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Future Game Coders - Online Education or College?

Posted by Cliff on from the a-fork-in-the-road dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "My cousin is about to graduate high school and wants to enter the game industry. I told him to get a day job (possibly as QA in a game studio) and get an online degree like DeVry's Game and Simulation Programming degree or The Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Game Art & Design degree. I have a BS and an MS in Computer Science, and I've only found what I learned mildly useful for my game programming hobby. Should he suck it up and get a 4-year degree, or is taking online courses focused on game development the way to go? Has anybody gotten one of these degrees and done well for themselves?"

6 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Computer science, by far by Shados · · Score: 5, Informative


    Unless the university totally sucks, a computer science degree contains most of the important stuff for game development: maths, maths, applied maths, more maths. Did I mention some math? Oh, and some system programming.

    In the end, thats all what games are about.

    I didn't check by myself, but my girlfriend who goes to CMU told me they have a graduate program for game programming thats fairly popular with EA too I think, so then one can kill 2 birds with one stone: have a fairly decent CS degree, and game specific education, with a potential big name having you in their line of sight as soon as you graduate... Its almost a flawless plan, if it is true.

    1. Re:Computer science, by far by Drawkcab · · Score: 2, Informative

      You don't need extremely high level math, but the further you go with it, the more likely you are to be able to retain and apply the basics in appropriate situations. A 2 year certification program generally isn't going to cover much university level math at all. When it comes right down to it, you could learn almost anything on your own without a degree, but if you have the skills for it, just get a real degree and make yourself employable.

  2. From someone who just got a game job... by Herak · · Score: 2, Informative
    I'm about to finish a BS in Computer Engineering. I just landed a programming job at a fairly prestigious game company.

    I think the 4-year degree is the way to go, assuming you are looking at a programming career path. Here's why:
    • Game programming is hard. You need to be a first-class programmer (seriously), and I think the DeVry's degree would put you at a disadvantage.
    • The game industry has a bias against online degrees (because of the above).
    • The game industry often pays less than other software jobs. Having a better/more flexible degree might get you a better salary, since they will be competing against offers from non-game companies.
    • College is fun. You might learn other things not directly related to game programming, and that's a good thing.
    As for the path you suggested... as I understand it, QA is not usually a very good path for a job as a programmer, anyway. QA usually feeds more into producer/designer type jobs. To get a job as a programmer, what matters is to get as much programming skill/experience as possible - get part-time coding jobs and summer internships (even if they aren't in games) and try to do at least one really impressive games-related hobby project.

    One more thing I'll throw out there... if your cousin is only interested in programming because he wants to do video games, it's possible that game programming isn't the job for him. He might be better off as a producer or designer.
  3. Re:Art, art, and more art by big4ared · · Score: 2, Informative

    Total BS. The staff on most games is about 40% engineering. There are more artists per title than programmers, but the programmers make more money. I know because I work as a Rendering Engineer for a game company.

    Programmers are needed to do everything from writing the code to optimize a mesh's index list for the GPU's post-transform cache, to writing blinn shaders, to making sure that the sliders work in the game so that the artists can work. The visual quality of a game depends on both artists and engineers. You need both, and even if you have an engine like Unreal, there is always more work to do.

  4. Get a degree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I work in the gaming industry as a programmer. I have 13 years experience. I have hired (and fired) programmers of all stripes.

    Some places are more snobby than others about your educational background, and I find that generally comes from the group in charge of hiring - a bunch of academics will want more schooling than a group of self-taught programmers. Having a degree will make it easier to get past the snobs, and the others won't really care about it because it's really not worth much. At the end of the day if you can walk into a game studio, sound intelligent and discuss programming topics with confidence you will eventually get a job no matter what the source of your knowledge.

    I get asked this question periodically. I always recommend that the person get a degree at a reputable university. Not because it will help in getting into the gaming industry, but because you won't be in the industry forever. Most people drop out around the age of 30-35 because they want families, need to spend time with their wives and kids and that doesn't go well with crunch. People like to shit on EA, but they are far from the only company crunching. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. Having the degree smooths your exit to less stressful jobs outside the industry when you inevitably want that.

    Another thing that I don't think anybody has touched on is talking the talk - I hire people who are passionate and interested in games. You obviously have to play them (although I get people who think games are for kids and are therefore trivial to make) but you also need to think about them, understand the common mechanisms involved and be able to discuss why some ideas worked and others flopped. Learn what kind of games the company makes before you apply and study both their games and competitors games. People working in any particular genre have a specific working language, and it makes you easier to work with if you already speak it.

    Making games is definitely not "all fun and games". It can be fun, I still enjoy it 13 years later. It is very hard work and more challenging than non-industry programmers realize. A few years experience will grind those rose colored glasses away. Choose the company you work for carefully. Research them, if possible talk to people who work there. Try to get into conventions and talk to anyone whose ear you can bend. Go to the IGDA message boards and ask questions. Working at the wrong place will sour you quickly, but there are some good places out there that do give a shit about your health and welfare.

  5. Re:That's ridiculous by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's also the chance that the guy won't even be game programming material... sure its every gamer/programmer's wet dream, but come on there's only so many positions. Going to college and getting a real degree will at least give you more of a fighting chance for other jobs.

    oh, and I should also mention that some top schools for programming/engineering, such as NCSU, are also offering a game programming course for CS students :)