General Question On The VG Industry

#1

Hi,

I am currently going to a 4yr Liberal Arts college studying Art and Programming refining my previous knowledge in both areas to hopefully take into the video game industry. Working hard at each, so I can hopefully have a broader range of appeal to any prospective companies.

Anyway, there are so many commercials and advertisments around for video game exclusive schools. I doubt I need to explain them any farther here, but most of them seem to only take 1yr in some cases much less time.

Are these really a good, or even perhaps a better way to gain knowledge and entrance into the video game industry? The training periods seem very short, and leave me curious to if they are just advertising false hope and crash courses in programming and 3D animation/design. Of course, I don’t know - so I have to wonder: am I spending more time than I need to at a 4yr Liberal Arts college to get into the video game industry? Would it be better to instead go to one of these more specialized schools?

I ask out of hesitation, because my goal of one day working at or leading a video game development team seem to be increasingly getting harder to accomplish with this influx of interest at the industry and the consequent drop in demand for jobs etc.

Sorry if I’m asking something that has been clarified here before, or should be common sense.

~Thankyou

#2

I was in a similar situation … attending a 4 - yr. university while contemplating a Game Design program.

What did I decide?

To do both!!! And at the same freakin’ time no less!!! I still attend my regular university studying Computer Information Systems, while also working on my Game Design degree.

Think of education as the amount of experience you are willing to obtain. Would a company rather hire someone with one year’s worth of specialized education or someone who is versed in a wider variety of topics and has spent 4 + years studying to do so?

Obviously the latter.

You have the right idea about not limiting yourself to one certain area of specialty. But, do keep in mind that VG developer’s look for someone who has an apparent love of games. Obtaining a degree in something such as Game Design speaks volumes about your attitude towards gaming.

Trust me … don’t sweat it about wishing you can graduate and get into the VG industry early … it will still be there looking for employees when we graduate!!! I know the excitement of it all is pressuring to try and find ways to end the educational process as quickly as possible, just resist that temptation because expediated education = less knowledge of the field = good luck finding employment.

It is very possible to handle two degrees at once. It just takes tremendous commitment and discipline. I basically live in the classroom and in study groups at the moment. But, I am cool with it because I know I shall reap the benefits in the end. So, investigate all of your options. I recomend you stick with programming as that is a great degree to have but also look for ways to incorporate gaming education into your life as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide, I hope this has been of some help to you!

Feel free to MSN me or PM me if you would like to talk more.

#3

Thank you for that message, it was very comforting in a way. The problem is that there are no such Game Design Degree programs in my area that I’m aware of. Perhaps I just need to look into it more. When I get more time after I finish a painting I’m working on for Blizzards FanArt I’ll be sure to annoy you via IM.

#4

http://uat.edu/UATOnline/Degrees/GameDesign/

:wink:

Fully accredited, same quality work as if you physically attend the school in AZ.

#5

Thank you so much for that link. Out of curiosity, how much is the cost for earning a degree online? How has it been for you?

#6

A great couple articles I posted recently, might be interesting to you. As a game developer artist, it took me a long time to learn the info contained in them, thru on-the-job learning.
http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/provost/byf1.html
Also some good info here about games courses, that I ran across yesterday.
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=5489&an=0&page=0#5489

I got into the industry early (13 yrs ago) so it was much easier back then. I hope it goes well for you. The industry has an insatiable appetite for talent.

#7

The cost per semester of UAT Online is considerable … roughly 4g’s per semester.

I also remembered that the Art Institute also has an online Game Design degree now that is a few hundred dollars cheaper than UAT.

Keep in mind that both offer full financial aid.

The classes are great because you can work around your current schedule (i.e. you can log in and review lessons, chat with professors/other students, etc) right from your own home. The workload is pretty tremendous though with the way in which their semesters are set up. But if you are determined enough, it won’t stand in your way.

#8

Before you go running off and dedicating yourself to 4 years and alot of debt, talk to some industry professionals. The people that will be hiring you. Ive talked to quite a few and every time i ask the questions “where should i go to school?” or “what kind of digree should i get?” the answer is “we dont give a crap”.

The companies realy dont care if you have a digree in game making and that you know 3D max like the back of your hand. They look for 2 things: 1. Traditional artistic ability. 2. A good friendly attitude.

When you go to an interview they will spend about 30 seconds looking at your well rendered character paintings or CG models and then ask “Can we see your sketchbook?”. This is where they find out if you are what they are looking for. They want to know you have a good sense of visual comunication, creativity, and most importantly that you research your topics and have a concept behind your ideas.

They have file cabinets full of resumes of people that can use 3D max. big deal. what they are REALY looking for is someone who is artistic and creative. They will teach you the computer programs themselves, that comes second to artistic foundation.

Which brings me to my advise for anyone looking to get into the production side of games. Theoredicaly, a high school graduate can land a job with EA. they do not require a digree of any kind from any school.
all you need is an artistic foundation on the principals of illustration and design. This can be accuired at any community college or high end art school. (like mine, Art Center). Your education is what you make of it. The knowlage is out there on the net and in books. all you have to do is read them. And figure drawing and design studios are dirt cheap at community colleges. keep in mind that weither you pay $2000 dollars a class or $15 your still just drawing a nude figure for 5 hours. people just tend to push themselves harder when they feel theirs money being wasted.

so keep in mind where you want to be and where you want to go. If all you learn at a “game school” is how to model and animate characters your going to be doing the lowest paid grunt work for the next ten years paying off your loans. If you have a superior knowlage of design and concept your going to end up being the art director and calling the shots. Probably alot of free education on the software as well.

hope that helped!
-Adam

#9

Hiya.

I’m going to agree with CodeNothing 100%. You can have a 4 year Art Degree, 2 year programing degree and 2 years of systems administratin/network design…and you will still get beat out by the 19 year old kid who’s been making mod’s for DOOM, Quake and Unreal for the last 4 years, if his stuff shows more creativity and drive. The Game Industry (and general 3D, to a large extent) is interested in “cool people that know how to make cool stuff”.

2D drawing skills are paramount, if you ask me (and I need to seriously work on mine!), and a persons ability to “get on well with other gamers” seem to be pretty high on the list.

I’d suggest, if you know ‘nothing’ about 3d and/or game design, to take a year long course on one or two 3d programs, some courses on 2d oriented skills (figure drawing is a must, but other art stuff is a good idea…like color theory and even a littlebit of ‘art history’), and spend your remaining time and money on a good multi-purpose gaming/3d rig, and lots of games, and using them in all your free time. Keeping up to date on what is going on “out there” is a good idea too.

Good luck, and welcome to the jungle! :wink:

#10

high school graduate can land a job with EA

Sure you want someone to work at EA ?:stuck_out_tongue:

I watch school/uni more like “buying time”. Ask yourself if you are ready already to get a job in the industry. If youre not go to school again so you have the time to work on your skills some more, altho in the USA this might be an expensive choice… Schooling can help you with your skills, I followed a few years of art class and also a year multimedia design, but it will never truly create your VG necceray skills…At the end this is not something you can learn at school, you got to learn it yourself too at home and in your free time.
Having a degree isnt very important for almost all companies out there, it will only be a plus and not a requirement. Only time when it can really come in handy is when you want to move to another country or when you got sick of the industry and want another job

Regarding game courses, what I dont like about lots of classes is that they try and teach you everything. Like coding, graphics, animations, gameplay design, level design etc…
You just cant teach someone all of those things, and certainly not in just 2 or 3 year…Certainly not code and visuals at the same time…So if you do pick a game course I would pick a really specialised one and not one of those general ones
its one thing to have some background code knowledge when youre an animator for example but its an another thing when you loose half a year or more on coding, all the precious time your animation skills needed…

#11 
hehe...no, not really. :) When I was at CDIS (now "Art Institute of Burnaby", I think), there were two instructors of mine that worked at EA. One didn't comment on working there much...hmmmm...and the other basically said that "it was cool, but now is starting to suck...".  And htat was a few years ago...I think it's only gotten worse. With all the crazy shinanigans I hear going on there ([i]expected[/i] 14 hour days, 7 days a week, etc.), I'm surprised anyone is still sending them demo reels!

Anyway, schools or no schools, a 3d artist “make himself” more than any other industry, I would wager.

#12

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