Going to study game design in college.

[Jackalias]

I just into college to go study game design. Anyone have any advice? Either about college in general or about the major.

Curriculum for those curious:
https://www.champlain.edu/academics/undergraduate-academics/majors-and-specializations/game-design/curriculum-game-design

[The Fury]

Hey, cool! I'll be starting classes in April as well. Though not for game design.

I don't know anything about game design, though some of the best advice I've gotten as far as studying and learning is remember to take breaks, usually every two hours. Especially if the material you're working with is really dense and requires some effort to process. Unless you're not the sort of person that needs to be reminded that you sometimes need to take a break. In which case, "Good luck!" is about the best I've got for you.

[halfeye]

This thread:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?551013-Things-to-avoid-in-(video)-game-design

has a lot of advice on game design, a lot of it totally contradictory.

There will be another thread just like it along in a couple of weeks, somewhere on the internet, maybe here too.

[Peelee]

One of my friends teaches GSD courses at my local college. He also got his Ph.D in math. So.... Maybe also look into getting a lot of math class? I dunno.

[Lord Joeltion]

Nice :smallwink: I took a short Game Design course not long ago. I think it's the only "real" course for Spanish speakers, because it teaches online across countries. It's an interesting... art/science/thingie. Just don't pay much attention to your "gamer gut"* and try to learn what's really behind the curtain (ie: what really works for game design). But still, try to have fun and experiment a lot.

Didn't know there were institutes like Colleges teaching it for English Speakers (I'm assuming it's a "formal" institution and not a recreational one). Since I'm not sure what college consists of, my opinion is less relevant. I only have experience with University life. The rule of thumb I learned from my experience is don't slack, but don't overpush either. Try to stay just ahead of the wave if you know what I mean. Keeping up with the professor is the sweet spot (I know, it sounds obvious, but for some reason it tends to be hard to really hit that spot more often than not).

I found GD really fun to learn. As with most careers related to art, it's more a way of life than something you learn. You have to 'grok' it through practice. There's a lot of interdisciplinary knowledge below the surface, so if you are a big fan of interdisciplinary research like me, you will find it most entertaining.

It's also really amusing when you start "reading" game structures and GD "tricks" you were never aware/paid attention in the games you play after learning a thing or two about the subject.

*At the end of the day, you basically learn that "gamers" don't know what really makes a good game, only what they like about a game. And because they almost never know *why* they like what they like, you have to take it with a pinch of salt at best.

[Tvtyrant]

One of my friends teaches GSD courses at my local college. He also got good Ph.D in math. So.... Maybe also look into getting a lot of math class? I dunno.

You might ask your friend what pointers he would give someone starting out, or ask if he wouldn't mind chatting with jackalias.

Mentors are important.

[Jackalias]

One of my friends teaches GSD courses at my local college. He also got good Ph.D in math. So.... Maybe also look into getting a lot of math class? I dunno.

I think the only math class I need to take (other than the usual core classes) is some statistics.

[Jackalias]

You might ask your friend what pointers he would give someone starting out, or ask if he wouldn't mind chatting with jackalias.

Mentors are important.

While I would appreciate any advice, if I ever find myself in need of mentorship I'm probably going to look for someone more closely affiliated with the school or my major. There's a much larger school within easy walking distance, and the one I'm attending collaborates with several other schools abroad.

You actually end up spending a term or two in a different country depending on your major, for game design I would probably go to Montreal, but there's always time to change.

[JeenLeen]

Are you the standard "out of high school" age for going to college, or going to college after several years in the workforce? Got a family (wife/husband and/or kids)? If still young, living at campus or with parents?
Some advice on general college I could give, but it'd be dependent on that. ...well, I guess I'll try a few pointers anyhow.

I started back at college after nearly 10 years after getting my Bachelor's, and the biggest shift I found was needed to balance time (as I now have a wife & kids.) In my first stint at college, I'd spent an extra hour or two studying to guarantee a A or make sure I got a great grade on homework. Now, it's just not worth it a few points to spend an extra few hours studying/working on homework.

Be aware of what motivates you and what your weaknesses are. I found that it helped me to try to get most of the reading done early in a semester, so I could focus on projects and harder homework later on in the semester. I also learned how I lean towards laziness and set in safeguards and timelines to prevent that from causing me to suffer bad grades.

If you live on campus, between clubs and events, you might be able to find free dinner most nights. Especially if you count snacks and/or light appetizers as a dinner.

[Jackalias]

Are you the standard "out of high school" age for going to college, or going to college after several years in the workforce? Got a family (wife/husband and/or kids)? If still young, living at campus or with parents?
Some advice on general college I could give, but it'd be dependent on that. ...well, I guess I'll try a few pointers anyhow.

I'm 19, I ended up repeating a year when I switched schools/got mono (I accidentally stole a kids drink during track, bad idea). I was considering switching earlier, but poor grades while I was sick finalized that decision.

[AMFV]

The best advice I can give is talk to people who are actually in the industry. And take their advice. A lot of advice you'll hear will be students parroting professors who aren't working in that field in a real capacity. I noticed that when I was in school. The main thing is that you want to talk to people who are in the field to make sure it's something you really want.

[Peelee]

You might ask your friend what pointers he would give someone starting out, or ask if he wouldn't mind chatting with jackalias.

Well, I would have had I not thought that would be a really vague and open-ended question.

Case in point, I did ask, and he just now responded:


I would say it depends on what type of game design

If something dealing with computers, I would go somewhere with a CS/CIS degree that offers some game courses

if analog, I would say somewhere like Carnegie Melon or [local college redacted] that offers strictly analog classes on game design, and get a major in History/English/Math/Comms

there are lots of for-profit game design schools. Some like SCAD are great while some like Full Sail are just horrible factories

[Jackalias]

It's video game design btw, not board. Although creating a board game was part of the application.

I'm almost positive the school isn't a scam (I saw a lot of scam universities during my search, although I suppose that comes with the territory of being a relatively new major), it has well established programs other than game design, some family friends have attended, and I went to the campus in person.

[WalkingTarget]

Don't have any specific "game design program" advice, but here's some general college advice.

Something that was never actually spelled out to me when I was in undergrad was what exactly "office hours" meant. It's time your instructor (or grad assistant or whoever) has set aside specifically for students to come in to ask questions/get assistance. You're not bothering them by coming in to talk to them as it's literally why the office hours exist. Make use of the opportunity. Get help earlier rather than later to minimize the time you spend struggling.

If you're not already familiar with something like Mendeley, Endnote, Zotero, etc. look into them. You're likely going to need to write papers at some point. These are tools that help you keep track of the sources you're going to be using as references in your papers and help automate the citation process when you start writing. Most modern library catalog systems and article databases have the ability to export the citation information in a format that these systems can read, so if you've found a source for your paper, you can save the citation information in a few clicks.

Speaking of which, go to the library and talk to some librarians (not necessarily the person behind the check-out desk or out reshelving books). You're likely to have access to a lot more resources that you can use to find information. Studies show that "digital natives" who everyone assumed would be good at this stuff because they grew up with computers don't, as a rule, automatically know how to use these systems, so talk to some experts. There's a lot of generalizable skills involved, but getting started and knowing that different resources might be better for different purposes and how to find them can be useful (Google Scholar is great and all, but it has its weaknesses). Like office hours for your instructors, a lot of people got into librarianship because they like helping people with this stuff so you're probably not bothering them by asking for help.

Don't think of electives as a waste of time but as an opportunity to become a more well-rounded person - take some classes just because they look interesting. I was a CS major in undergrad, but some of my favorite classes were a Classical mythology class and a couple of linguistics courses which served no purpose towards my degree other than they filled in some world civ and humanities requirements, but they sounded interesting and I had a lot of fun with them.

Have fun, but remember that you're there to learn. Make friends and go do social things (hell, my best man was some guy I met in the dorm freshman year and started hanging out with and I'm still in touch with lots of the other guys from my college RPG group too), but not to the extent that they interfere with your studies. Game Design sounds like a major that would be well-suited to collaboration on side-projects and whatnot.

[Sermil]

I've been in video game development -- as a programmer, not as a designer, so take this with a grain of salt.

Learn a bit of art and a bit of programming and maybe some audio. A lot of what you will be doing is herding the actual implementors of the game in the correct direction. If you can't talk to all the other disciplines, you'll get a muddle.

Extra Credits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG1ziCvLkJ0&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187) is a pretty good series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvWMdWhFCc is a somewhat intimidating list of "what a game designer should know", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HmtmoGwpZc&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187&index=28 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6op8eV5OBwE&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187&index=29 have some tips on thinking about games like a designer, and so on.

[Jackalias]

I've been in video game development -- as a programmer, not as a designer, so take this with a grain of salt.

Learn a bit of art and a bit of programming and maybe some audio. A lot of what you will be doing is herding the actual implementors of the game in the correct direction. If you can't talk to all the other disciplines, you'll get a muddle.

Extra Credits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG1ziCvLkJ0&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187) is a pretty good series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvWMdWhFCc is a somewhat intimidating list of "what a game designer should know", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HmtmoGwpZc&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187&index=28 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6op8eV5OBwE&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187&index=29 have some tips on thinking about games like a designer, and so on.


I looked at the curriculum and in addition to doing stuff like game theory and level design, we also learn some rudimentary programing and whatnot, so that we know what everyone else on the team is capable of.

Addendum: Extra Credits is awesome.

[Errata]

I don't know what program you're enrolling in and the curriculum. But I'd be highly skeptical of such a vocational major, particularly in a field that is so aspirational and where interest can greatly outstrip career opportunities.

I would pick a specific role to focus on, either the programming side or the arts side. Depending on what kind of games you like, possibly English Literature or Music with a focus on electronic music, but that's less widely applicable than programming and graphic design, which almost all games need a lot of.

At a big studio, most of the rank and file employees are fulfilling someone elses vision by working on implementing some specific aspect of a game, and if you want more seniority you'll have to work your way up along one of those paths. They don't just hire recent college grads and ask them to brainstorm their idea for a game, then hire different people to do the actual work of realizing it. Every gamer has ideas for games, pretty much, but it takes a lot of skill and resources to realize them. Getting other people to work on your ideas is a privilege that is earned, not something that companies are desperate to farm out to untested people. The lead game designers at a big studio are more like experienced managers than entry level positions. And the people doing basic level design don't really need a game design degree, they can land that kind of job even easier with more well defined, conventional skills.

If rather than a big studio, your plan is to work on independent games, then it's even more important to have a core skill like art or programming. A small indie project has no room for supernumerary hangers on. They're typically either a collaboration between an artist and a programmer, or one person who is sufficiently decent at both. You'd be better off getting a computer science degree with all the graphics and networking classes, plus some electives in relevant art or humanities courses, or an art major with a minor in computer science. They will get you the same kinds of jobs that a game design class could, but the reverse is not true. With a hybrid degree like that there's too strong a chance that it ends up qualifying you for nothing.

And if you're planning some third route, to somehow convince someone else to invest in your idea without fully implementing it yourself as an indie game, the best way to convince them is with a tech demo or at least some stunning conceptual art work. Things you need basically the same skill set for as the indie game, but less time. No amount of game design will convince an investor without some of those assets.

[Sermil]

I've been in video game development -- as a programmer, not as a designer, so take this with a grain of salt.

Learn a bit of art and a bit of programming and maybe some audio. A lot of what you will be doing is herding the actual implementors of the game in the correct direction. If you can't talk to all the other disciplines, you'll get a muddle.

Extra Credits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG1ziCvLkJ0&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187) is a pretty good series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvWMdWhFCc is a somewhat intimidating list of "what a game designer should know", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HmtmoGwpZc&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187&index=28 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6op8eV5OBwE&list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187&index=29 have some tips on thinking about games like a designer, and so on.

Another thought -- Extra Credits is good, as I said, but it's still targeted to a lay audience.

You may want to start reading Gamasutra (https://www.gamasutra.com/), which is much more focused towards actual developers. You may not follow everything (I still can't follow some of the hardcore pixel shader stuff, and I'm an experienced programmer), but it has some good info. Pay attention to the postmortems and try to find common themes in "what went wrong", for starters.

It also has job boards, which you'll need eventually.

[Xyril]

I would tentatively agree with Errata, pending more detail about your specific program. I've had a few friends look into game design programs, and they all strike me as suffering from the same problem as the entrepreneurship programs you see sometimes--they're selling you on the idea that their program can give you the training and credentials to quickly become the "big picture" guy in your chosen industry. In practice, the only way you can make a career out of being a serial entrepreneur is if you have a lot of money to invest, or you have the right connections to attract investment that most people can't. Otherwise, you have to bring something more concrete to the table--a background in finance, business, engineering, law, marketing, something useful. For a smaller startup, you're probably not going to hire a someone solely to manage everyone else--you're going to look at everyone you already have doing vital stuff and try to figure out who might be good at management and can handle the extra responsibility. For a more established company that can afford to hire someone solely for being a kickass chief executive, you're probably going to hire someone who already has industry experience, preferably a leadership role--and not some kid who graduated from a school for training kickass chief executives, with a few scattered courses in business management or economics so you can better understand the folks you'll be leading.

What's triggering a bit of skepticism for me is this:


I looked at the curriculum and in addition to doing stuff like game theory and level design, we also learn some rudimentary programing and whatnot, so that we know what everyone else on the team is capable of.

To me, something like programming should be the core of the program, not an afterthought along with "whatnot." As others have mentioned, there are other roles that require large numbers of people and also require some fairly substantive training. If you're going a substantial chunk of time to focus primarily on learning, you should devote a lot of that time to learning something substantive and fundamental. Even if your goal is to be a designer, the best way to reach that goal might be by becoming a programmer, or a marketer, or a graphic designer in order to get your foot in the door. If you go to school to learn programming, you'll probably have opportunities to learn about things like level design and game theory as well. In fact, having a strong background in programming or art would probably help you to get even in game design.

[Jackalias]

The whatnot was just me being flippant, there's some degree of flexibility in how much you want to specialize, and honestly I have no idea what I'm good at yet. I realize I may have been a bit vague in what the course entails so here's the curriculum.

https://www.champlain.edu/academics/undergraduate-academics/majors-and-specializations/game-design/curriculum-game-design

[Flickerdart]

My recommendation is, study user experience design instead, or at least load up on electives. Systems thinking, understanding your players as people with goals, understanding *your own* goals, these are more important skills than "level design" for a game designer.

[Astral Avenger]

Studying: My personal approach to studying was to set a 20 min timer, every time it beeped I would take 1-2 min to do something completely different (push-ups, pull ups, run into the kitchen for a snack, run to the bathroom, etc). It helps you absorb information when you can take those short breaks, the trick is not accidentally letting the break become a long break.

College in general: (I'm a first responder and was just traveling with a step down nurse and a paramedic definitely influencing my suggestions)
1) Party and have fun, but keep it under control.
2) Look up medical amnesty laws in your area, they exist to save lives.
3) Learn the recovery (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_position) position, it also saves lives.
4) Class and homework/studying should happen before drinking/partying.
5) If you study a little every day and take good notes, cramming can consist of a short review session before a test. Staying up super late and cramming before a test is usually shooting yourself in the foot. Sleep dep. has a similar effect on cognition as being tipsy.

Major specific: (I studied statistics and now teach outdoor classes, so take it with a few grains of salt)
It's a very hot area right now, you'll have an advantage if you can pick up a double major or minor in sound design, art/animation, programming or something similar.
Actively engage with your professors and advisors, they (usually) are very invested in helping you succeed, but only if you take the first step to initiate.

[jayem]

To me, something like programming should be the core of the program, not an afterthought along with "whatnot." As others have mentioned, there are other roles that require large numbers of people and also require some fairly substantive training. If you're going a substantial chunk of time to focus primarily on learning, you should devote a lot of that time to learning something substantive and fundamental. Even if your goal is to be a designer, the best way to reach that goal might be by becoming a programmer, or a marketer, or a graphic designer in order to get your foot in the door. If you go to school to learn programming, you'll probably have opportunities to learn about things like level design and game theory as well. In fact, having a strong background in programming or art would probably help you to get even in game design.

I could well imagine mid level design being (recognized or not*) an area of just as much importance and skilled as the graphics and the programming, and not being just as conceptual as the entrepreneur, big idea bit.
In that case programming would be doubly useful, as a fair bit of what you'll be aiming to do is programming in a bespoke 'high-level' language. But Psychology would be trivially useful... And I think anything you could justify. A heavier focus on game theory, etc... A good understanding of themes. General creativity. So it really depends on what your potential employers think they need and where your strengths lie.

*which I have no idea if it is. If the course teaches the skills you need. etc...

[Jackalias]

Studying: My personal approach to studying was to set a 20 min timer, every time it beeped I would take 1-2 min to do something completely different (push-ups, pull ups, run into the kitchen for a snack, run to the bathroom, etc). It helps you absorb information when you can take those short breaks, the trick is not accidentally letting the break become a long break.

College in general: (I'm a first responder and was just traveling with a step down nurse and a paramedic definitely influencing my suggestions)
1) Party and have fun, but keep it under control.
2) Look up medical amnesty laws in your area, they exist to save lives.
3) Learn the recovery (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_position) position, it also saves lives.
4) Class and homework/studying should happen before drinking/partying.
5) If you study a little every day and take good notes, cramming can consist of a short review session before a test. Staying up super late and cramming before a test is usually shooting yourself in the foot. Sleep dep. has a similar effect on cognition as being tipsy.

Major specific: (I studied statistics and now teach outdoor classes, so take it with a few grains of salt)
It's a very hot area right now, you'll have an advantage if you can pick up a double major or minor in sound design, art/animation, programming or something similar.
Actively engage with your professors and advisors, they (usually) are very invested in helping you succeed, but only if you take the first step to initiate.

I'm not sure how helpful some of this will be since it's a dry campus, not to mention I don't party, at all. But your advice is appreciated, I do struggle with procastination more than I would like.

[Astral Avenger]

I'm not sure how helpful some of this will be since it's a dry campus, not to mention I don't party, at all. But your advice is appreciated, I do struggle with procastination more than I would like.

The thing with dry campuses is that it just makes people be sneakier about anything they're doing. I stand by my medical related advice, especially about medical amnesty, it's just much less likely that you'll need to use it (every day that I don't have to take someone to a hospital or patch them up is a good day, but the bad days would be worse if I didn't know how to help).

With parting, I probably didn't phrase what I meant well. I'm not saying you have to go crazy and do lines off a table at an animal house style frat party, but find something that lets you relax and destress from school/life. I mainly used practicing with the climbing and Nordic ski teams as this, along with playing a couple of video games with some friends over teamspeak.

With procrastination, there are millions of contradictory pieces of advice out there, try different ones out until you find a way that works. Best of luck in school!

[Rynjin]

My advice? Don't. Not as a first degree.

There's no market for game designers that are JUST game designers without practical industry experience in other departments.

"Game designer" as a position is akin to "project manager" in other industries; not an entry level position.

Your most likely outcome is graduating $50k in debt with no concrete leads on a job in your field and a degree you need to stretch real hard to apply to any other field.

You're better off getting almost literally any other degree first, getting experience working in the industry, and then getting a BS of Game Design as your second degree.

You can go game development for the programming side, and there are game based degrees for everything from writing to sound design to all kinds of arts. Get one of them first.

Source: My life. Seriously, don't. Halt this mistake before it carries on too far. It's way harder to get yourself up and going with game design as your first field of study. It's interesting coursework and has shaped my outlook on games and life in a good way, but it's nothing you can't glean doing a whole bunch of other stuff.

I wholeheartedly regret not going with some kind of writing as my major because that's what I've ended up making my living with anyway.

[ve4grm]

I think the only math class I need to take (other than the usual core classes) is some statistics.

While stats is important, you'll also want a thorough understanding of algebra, and some trigonometry. If you're good with that from high school, you're probably ok.


I'm not sure how helpful some of this will be since it's a dry campus, not to mention I don't party, at all. But your advice is appreciated, I do struggle with procastination more than I would like.

Yeah, my best advice for university is GET GOOD SLEEP!

You might be surprised how often that gets ignored, dry campus or not.

In fact, gaming convention advice (http://slyflourish.com/gaming_convention_survival_guide.html) is mostly applicable.
- keep hydrated
- eat healthy
- keep things clean, which will keep you healthy
- don't over-schedule yourself
- make some friends - they'll help you succeed

[Xyril]

I could well imagine mid level design being (recognized or not*) an area of just as much importance and skilled as the graphics and the programming, and not being just as conceptual as the entrepreneur, big idea bit.

I didn't mean to offend any game designers or entrepreneurs or project managers with my comment. It is an area of importance, and it does take skills, which is precisely why you can't just take any engineer or programmer and turn him into the CEO of a successful startup, or promote any random experienced graphic designer and make him a successful manager. My main concerns are that

1) as others have echoed, the job market right now doesn't have many entry-level opportunities for folks who specialize in these things. If people want a great designer/manager/executive who specializes entirely in that role, they pick someone who already has experience in that role. If people are interested in hiring someone for his or her first job in such a leadership position, they tend to hire someone who already has substantial experience in a non-leadership position in the industry. This isn't necessarily a reflection of any intrinsic difference between the different areas--it could well be that it might make sense to hire someone right out of school with a highly specialized degree in design or management. Culturally, however, there is a tendency to associate roles that involve more top-down, big picture decision making with an implied higher hierarchical position when compared to jobs that focus on a more specific portion of a project and involve more highly specialized skills. In other words, in hiring there is probably a bias towards hiring folks who have paid their dues in the industry.

2) While, once again not making any value judgment vis-a-vis different degrees or skill sets, in my experience people tend to have an easier time doing a more specialized degree as their core and doing the more broad degree as either outside enrichment or post-secondary education. I know a ton of people who did ec/applied math/CS as undergrads before doing business school (most after having worked some), and for the most part they had a fairly uncomplicated path towards finding a more management-type position in their industry or forming their own startup. The few guys I know who did an undergraduate business or "pre-business" degree (something distinct and less specialized than economics or finance) before trying to do a STEM or finance related Masters generally had a rougher time.

One major hurdle may be the fact that more specialized degrees are generally deeper and require more cumulative learning. If your degree involves a course that absolutely be understood without a strong background in a prerequisite course, and that course also requires knowledge from a line of two or three prerequisites, then it's generally easier to make that work in a 4 year undergraduate program than a 1 to 2 year Masters or MBA. If learning the material is also dependent on a strong background in something fundamental that you learned in high school--such as writing or math--then you'll be further disadvantaged trying to complete a program after those fundamentals have had a chance to atrophy from disuse.

Also, going back to my prior point, because of the cultural bias that, in order to "reach the top" of a given profession you eventually have to join management or become your own boss, there are a lot of universities who are concerned about the fact that their highly trained specialists often hit a wall because they don't have the aptitude for a position with more leadership/management involved. Because of that, there tend to be many well-developed programs meant to address the deficit. For example, many schools offer Masters degrees in engineering management, the idea being that if you have a bunch of people who have already proven that they understand engineering, can communicate with engineers, and have general familiarity with the engineering design hierarchy, then you can use that shared background to do a better job teaching them management skills for a specific industry. Many schools with large STEM or finance programs also have elective or extracurricular programs meant to train these sort of skills. One program for example brought engineering and CS students together with finance/economics undergrads and business and law students to do mock startups. I think that in many ways, working with faculty from very different fields with different industry experiences and also students with very different backgrounds, being trained for different specialized jobs might be a better way to understand the dynamics of such a team and figuring out "what your team can do" than taking a class or two in graphic design and assuming you then know what how your graphic designers think.

There really aren't many analogous programs going the other way around. I don't recall ever having heard of something like an Electrical Engineering Masters program for undergraduate business majors. I'm not saying that going from design to coding, or doing a core curriculum in design and taking meaningful enrichment in coding, is impossible. Rather, there just seems like there are a ton of people and institutions trying to make it easier for someone specializing in CS to also learn about design or management.

[Neftren]

The best advice I can give is talk to people who are actually in the industry. And take their advice. A lot of advice you'll hear will be students parroting professors who aren't working in that field in a real capacity. I noticed that when I was in school. The main thing is that you want to talk to people who are in the field to make sure it's something you really want.

Speaking as a someone who attended a four year game development program: this is the best piece of advice in this thread. Having fun playing games does not mean you will have fun making games. Know what you're getting yourself into before you commit to this path. It is not for the faint of heart.

(maybe some of my fellow game developers I know on these forums feel differently, in which case, they should speak up :smallsmile:)

Your friends will most likely parrot what your fellow students are saying. Your fellow students and upperclassmen are most likely parroting what your professors are saying. Your professors are probably repeating what random "education" and "game development" blogs and YouTube videos are saying. Those blogs and videos are probably regurgitating what some {{ Top of the Field Game Developer }} says during some acceptance speech at {{ Insert Game Related Event }}.

I can't speak with great certainty regarding life at other studios (having not worked at those studios!), but what I can say is that what you hear from your friends or professors or what you read or see online can be wildly off-the-mark from the day-to-day work of making video games -- it was for me anyway.

[Xyril]

Neftren, if you don't mind sharing too much personal detail, I'm curious what role you have at your current studio? Did you end up focusing on game play and level design, or do you spend most of your time in more specialized tasks?

[Neftren]

Neftren, if you don't mind sharing too much personal detail, I'm curious what role you have at your current studio? Did you end up focusing on game play and level design, or do you spend most of your time in more specialized tasks?

Most people would call me a "programmer" (the fancy title is "Software Engineer"). I do fairly specialized work though, due to the size of my project. Indie devs by nature wear a lot more hats.