelly-men, strange-smelly-women, strange-smelly-pets of afore mentioned strange-smelly-people (with 80 hour weeks people usually bring their pets to work), or dormroom esq work environments reminiscent of an 80's horror flick (with geeks & artists being chummy and long work hours you may find yourself in a meeting with a bunch of strange <zombie like> people wearing and odd assortment of bedtime clothes). You will encounter all of these -- some in great quantities, some once in a blue moon, others on a daily basis ("Don't be afraid! Join us!").

If you have the option try going to a finishing school outside of the US as some of the best jobs are aquired through social networking and you get to meet new & interesting people (as well as Frag them in you fav FPS, go to Asia if you want better ping times).

[Angelone]

Check out some of these.
http://www.animationarena.com/video-game-d...ign-school.html
http://www.gamediscovery.com/game-design/c...ign-schools.asp

They offer online and offline courses. An internet search would probably turn up more.

EDIT- Ping times in Korea suck.

[Aku]

grep that raises a goood for me, regarding the specialized gaming and simulation programming vs a computer information systems degree. The GSP has the background math and is more programming heavy, while the CIS has more of the conflict and businessy stuff, but it sounds to me like you're suggesting the CIS degree? I know thats a broad question without seeing the actual courses

i appreciate all of the ideas and discussion on this.

[GrepZen]

• Slashdot - Transitioning to Management
• Slashdot - I want to be a Game programmer

The above are two good points to start. It seems that you've got the "artsy" stuff down with the media degree so yes, I'd advise the CS route with alot of math.

What exactly do you want to do with games? There are so many parts to them that don't require alot of CS background...you have a degree in media production...have you thought about taking some courses in digital sound editing and marketing yourself from there?

[Aku]

i definately want to get into programming, i feel... i've already got the digital audio experience, though i never really thought about getting into the industry on the art side of it...

[GrepZen]

That kind of says it all...hit your local college up for programmng & math course work (for the basics) and then go to the Game School of your choice for the game specific education.

[Aku]

are you saying that it kinda says it all because you think i've got some doubt that this is where i want to go?

i think my problem is between their CIS degree, and the game and simulation programming. the initial is more business oriented, but lighter on math and actual programming classes, but possibly far more marketable outside of the gaming profession...but gsp is offering everything you need, for the industry, as well as more actual programming classes.

finally, as i think i said, i cant find a CS program in any of the schools i can think of near me, and not so near me (wake forest, UNC greensboro, or main campus, nc state, and i may've checked duke as well but i cant remember)

[DireRadiant]

My advice is to learn skills that you like doing, and then find a job doing that. When someone likes their job, or what they do on their job, it shows, and it makes things nicer for you too. You are only going to have one job, so the notion of "broader" choices doesn't mean much when you are only going to do one of them.

[DireRadiant]

Oh, and if you like the subject material, you'll also do better academically, and you'll also meet the people who will initially be your competitors for jobs, but are really going to end up being your co workers. Make the connections to other people in your chosen field early and you'll benefit later. Most jobs are gotten through recommendations or information from contacts.

[Magus]

DeVry is a pretty good school, I had some good buddies in the game design classes and they have done ok with some of the local game shops and EA in Orlando hire from them. Also there is the local school Full Sail. They have an awesome curriculum.
http://www.fullsail.com/index.cfm?mnc=209&...CFQ2aOAod80WgfQ

[GrepZen]

Aku: I can not properly emphasize what DireRadient said.

Devry & Full Sail are what I refer to as "finishing schools". You get your basic 4 year somewhere else (and I was saying "it kind of says it all" because it appears that you want to go the programing route not the artsy route) and then go to them for the polishing/application of your skill set. A friend of mine applied for Full Sail and they told him to do just what I told you. If you've never taken programming or an indepth course in Pearl then pick up some books at B&N or your eqiv and see if it appeals to you. I would also suggest grabing a text book on structured programming, it helps. If you are low on cash...Linux is your friend as there are a great many distros available on the net for free and they all come with compilers. You can also find a great many free intro texts online as well.

[Magus]

Echo that Grep. I went from the army into ITT and graduated with a BS in Telecommunications Enginerring, I had a little trouble getting started in the field of IT, but after I had a few years of Unix/Linux under my belt things were definitely easier.

[Aku]

does a class in Qbasic back in highschool as well as making all the boot disks back in the day for my family count as knowing it appeals?

Also i dont know about full sail, but it seems the devry course is a full B.S. degree....