Do you think the game development course worth the money?

There is this course by MAGES, teaching 3D game development in Unity, with a course fee of S$3550. I would like to hear from all, do you think it worth S$3550

3D Game Development

Topics Covered
Introduction to Unity and Game Development
Creating the Game World and Virtual Environment
Using and Creating Prefabs to develop 3D Games
Creating 2D 3D Games
Creating multiplayer network game
Unity Game Development with C# Java Script Programming
Game Testing Implementation

Learning Outcome
Understand the different game genres
Game design concept their perspectives
Strong knowledge on Unity 3D Game Engine
Game objects positioning, rotation and parenting
Programming skill to control and create the game events
Scripting Artificial Intelligent logic for game characters
Activating the character animations base on character's actions
Creating , Modifying and reusing of prefabs
Applying Texture, Light, Shader and Effects for Game Objects
Camera controls and GUI implantation
Creating the simulation game with realistic game physics
Creating the RPG game with storyline
Creating the mobile games using Unity3D
Understanding the network game concept and creating the multiplayer game
Skill for building, deployment presentation for the project

 

My honest opinion would be, unless you're just sitting on money to be thrown around, then it wouldn't be worth it to me. (Then again, this is coming from a "broke college student," so everyone's entitled to different opinions.) It sounds like a wonderful course, but at the same time I feel like it's something that --with enough searching and practice- could be accomplished for free (or very small costs) just here on the forums, YouTube, or a couple sites.

 

So that's roughly 3000 USD right? Short answer, no.

Here's my take: Any kind of education is a total crapshoot, because it completely depends on how good the teacher is. I took a 3 year Game Development program, and a 1 year 3d Modelling and Visual Effects program, from two different colleges, both reputable places, and for the most part, it was a waste of time.

One thing we always liked to say is: "So we're paying to come to class and listen to what a 12 year old on Youtube could have told us?" The internet is so full of resources for learning this kind of stuff, I just don't think it's worth it.

Unity was only briefly covered in my courses, I did all my learning on my own, using the tutorials from the Asset Store, official documentation and Youtube. Take the money you would have spent on the course and use it to buy food while you learn on your own, you'll get much better value.

 

I got your point ,AlexLeighton. Thanks for the advice. I have been thinking whether to take up a course. I tried Digital Tutor videos, but I am not discipline enough to keep on learning.

 

I can support what Nick and Alex already wrote. Especially since this course is only 48 hours long (which means the course costs 74 $ per hour ... pretty steep) and only gives you a generic certificate of participation.

I never booked a Unity course and was still able to build up Unity knowledge by using the following:
- 1 book ("Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity")
- a Digital Tutors subscription (which I already had; but luckily they offer Unity trainings as well)
- YouTube vids
- Q&A on Unity Answers
- Trial and error

That didn't cost a fraction of $ 3'550 but proved to be more than sufficient for my needs. All it takes is some discipline.

 

$3000? No way.

I'd call that a 'get rich quick' scheme, except that you're aiming to be a gamedev instead. While they might provide a structured course with everything someone would need, you'd be better off spending the time to find what *you* need and focusing your learning better. They can't provide you the motivation to get there.

And it's not like there aren't plenty of free tutorials out there, either. They're endlessly recommended here and elsewhere.

 

Surely not: best shot is to start creating your own portfolio *from scratch* (Asset Store is a facilitator but not a good friend of absolute beginners, who need to learn fundamentals and do practice... tutorials are better) with small, well working and polished games. Discipline will come if you work daily (2hrs, 6hrs, full time), enjoy the process, improve your skills and master the tools.

 

Agreed with everyone else, that course sounds like a waste of money.

I can understand where you're coming from though, I find it difficult to do more than a few basic tutorials. Some people do well with tutorials, but I found it far easier to learn once I figured out a small prototype I wanted to make, then learning what was required to make that instead. That way, you have your own end goal of making a game mechanic that you yourself would enjoy playing, which I personally found was infinitely more motivating, and it means everything you learn has context that you can understand. Keep prototyping different game types, and you can learn a lot about many different areas of the engine

 

Unless of course, you don't mind spending that amount of money... then you can give it a try! (We don't want to be party poopers)

But 3 grand seems like a big spend, and we don't even know how good this course is.

I would rather take a local course... in a classroom and all. The traditional way.

 

I've never taken a course on game development (just studied as a programmer)
I did 99% of learning on my own through the resources described above

Also, making your own first unity3d game - A very simple one like pong - NOT AN MMORPG is the ultimate teacher. Make games - start simple, and then make more and more complicated/better ones. The good courses force you to do just that.

 

Its 48hrs, so lets say 8hrs per day, 6 days course, 2800usd.. not bad, if the learning outcome is what they promise.


You can learn all of those from free tutorials, but if you are new to unity and want "jump start", i'd take the course, it is faster that way.
(other option is hiring someone over skype to give you lessons for a lesser price and specific topics..)

 

The course is too short.
Suggest you enrol to longer course.


Several of our employees went to degree courses where they had instructor-led course using Unity for two years.

 

I don't think there is any longer course that focus on Unity only in Singapore. Longer course = more expensive. After looking at all the replies, I really does think that 3000plus could be too much for this short course.

What yuiythebest said is true, I do want a quick start in Unity.

I will try to build up knowledge with the resources Parallaxe suggests. Thanks.

 

I think this is a market opportunity for Unity themselves to be honest. With the growth of Unity as a mainstream game development tool why not a series of training classes offered by Unity(or a certified partner) and a "Unity Certified Game Developer" cert you can take at the end.

Certs are a huge moneymaker for the company and the people taking them would feel better knowing it is sponsored by the company itself rather than some random company claiming to be Unity experts.

 

you can probably learn that all by yourself online in less time.

but if the professor has game dev experience that could be very valuable on its own. it also depends on how self motivated you are, do you need someone else to tell you how to learn?

 

For something like this for it all to be accomplished in 48 hours, is inaccurate. It's not worth the $3,000. Especially seeing as it's not an accredited institute. For an educational site that offers game development courses for sole education like this, it should be semester based and ran more properly. For 3,000 you should be getting more than just a 40 hour course, especially because it's not a real institute. There are programs like this, where you do pay in the thousands and they hand yo a certificate that employers will accept as it proves you've passed certifications, but I don't think that's the case with this site. I'd reccomend checking out some other educational sites that offer drip feeding of some sort, or offer an enrollment and the course is like 6 weeks. Then you'll know that you'll be getting your monies worth. Based on the description of the course, Idk how he can accomplish all that in 48 hours. And for you to understand it...no way.

EDIT: Scratch everything i just said. I just now checked out the site. I'd say that's a safe bet. They are an accredited institution. Not in America, but in singapore for what it's worth. Look at it like this... the average gaming school that teaches mostly unreal and unity will go for about 80k over the course of your time there. For you to learn that in just however long it takes, that's definitely cheaper, and the reviews look good for them. They certainly aren't a scam, because in order to obtain an edu address, you have to prove you have a curriculum, a staff, a dean, and a board of admissions. If you have the money, it's deff. a safe alternative to the traditional college route. I'm in a game programming school and I can tell you from personal experience, at this point, i'm just doing it for the degree. Game development is a lot of self discipline. It's not uncommon for instructors to have you learn on your own in these type of programs.



Best,

Jon

 

Well, it 's up to you actually. Something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Also, it depends on what are you going to do with gained knowledge.

If you're undisciplined and can't stand regular learning then you very likely won't do anything with what you've learned after you finish the course. But if you've got 3 grand to throw away and want to start your journey with Unity, you could sign in for that course, but anyway, nothing can compare to a strong determination and ambition. The fact that you've finished your course does not mean that you're ready to release a new hit. And remember, this course will not teach you how to make games. It will teach you how to use software. It's just like with a bicycle. The fact that you have learned how to cycle does not make you a professional bike rider. There is a lot more to learn outside of Unity. I hope I did not discourage you.

But if you ask me whether that price is worth the course, I say no. I'd never pay that money for something that is available online for free. But I repeat, it's up to you.

 

Spend 1/10th of that on a couple books and get to work. Trial and error, and practice, is what is needed to learn programming. I'd take a few selected classes like 3d modeling, level design, etc whatever interests you at a local community college as a supplement to your own development. (As a programmer those are 2 classes I'd like to take but haven't)

It takes years of practice to master the tools and concepts involved...and isn't something you can cram for or learn from lectures. Not saying you can't make stuff from day 1, just that to comprehensively know tools inside and out and be an "expert" takes a long time.

 

Maybe try this course http://www.gameinstitute.com/game-development/unity.php for fraction of the price. Think first heard about it here and they have extended the Christmas sale unti end of January so currently half price. Had favourable reviews. I did start watching the first part that is freely available and liked the approach.

 

Honestly, I don't think I'd pay any institution to teach me how to develop a game. Most of the knowledge that you would require to develop a game can be found for free online. Sure it may take a little more time but could save you easily thousands of dollars in the short and long run. Probably the best thing a college can offer you would be business classes which can show you how to better handle your finances as well as give you an introduction into marketing concepts.

 

It is not worth it.

It took one of the interns here one year to pick-up Unity and become proficient in it. During that time, she made many, many mistakes, learned lots, took the time to go over the Unity docs, took time to understand the algorithms, shaders, techniques, etc.


If you are going to learn vast knowledge that takes long time to absorb, understand and comprehend, it is not possible to pick-up the whole thing in a week.


You will lose most of the knowledge eventually or they teach you the simple things. For instance, they probably will not teach the Autodesk Maya parts (separate course?), Texturing - how to speed texture (Adobe course?), advanced light mapping (another course?), usage of commercial shaders, usage of commercial add-ons, how to profile (another course?) and diagnose common errors (this forum is a sort of Q&A for that), how to's (see the Unity Answers), different kind of Unity networking.


You'd best save the money.

 

Hey.

Personally, I say no and think it's a rip off. There is more than enough free content on YouTube and the Web in generally that can provide you with everything and more that's covered in that very short course.

A big maybe, if it was 50 bucks or a hundred bucks, but other than that, no way.

If you're interested, I've personally answered this question in more detail on the latest show.

http://bit.ly/1eAWTEd

 

HHHEELLLLLL NO! First and foremost and I am professional programmer/developer of eight years. I mostly do web development and programming, but a bit of game programming as well and a huge amount of college/training under my belt (although I have yet to graduate because I jump schools alot). The bottom line is I've been in and around the world of game programming and programming courses in general.

I would hugely advise AGAINST taking an actual "game development" course(s). Why? Let me put everything into a short, sweet list:
1) Game development courses are awful, I took two game programming courses at a very reputable university and they were awful courses that taught outdated/boring things
2) Courses will never teach you the latest and greatest tools like Unity. Often times you will work with finnicky, outdated tools and many institutions/schools do NOT update their courses/technology for several years
3) In my experience, I've seen many kids/students struggle with game development because it's hard to cram everything into one or two semester of courses and expect people to master and pick up the concepts.
4) "mages institute"? Sounds like a scam. If you are ready to spend that kind of money, go to a legitimate college/university and learn information systems/computer science. Game development looks stupid/fake on a resume. Also, unless you are going to become a professional and work in the computer industry, you don't need to be putting your money into an education with this kind of thing.
5) Everything you will ever need is already on the internet! 85% of my professional knowledge for my work/business comes from the internet. You do NOT need courses for game development. There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials/videos/articles on the web on how to make things not only in Unity, but all other game development frameworks. And when you need help, you can get help from experienced users on forums like these (versus know-it-all professors with large ego's that aren't actually that smart).

PLEASE do NOT join a program like this! Yes, they look fun/attractive but they're not all that they're hyped up to be. Places like that are really just after your money. You can get a much better experience learning on your own at your own pace.

If you really want a more "formal" experience, look around for books on whatever you are trying to learn, eg. Unity for example. Buy a professionally written book on Amazon, I'm sure there are affordable books out there. If you go to an institution/university, that's basically all they do anyway! They follow chapter by chapter books, and then do quiz's/projects in between. You can do the same on your own without a picky professor with due dates to learn on your own. Follow a good book or two. You will more than pick up the concepts.

And if you're that serious about spending that kind of money on game development, I think that money could be better spent on software/commercial licensing/advertising.

 

Sigh... unfortunate and true...which just makes it even more unfortunate.

However, I would KILL for some affordable consultation or mentoring. Just not "teaching".

 

I'm an experienced 3D Artist with some experience in programming, and I still feel a bit overwhelmed when it comes to tackling everything on my own in indie development.
I don't think a $3,500 course can teach you much other than the basics. You definitely won't become an accomplished artist, neither an experienced programmer.
You need a team with at least a couple of people knowing their stuff really really good, and overlapping knowledge of what each other does.
There are many free tutorials and tons of info out there to pick your way through, unless you really want to pay someone to read the documentation for you. Just my humble opinion.

 

I recently took this course from mages, if you are a local Singaporean, you can apply for grant which gives 90% off which you need to pay $358 SGD. But some lecturer really lousy and cant even debug the scripts properly which end up we fix it ourself.

Each lesson teach a diff game total 8 lessons, however its like 1/2 - 3/4 finish, eg: Creating the RPG game with storyline, only the map, character and the spider spawn at random place to attack you covered. No storyline or event triggering covered. Mobile don't seems to cover at all. Space shooter game didn't teach you when the spaceship destroy to display anything to restart or scoring or sfx and background music at all. I have to spend time at home "googleing" to add all those to make it more complete.

Its a classroom environment, just a small handful of students (4 - 7)

So unless your company send you there, don't waste even the $358 SGD... I learn more from online instead.

Hope it help for those staying in Singapore.

 

if you're reasonably skilled in the english language you can learn what is covered in that course and more in a week yourself by only utilizing youtube. using these resources it took me 1 week to get the basics down, 2 weeks to internalize the more advanced stuff and now 3 month later my 3d chess game is in beta and on it's best way to be released shortly.

mind you while i didn't have any prior experience with unity, i already knew my way around 3d modeling, texturing and coding as-well as the codeBases of other engines, which in my opinion is far more valuable than a highly specialized course on a game engine.
learn<stack>
- texturing
- modeling
- programming
then go on to add engine specific knowledge to that and you'll have a much easier life going forward and transitioning between engines.

when i first looked at the OPs post and started reading of the 3k cost of the course and only saw the 2 lists i thought "ah ok".. then i read the first list.. which stopped quite abruptly.. and then the 2nd list didn't cover more of the curriculum.. which was a little bewildering for me. that's not enough knowledge/value for that price imo.

btw i fully well realize that posting in this thread is a little necro but in case any other people plan to take this course they might be interested.

so if you're interested in that course and have the motivation to learn.. learn here: http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules/beginner/
then go on to the advanced topics..
the only thing you'll have spent for that is time which you were gonna invest anyways

 

What you gonna do for the rest of your life? Take your $3000 and start working on a college diploma. Yes, it's true you don't need a degree to get into the industry, and YES, it's even more true, that 90% of devs in games aren't there more than 5 years. Build a portfolio WHILE you're working on your degree, while your peers are out drinking, and use that to enter the game industry. Then, when you're ready for a real-life, get a wife and a family, and you'll have a degree + 5-years in the industry and the world is your oyster. Only thing standing between you and that dream is ... 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.

Gigi

 

Good lord, no. That's not worth $3k. You can learn all that on Youtube quicker and cheaper. (Free.)

 

I think you should try learning on your own first. If you manage to make good progress, then invest the money into development tools instead.

 

Hey man, I'm not sure if you're still interested in learning game development, but if you can't get the grant and are looking for a less pricey alternative, I think I've found a solution for you Please take a look at my post: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/singapore-unity-course-create-your-own-3d-video-game.282864/

 

No.

 

I am not sure how much college costs in the Philippines, but my son can take an entire year of classes, two semesters for $3000. Lots of good advice here!

Beware of for-profit schools. They take your money and leave you in debt.

 

Like many others I'll chime in and say its not worth.

Also another great option is Lynda.com which you can go monthly rate from $25-37 depending on if you want access to project files.

I've subbed there a few months and watched many videos and they are really good quality by very smart instructors.

http://www.lynda.com/plans?bnr=topbeamember_newsite

They also have tutorials on 3D applications ( max,Maya) as well as many generic programming courses including C#.

 

Udemy is another one. If you sign up, wait a day and you will get coupons. These are structured a bit more than video tutorials and you can ask the instructor questions.

My son learned Java and C# this way and it was a great start for him. He went on to take college classes in programming.

 

Take that money, buy yourself a comfy chair and ergonomical mouse and keyboard and a pair of nice headphones and snacks and drinks, and spend every conceivable moment watching tutorials and making small games. After one year, you will be able to teach that course.

 

In many years I not seen much people that finish a online programming course and that achieve the objectives of the course. In my opinion the best way to learn any programming language (game dev in this case) is making own projects and learn in the process. If you are talking about a presential course the price depend of the prestige of the institution and the teachers.

 

/amen

 

$3500 for 48 hrs? im in the wrong profession.

You would be better doing a few programming courses. Once youve got the hard stuff out of the way, the rest should be a cakewalk

 

First and foremost, "learning how to use Unity" is not the same as "learning game development", in the same way that "learning how to use a hammer" is not the same as "learning carpentry". Similarly, "learning programming" and "learning 2D and 3D art" are distinct pursuits.

Making games isn't one skill. It's a bunch of skills used in tandem. So to put the course into context, it's teaching you about Unity. That's just one tool, and familiarity with any set of tools is just a part of the broader set of knowledge required to be an effective game developer. That shouldn't detract from the value of the course, you should just be aware of its value in the context of what you want to get out of it.

With that in mind, you'll also want to put some serious time into also learning at least either programming or art. It should be noted that (contrary to plenty of marketing material for courses or books!) both game programming and game art are specializations of their relevant fields, not subsets. That is to say, good game programming skills are built on top of good general programming skills, and good game art skills are built on top of good general art skills. As such, I strongly believe that both of those should be pursued in their own right, not just learned on the fly as a part of "game development".


Moving on, the value of the course isn't determined by the hours you get with your trainer (and the hours you get with your trainer should only be a fraction of the overall course time, considering project work and feedback and such). If you want to measure it in time in particular, a more useful metric is how many hours you'll save compared to teaching yourself - and the answer is probably way more than "48". Teaching yourself is a critical skill in this field which you will employ from the moment that you start, so it shouldn't be discounted. Still, formal education from a good source is a massive time saver, and it'll help you get started on the right foot with subsequent self-teaching.

Furthermore, self teaching comes with significant risks. For starters, how do you know what resources are good and what aren't? You can't properly evaluate them until you've got some experience, and there's plenty of dodgy stuff out there that'll get you in trouble rather than help you.

Also, if you're starting from zero then you literally don't know what you need to learn.


So, all in all, I think that formal education is a seriously valuable resource well worth some money if you're genuinely interested in getting into game development. The concept that you can learn the same stuff on YouTube or by following tutes just isn't practical if you're doing anything more than dabbling.


As for that course in particular... it doesn't look particularly inspiring to me. First of all, it seems to be highly tool oriented, as it's using a lot of Unity specific terminology in the description, rather than using more general terms and explaining how it will use Unity to teach concepts. Secondly, the teacher's prior experience doesn't list any released games or work in the games industry and none of the screenies stand out to me as being particularly noteworthy (though that may be ok if they're student work rather than representative of the trainer's experience), so nothing there is really selling the idea that you're learning from a veteran.


What area are you most interested in - programming or art? You can pick up the basics of Unity by playing with it and doing stuff, so I don't think that'll be your hurdle to early learning. What's more challenging is getting started with the fundamental skills - code, art, etc. So, are there courses you can attend locally to get started with those? They could be cheaper, and while they'll be less exciting I think they may give you much more value in the longer term.

Once you're started, start getting and reading respected texts relevant to your field to hone your specialisation. I can recommend game programming books if you'd like, but don't know about good art books myself.

 

$3500 for 48 hrs?
... seriously... 48 hours??? pfft...youtube videos are better, BY FAR...
sooo many people made GREAT youtube videos for unity... not to mention, unity's learn section is incredible.

 

You won't be learning either in that amount of time. Which is a part (though only a part) of what makes me think it's more about teaching the tool than anything else. If you know C# or one of the many similar languages, an hour or two intro session is all you'll need to get up and going with Unity. If you don't then even the whole 48 hours is only going to scratch the surface.

Same deal with many of the other topics. It really sounds to me like this is about getting familiar and productive with Unity moreso than learning the skills from the ground up.

Tangentially, if that's how much a degree cost for you... neat! Mine cost me in the vicinity of 10 times that. To put that in context with the above, though, if I were already a professional software developer then $3500 for an experienced person to introduce me to a new tool which quickly opens me up to more work opportunities would be a win. Sure it's expensive, but an experienced trainer should be worth it, because they should be able to teach you things that you won't learn from Youtube, and they should be able to get you running more productively in less overall time (and in the context of a professional, time = money).

 

If you are a beginner that just start gamedev, then yeah, this sort of thing could be useful. But if you have some games to your belt already (doesn't matter if commercial or not, hell it doesn't even matter if they were released), then such course would be just a rehash of what you already know and thus boring.

 

That $3000 would be better spent on buying assets on the asset store to tear apart and learn from. Or minimize your code-learning by purchasing assets that do all the hard stuff. Your budget can get you some of the best

 

you could buy 1x Unity 5 Pro license and solid amount of beer and snacks to fill your evenings with Unity 5 and in short time you could lecture same topics.

 

Do you think the UNITY game development course worth the money?

Yes!

​

Do you think MAGES game development course worth the money?

Is to expencive for me.
​

 

I know this is an old thread, but I'd like to share my opinion.

The certificate for doing one random course is probably not worth much, so it would be more about what you learn. The course may be helpful, and in that sense it could be worth it. However, there are much cheaper ways to learn. Udemy has a bunch of Unity video courses, and many are under $100 (especially if you buy during the sales). You can also get books on Amazon for $30-40 a piece and some are decent. Plus free tutorials on the internet. So if you just want to learn you can do so for much cheaper.

 

For context, as many will miss these things:

• Singapore only
• Grant apparently available
• Claims it is private school with "high quality tertiary level coaching" (sounds like individual instructor attention)
  
• We, at MAGES, take utmost pride in EduTrust Certification (4 Yrs) granted by Committee for Private Education (CPE).

I know nothing about Singapore or if that means a 4 yr degree (CPE? EduTrust?) or not. That matters alot. I dont know the pricing for Singapore, but 74$/hr is dirt cheap for a college course in USA.

Anyway, just thought I would bring that up, in case it was missed.

Because the only time courses that expensive are worth it, is if it actually goes towards getting you a formal degree. Not because formal degrees teach you, but that you have to pay tens of thousands of dollara for a single piece of paper proving yoy can do something that you could learn by yourself, for free, much better than at some university. (The exception being an amazing teacher. Which is the exception not the rule in university.) Legit college degrees are worth it because we live in an unintelligent society where accreditation, not actual skill or production, is what matters to most employers.

Because let's just be honest here: The $40,000 - $120,000 you pay for a college degree could be used to hire multiple experienced veterans of the industry to directly handhold you, for years, into mastery of a skillset. College is a scam, but you are required to participate. Just like most of the US's biggest institutions.

So if you dont care for formality, you are best off paying your thousands hiring multiple tutors with proven experience in the industry. There are also cheaper alternatives for learning, such as GameInstitute, which I highly refer. It is like $75 for ALL their courses. Of which, at least the C++ courses, are college level & format.