Thinking about what I want to do.

[mastersquirrel]

Okay, here's the jist of the situation. I've been going to college for almost three semesters now and I've come to the awful conclusion that this place isn't where I'm going to get the education I need to get into the kind of occupation I'm shooting for, video game design. Yes Link, I realize that earlier in the month I kinda said I didn't want to program games, but that was a slip of the tongue that I forgot to correct at the time. I actually really would love to program games, the problem lies with the fact that I don't know where to go to get the best education for that.

I'm starting to look around seriously at the different options I have and as far as I can see there are two good options:

1) I go to ITT Tech and get my bachelor's degree there. I didn't know it back when I decided to come here (Not ITT Tech), but it turns out that ITT Tech has a video game design degree that I could get from there.

2) I go to Full Sail and get my degree there. I've heard several things about this place, some good some bad, but I'm not sure what's true and what's fiction. I was hoping that some people here would be able to enlighten me.

Anyway, I need some advice from the much more knowing of you that frequent the boards. What do you see as my best option and why? Or if you have some other suggestions what are they and why?

PS: Keep in mind that I currently reside in South Carolina, so where ever you suggest would need to be a reasonable distance for me to get there.

[Myoti]

Well, I'll be going to the Art Institute (Atlanta) for the same thing next summer, though I don't quite know how well it works. It seemed alright after speaking with some of the staff, but I guess I won't totally know till I'm there for awhile. =p

[Tommy]

While it has something to do with videogames, me as a person doesn't consider this thread in the right place.

[mastersquirrel]

While it has something to do with videogames, me as a person doesn't consider this thread in the right place.

I would have put the thread elsewhere, but seeing as how the occupation I'm wanting to go into if video game design I figured that this would be the best place to get advice for getting the right education to enter that field.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I would contact Volt to see what he thinks of full sail. I believe he went (or still goes) there.

[Nate]

I would contact Volt to see what he thinks of full sail. I believe he went (or still goes) there.

From what I remember, Volt hated Full Sail, said it was a bunch of crap, and that no one should go near that place.

[uc pseudonym]

That's also what I remember.

Personally, I would also encourage you not to attend Full Sail (though I'm afraid I don't have a recommendation to replace it). It is an exceedingly specialized school that, while it may equip you to create games, will teach you little else. I think that you probably owe it to yourself to get a more rounded education, and that this will help you overall (as a creator if not a programmer). You don't need to go to a specialized school to get into the video game industry, what they really want is qualified programmers, and if ITT Tech has a video game degree all the better.

[Bobtheduck]

Okay, here's the jist of the situation. I've been going to college for almost three semesters now and I've come to the awful conclusion that this place isn't where I'm going to get the education I need to get into the kind of occupation I'm shooting for, video game design. Yes Link, I realize that earlier in the month I kinda said I didn't want to program games, but that was a slip of the tongue that I forgot to correct at the time. I actually really would love to program games, the problem lies with the fact that I don't know where to go to get the best education for that.

I'm starting to look around seriously at the different options I have and as far as I can see there are two good options:

1) I go to ITT Tech and get my bachelor's degree there. I didn't know it back when I decided to come here (Not ITT Tech), but it turns out that ITT Tech has a video game design degree that I could get from there.

2) I go to Full Sail and get my degree there. I've heard several things about this place, some good some bad, but I'm not sure what's true and what's fiction. I was hoping that some people here would be able to enlighten me.

Anyway, I need some advice from the much more knowing of you that frequent the boards. What do you see as my best option and why? Or if you have some other suggestions what are they and why?

PS: Keep in mind that I currently reside in South Carolina, so where ever you suggest would need to be a reasonable distance for me to get there.

Um... Check other tech schools, too. I don't know the names of schools in SC, but Westwood (the school I go to) has a campus in Virginia. I'm not all that familiar with east coast geography, but...

Full Sail is probably the FASTEST of the Tech schools... No breaks of note, and much quicker classes... That would be the school of choice if you can handle the schedule, but I don't think they have a game design course separate from their programming course... It was called "Game design AND programming" last time I saw it. So, make sure that's what you want to do, also. Programming and design are two VERY different directions to take, and require two very different sets of skills. Trying to combine the both of them into a 2 year course, after being involved in a 3 year course to simply do design and not programming, I think that's an incredibly lofty goal, unless they've finally split the degree into those two component parts like westwood has.

Costwise, I'm not sure about ITT Tech, but Westwood and Full Sail are pretty close... The price at Full Sail doesn't cover the books and kits, wheras the price at Full Sail does, but other than that they are very close. Art Institute is MUCH more expensive, but they also have greater respect in the graphic art world (though Full Sail has EA's full support) There is also brookes and bryman, but once again, I'm not sure about location for you.

I'll tell you, I like westwood, but even the 3 year schedule (vs the 2 year schedule at Full Sail) is rather strenuous. Be carefull of that before you go into it, and know that it looks very pretty before you get into it, but then you see the reality. I've decided to stick with it after seeing the reality, and hopefully you'll be able to as well.

From what I remember, Volt hated Full Sail, said it was a bunch of crap, and that no one should go near that place.

After hearing the crap people spout about westwood all the time, I have a different perspective on Volt's comments... It isnt' my place to judge, but I also had a friend that loved Full Sail. Like I said, it is likely the fastest of the schools, which can create problems if you don't have a 100% of your time to devote to it. I'm glad I went to westwood rather than full sail, if only for the extra year to devote to my craft, but actually I would prefer my learning to be more focused, though... I think a lot of the gen ed stuff is a bit pointless, but they are requirements under california law...

[Link Antilles]

I would avoid ITT Tech like the plague. Your better off taking programming courses, checking out some books, and building stuff with XNA (good for a resume).....

http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/XNA/default.aspx

Experience is probably the best way to go. As for a College degree, look for something that can get you a good job if you don't make it into the Video Game industry (or aid you if you did). For example: Business, Management, Marketing, Writing, etc

Don't box yourself into a corner.

[mastersquirrel]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

Programming and design are two VERY different directions to take, and require two very different sets of skills.

Though I'm sure I've been told the difference before, I've never quite understood the 'very' different directions of programming and design. What does design entail? I've looked online and I can find things about how to become a designer, but none of them that I've seen so far tell you what designers actually do. I thought I understood it, but apparently I really don't.

It was called "Game design AND programming" last time I saw it.

Perhaps I'm using the wrong terms here entirely. The degree I was looking at on the Full Sail website was for Game Development, which I'm assuming is different from video game design. From what I've seen development is more what I'd lean towards, but then again I still don't have a clear understanding of what 'design' entails.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Volt said he hated Full Sail only because it was very intense and cost too much.

[Myoti]

Art Institute is MUCH more expensive, but they also have greater respect in the graphic art world (though Full Sail has EA's full support)

From what I've been checking out abot AI, it does seem that way.

Though I'm sure I've been told the difference before, I've never quite understood the 'very' different directions of programming and design. What does design entail? I've looked online and I can find things about how to become a designer, but none of them that I've seen so far tell you what designers actually do. I thought I understood it, but apparently I really don't.

- Programmer - what it sounds like. They pretty much do all the coding, scripts, AI, etc. Pretty much the people that just make everything work.

- Designer - lots of things could go into this: concept art, level design, character design, actual graphic creation, texturing, etc. etc. etc.

[Azier the Swordsman]

There are two books you really need to pick up which will do a good job of explaining everything you need to know.

Paid to Play: An Insiders Guide to Video Game careers.

and

Break into the Game Industry: How to get a job making video games.

As for the differences between designers and programmers:

A designer creates the concept for the game, and spends his time trying to figure out how to make it better. Much of the designer's work involves playing the latest games and figuring out ways to improve over the competition, dreaming up new features, going to meetings, and assuring everything is actually carried out correctly.

A programmer, on the other hand, merely writes the code, and doesn't really have that much say on what goes into the game.

So, basically, compare the video game industry with the movie industry and think of the Game Designer as the visionary Director and the Programmers as the Crew who makes sure everything is carried out exactly how the director wants it.

[Joshua Christopher]

I visited Fullsail once a long time ago, and went on their whacky tour. You can learn other things besides games (like film making), but I would definitely suggest not going, unless you like really insane workloads that you go through too fast to really retain anything.

But if that's your thing, go ahead man.


But personally, I really think a lot of people look at game designing like it's some wonderful, awesome job where you get to sit around and come up with ideas for video games all day and get paid. Making video games is HARD WORK. LOTS of programming and coding and hours and hours spent looking at The Matrix. It's not all fun and games (haha).

[uc pseudonym]

So, basically, compare the video game industry with the movie industry and think of the Game Designer as the visionary Director and the Programmers as the Crew who makes sure everything is carried out exactly how the director wants it.

But you can't exactly go to school to become a game designer, can you? I was always under the impression that no one but the largest of developers actually has people who do nothing design. Because the truth is that almost everyone has tons of ideas... why hire new staff if your programmers and graphic designers have plenty of things they already want to do? Being a writer is tough.

Anyway, I'm asking because I honestly want to know. Is my impression accurate or have I been mislead?

[Bobtheduck]

Ok, Game art and design (what I'm in) has a different heirarchy than programmers...

What we learn:

Modeling
Animation
Texturing
Traditional art (sketching and painting) to some degree, including figure studies (Yes, I went through a figure study class allready... and yes we had live models)

What people in game art do are all of the jobs not related to programming... The programmers build the engines, and the game art people do just about everything else... So, yeah, you can go to school to be a game designer. It isn't just about ideas... There is a lot of grunt work involved in game design that has little to nothing to do with numbers and code.

Character design (even something so small as a 1 use NPC), environment design, prop design, modeling, rigging, animating, texturing, setting models up for colision detection, doing cut scenes... So much involved there that programmers barely touch.

As people have said, Full Sail is not a dedicated program to one or the other, AND it takes a mere 2 years, meaning you're double-timing your college education... Now, a big benefit for someone who really wants a fast track into the industry is that you aren't required to take nearly as many gen-eds in Florida as you are in other states, and since Full Sail only has one campus, they haven't had to comply with other state requirements... Trust me, that is a plus, but I'd still not want to do that much at once, especially since a big portion of it is math... I'm very happy with my choice.

[Destroyer2000]

I'm somewhat confused, I want to go into game development, as well, but into the stuff such as level design and storyboard and such. What does that go under? Programing or design?

[Azier the Swordsman]

But you can't exactly go to school to become a game designer, can you? I was always under the impression that no one but the largest of developers actually has people who do nothing design. Because the truth is that almost everyone has tons of ideas... why hire new staff if your programmers and graphic designers have plenty of things they already want to do? Being a writer is tough.

Anyway, I'm asking because I honestly want to know. Is my impression accurate or have I been mislead?

Every company has a game designer. Without a game designer, the game would never get off the ground. To clear up any misconception, the game designer never actually touches a line of code or anything of the such. His job is to brainstorm the creative ideas for the game, keep up with the current games to stay on top of the competition, attend meetings, and keep tabs on the programmers; ect.

The programmers and other staff have creative input but not creative control. Also, the game designer and scriptwriter tend to be seperate people, and the writer doesn't tend to have 100% control over how he wants to write the story.