Earning a BS/BA in Game Design

[Grasshopper]

Where would be a really good college or university to go to for a degree in game design or something of that like. I actually have a BS in computer science. I wanted to go away after I got out of highschool to some place like that, but settled for some college around here. What would be a good one to attend for a BS in game software or BA in game design or something like that. Particularly one that actually has a decent reputation.

[Cloral]

So do you want to design games rather than program them? Unfortunately I can't help you much there. If all you want to do is program games, then your BS in CS is enough - that's all I got. In the end, what they care about is what you can do, not what degrees you have.

[Grasshopper]

I know. Its experience. But at the moment, I have zero projects I worked with dealing with games. All my project were commerical stuff. Wouldn't a game design school, actually focus on game projects? Thats the type of experience companies want, right?

program, design, art, animation. I'd actually wouldn't mind covering it all. thats why I'm shooting for another bachelor in a different subject. Plus, I gotta get out of the place I'm in. I'm shooting for Winter, since its too close to sign up for classes, relocate, and all that by August.

I only know of 3 so far.
Westwood
DeVry
Digipen

[Beldaran]

The Guildhall at SMU is really good, from what I hear.

But really, you won't be able to do programming, design, art, and animation. Each of those is a deep discipline that requires all of your dedication to excel at. You should pick the one you enjoy most and get really good at it.

If you want to be a game designer, you do NOT need to get a degree in game design. Those degrees are very close to being a running joke amongst those in the game industry. If you want to be a game designer, then design some games. Make mods of existing game engines, join mod teams, program your own small games. You need to build a resume, and it needs to include a lot more actual production and doesn't need to have a game degree on it.

If you roll into a game job interview with a list of indie projects you've worked on, and working examples of games you made yourself, you will get taken a lot more seriously than if you had a game degree.

[Yoshiman]

I'm actually looking into game design myself. Not so much programming, but more on the side of concept sketches, 3-D modeling, and level design. I just graduated high school, but I'm still not sure what college to attend. :/

I poked around on a few artists' websites, and Pinkuh (http://www.pinkfoxstudios.com/), who now works in a small game studio (Online Alchemy) got her degree in 3-D Digital Animation from Raleigh School of Communication. Only problem, when I looked at a write-up of the school, it was very negative.

I was originally looking at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Game Art & Design course, and aside from it being insanely expensive, I was a bit skeptical about it. Reason being, that if I don't get a job in the game industry, I'm screwed and $72,000 less. Beldaran's post kinda pushed me away from it as well. At least with a degree in digital design or something, there's a wider range of opportunities.

I don't mean to hijack Grasshopper's thread, but if anyone can give me some suggestions, I'd be really grateful. :)

[Cloral]

Again I can't speak from experience on the design side of things, but for programming you don't need to have experience programming games (though it certainly helps). You just need to be a good programmer, since a good programmer can learn to program in new areas. Of course working on your own indie projects helps, since it shows your prospective employer that you can handle the sorts of issues that come up in game programming. But as long as you can do well enough on the employment tests they set before you, you should be able to land a job.

[Grasshopper]

I still want to further my education. I'm willing to move away for that...finally. Either get a masters degree, or a BA in something like that. Don't see any reason to be wasting my talents. I thought a good video game school would be a nice place to go to, since that seems to be what the greatest part of my interst lies. I feel determined to get in that field.

[AtmaWeapon]

The problem is, off of the top of my head I'm having trouble coming up with schools that I've heard mentioned in the same sentences as "good" and "video game school". I am not intending to bash on these schools, but in general the people I have seen speak of them on the internet have little good to say about them.

To me, the problem is game design is an artistic field, and an art cannot be taught. Inspired or cultivated yes, taught no. For code work, a Bachelor of Game Design from one of the few "game design" colleges is probably not going to stack well against a Bachelor of Computer Science or Software Engineering from a school with a well-respected CS/SE discipline. Game coding is some of the most difficult programming there is, and if I were looking for a coder I'd expect great technical ability. Furthermore, the Bachelor of Game Design won't look too good from the "creative director" standpoint compared to having several mods or standalone games under your belt. For those kinds of positions creativity reigns and it cannot be taught.

In either case, it's worth doing some hobby programming work/game design for two reasons. First, it shows you have enough of a passion for the field that you will devote free time to it, which means you are unlikely to burn out or accept mediocre levels of output. Second, it can indicate to an interviewer that your knowledge of the field is better than that of the average graduate.

I am currently working at a large company that produces industry hardware and some very clever software that supports it (across all major platforms and via at least 3 programming environments, one very unique and very patented). During the interview, before the man who would be my manager told me what his team did, he asked me what kind of hobby projects I did. My truthful response was that I was intrigued by custom control development, but discouraged by the difficulty of learning advanced techniques due to vague and sparse documentation. I explained the things I had done and the technical problems I had encountered in my work.

It turned out that the man who interviewed me is the manager of the group in charge of integration with Visual Studio and the production of custom Windows Forms controls. My hobby got me a job and if I'd ever get done with my training I will be getting paid to do what I have always done for fun.

So don't hesitate to further your education, but a BS in CS is a very broad degree. My best advice is you need to find the niche you enjoy and build a small portfolio of projects, or at the very least make a few failures and understand why they failed. I'd imagine for game design that having a lot of well-organized documents describing the mechanics, lore, and goals of several games would be just as valuable as having actually completed the game. There's always coders that can turn a design document into implementation, but it takes talent to produce the appropriate design document in the first place. Show the right people you can make that document, and you'll land a job.

[shadowboxer2007]

I when't to scool at Digipen. its great companys give ya free games and stuff.