Best Way to get into the industry

Hello,

Its getting to that time in my life where i must decide where i go next, i am currently looking for universities to go to for game development i know some that would argue that you don't need to go to uni to make games and what not, however its something that i don't want to miss out on and would like the extra experience as well as the grades to help me go further in my future. Despite this i don't know what would be better to study at university,to have a life in game dev... I am a programmer not anything else and don't ever want to be, i don't mind mucking around with art asset creation but never anything serious, so what course or "path" would be best suited to going into game programming. I live in the UK however the same applies else where, should i get a degree in computing science or go for a games degree ( i here controversy over which one is best to go to. ) Also if you live in the UK and would know of any universities of interest please say as any information would be valuable to me even if all you can say is something basic feel free to give your input.

 

Get a degree in Computer science. Video game degrees are a waste of time, plus it's a volatile industry - computer science is one of the most employable degrees allowing you to easily switch to another career path if it all goes tits up. Currently studying an MEng. in CS at the University of Bristol, aiming to get into video game development upon graduation. Do lots of personal projects to show off your skills and initiative. Make sure you know the relevant maths inside out (vectors, linear algebra, trigonometry etc.) and are well versed in C++, which is typically what game development studios are looking for (i.e. what is an abstract class, inheritance etc.).

Good luck

 

Learn grammar. No body is going to hire someone that doesn't know when to use I and i. Its even more critical in computer programming.

After that I would recommend a computer science or computer engineering degree. Make games while you do your degree.

 

As the other said, get a degree in computer science, at least for you bachelor. For your master you can always specialize.

 

I find it far more irritating when someone produces a wall of text. Obnoxious font settings don't help either.

 

That's pretty bad too. Any of them are enough for a potential employer or University to go meh, and throw the application on the reject pile. There are enough well written applicants out there that they don't have to spend the time on difficult to read ones.

I also here that bad grammar and presentation on the internet can derail a thread from what you were asking about. This is just a rumour, I've never seen it happen or participated in the activity.

 

I'm not sure if I was just lucky, very opportunistic or obviously skilled, but I have no degree and never saw the need to get one. I have always been able to get interviews even when they said "requires 4 year degrees" by telling them up front that I have "equivalent working experience". And once I am invited to the interview, it's about 80% of the time that I'll get an offer (I prep heavily for every one). It has worked for me to stay employed in IT for the last 15 years. However, how do you get that first 4 years of working experience?

For me, I made a few e-commerce websites for friends and did some game programming to show off my skills, then took a low paying programming job that I kept for 4 years to get real experience and show off my potential by working hard and constantly learning. You can also intern to get your foot in the door. Anyway I'm not saying that going to college is a bad idea. But it's definitely not necessary to get a good job in IT. At least not where I live (Seattle).

Contrary to what one of the other posters above said, I've never used any math above basic algebra in programming. The other 5 years of math I took in high school are mostly forgotten now due to lack of use. So I'm not sure the math is necessary either. Maybe if you're building a physics engine or something? Although they did tell me in high school to take as much math as possible if I wanted to work in computers, strangely.

 

Hi zombieguy,

jerotas points out a lot of good food for thought.

In the United States a degree from Full Sail or from The Guild Hall goes a long way; the tradeoff is that you do not have a generalized degree so if you ever decide to get out of the industry later you would be facing an uphill climb. Also Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan has had one of the top rated degrees with a Game Development concentration in the United States.

For a generalized degree it depends on what you want to do - art, design, programming, management, etc...

I'm assuming that you would like to do programming, so here is my advice (assuming programming is what you are interested in): Get a computer science degree from a university that has a strong reputation for teaching computer science. Focus on taking courses that would give you the knowledge to solve the problems that software engineers in the game industry have to deal with everyday.

Off the top of my head that would include stuff like linear algebra, vectors and matrices, audio programming (knowing low level is great, but if you can pick up a copy of Wwise and understand how the API works you should be just fine), network programming - synchronous and asynchronous operations, databases - both SQL and NOSQL (JSON), file systems on different platforms, state machines / hierarchical state machines / state charts, Flash & ActionScript (for UI; most big game studios use a form of Flash & ActionScript for their UI, either developed in-house or a third party product).

Languages - C, C++, C#, Perl, Python. In some unfortunate cases Lua.

In the case of Ubisoft, they now have a college graduate program where, if you are in your final year of college and will be graduating you can apply to the graduate program. If the interviews go well they will take you on for an intern at one of their studios for 1 year, then you will work in another of Ubisoft studios for 1 year, and if your performance is good they will most likely offer you a full time permanent position after that. If not, hey, you now have 2 years of professional experience at one of the biggest game companies in the world.

Also, Ubisoft Montreal alone has two year programs that you can take at one of the universities there I think. If you do well in your classes chances are you will be offered a full time gig there. Be forewarned, they get a lot of snow in Montreal.

Hope this helps.

 

Hello

 

I would never dissuade someone from pursuing higher education. Education is great. But I would say that you should probably go for a liberal-arts degree instead of a game-focused one. A lot of game-focused schools tend to be too limiting in terms of their curriculum. And honestly, most employers don't care that much about game-focused education.

If you are serious about pursuing a career in the game industry, your best bet is to simply make games. Nothing appeals to employers in the game industry more than hands-on experience. A successful release as part of a mod team will usually carry more weight than a game-focused degree with a mediocre portfolio. The current game industry values results more than anything else. A game or mod that you've created yourself will be the best thing to have on your resume.

 

I agree with everyone here. A game development degree is worth about as much as the paper it's printed on. A degree in programming / computer science / web development, though, is a highly valuable asset to have, and the skills you'll learn are easily transferable to game development.

Is that the "best" way to get into the industry? Who knows. Best way would be if you were related to the head of a game development studio and he/she got you a job, I guess. But second to that, the only way I know of is to work your ass off building your skill set and pushing yourself to get to where you want to be professionally. Hard work, dedication, and a pinch of luck.

 

I agree. I did really well in an interview mostly from my experience releasing a game on iOS that I demo'd on an iPad at the interview. They didn't care about who I worked for or my education. I didn't end up getting the job because I think I priced myself out of it haha. But otherwise I had it made.

 

Thanks for everybody's input especially Stormbreaker's , rnakrani's and jerotas's I found them to be of great use and I will take them on board, I also think it would be a good idea to go down more of the computer science route rather than games I already have an advanced Higher in it already so getting into Uni's for it shouldn't be too hard... I hope.

As for the font and spelling trolls, YoUr weLcoMe. Writing this on a train and on a phone is too MLG for me so i enlarged the text to help see without the need for me to pinch zoom every second but still being stuck with the crappy on screen keyboard is always a joy.

 

LOL

You called out the troll. Thank you very much!

 

I'm pretty certain the real troll here is the phone manufacturer.