Want To Make Video Games?

Invader Zim writes "Looks like Levelord, of Ritual fame, and some folks at id, and Ensemble Studios have teamed together with Southern Methodist University to create a new school for people that want to work in the video games industry. It's called the Guildhall. Also a story about it at GameTutorials."

Comments

Re:Nintendo?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, you're thinking of DigiPen. Its still around, in Seattle I believe

Already another program in the area

[Dr. Blue]

With so many good game companies in the area, there's already another place you can study computer game development: the University of North Texas.

It's called the "LARC", for "Laboratory for Recreational Computing", and was started in 1993. Check it out here.

The lab is run by a professor (Ian Parberry) who has published a few books on game programming.

Re:I would steer clear

[bwalling]

I've opted to do a generic as possible degree, a masters in computer science, at a good, respected university (either Oriel college Oxford, Durham or Bristol).

Do yourself a favor and major in Mathematics. It will help you tremendously.

Re:Good idea

[CableModemSniper]

Game testing isn't really the fun-filled job you'd think it would be. You sit there and do one part over and over again. Or you die on purpose. You aren't paid to play the game, your paid to do very specefic things in specefic parts of the game. You're hunting for bugs, not playing for kicks. Just warning you.

Cogswell

[azerak]

There's another college in northern California that has a game design program. It's called Cogswell Polytechnical College (http://www.cogswell.edu). They're fully acredited and have a Bachelor's degree program for Computer Video Imaging and Computer Science with majors in game design, 2D animation, 3D character animation, video editing, etc. I'm in the game design program there, and I'm having the time of my life and am set to get a job at EA Games this summer.

The school also has a Game Development Club where many students get together and develop games each semester in the same process that most game companies do. Check out their website: http://www.fuzzywoto.org/
(it'll soon be changing to www.gameclubworldwide.com)

Game tester personal account

[aWalrus]

For a good personal account of game testing and the medium, check out this entry at Penny Arcade. It's a good description of the ups and downs of being a game tester.
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The first such school of its kind

[rootmonkey]

is digipen

The English programming language

[yerricde]

english? Hmm. Never programmed that language...sounds like some kind of hokey scripting language...is it like Perl?

The English programming language, used with the Pick operating system, is more like SQL.

Re:Good idea

[Frobnicator]

I remember one guy saying that he had to test every single play in a football game

Just because it's a console game doesn't mean you don't need good testing standards. You can't just skip regression tests and coverage tests, or if you do, you'll regret it. But you need more than just the ability to play games. Actions that require good timing to do certain things, the testers need to repeat them over, and over, and over, and over again, making sure that it is difficult, but not too difficult. Unfortunately with games, good testing means introducing human error to the test process, and that can't be automated.

You should see 'test sheets' at some places, detailing the scene and goal of the scene, and listing all the different posibilities, and a checklist that the tester has done all of them. It feels like this:

• Load saved game
• Get to scene
• Do 17 jump-kicks and a 'hi-yah'
• Watch for glitches, screen errors, or problems
• Put down a check mark or write down problems
• * reset *
  
  
• Load saved game
• Get to scene
• Do 12 jump-kicks and four 'hi-yah's
• Watch for glitches, screen errors, or problems
• Put down a check mark or write down problems
• * reset *
  
  
• Load saved game
• Get to scene
• Find item A
• Do 13 jump-kicks, a 'hi-yah', and use the item
• Watch for glitches, screen errors, or problems
• Put down a check mark or write down problems
• * reset *
  
  
• Load saved game
• Get to scene
• Find item A
• Get killed by monster Z
• Watch for glitches, screen errors, or problems
• Put down a check mark or write down problems
• * reset *
  
  
• Repeat for 10-12 hours each day.

Game testing has about zero appeal. Most people think "that would be fun" because they are ignorant. They see the final product and think it's easy. That just means the creators did good work.

Game programming is similar. The hours are crazy, the pay is low, expectations are high, deadlines are tight, specs keep changing, and the stress is insane. Sure there are a few (as in not very many, as in you won't ever get one) game jobs that don't have the problems, but it isn't the common case.

I would LOVE to see everyone who wants to program games actually be forced into the game market for one year. After the year, there would be enough decrease in demand that salaries might go up to a reasonable level with a corresponding drop in stresses.

Re:I would steer clear

[macrom]

I can't imagine why anyone would want to do one of these fashionable degrees like "wireless computing", "internet technology" or the computer games ones. People who want to do game design should study maths, physics or pure computer science.

I think the assumption that many have made here, that this is a degree program, is false. It's a certification and a set of courses for learning and professional development. The tracks all require that you submit prior art and samples before being admitted. I would say that this is more for people with time and money to burn that also want a good structured program for game development/design. These students will also need some sort of background in their respective fields (if not a little game programming as well) in order to get in and succeed. Definitely not for your average high school/college dropout that plays Everquest 23 hours a day and thinks that he could make a better game by taking some classes from John Romero and Tom Hall.

Re:Southern Methodist???

[Mittermeyer]

SMU is 50% rude elitist jackasses, 10% wannabe rude elitist jackasses, and the rest are trying to get a good theater or business degree.