Gaming industry questions.

[Chickat]

Would a degree in computer science get me a job in the field or is the degree useless? I cant afford to go for an actual game design degree.

[NoRest4Wicked]

Would a degree in computer science get me a job in the field or is the degree useless? I cant afford to go for an actual game design degree.

At my school there are two different 'Computer Science' degrees. The first is a Bachelors of Art and the second is a Bachelors of Science. Science being around the major programming languages and Art being around graphics design.

I'm sure you can use a Bachelors of Science since games are very heavily coded. Though, that might not be exactly what you are looking for :P

[llDemonll]

If you're good at what you do, not the CS degree won't matter compared to the game-design degree

[Chickat]

At my school there are two different 'Computer Science' degrees. The first is a Bachelors of Art and the second is a Bachelors of Science. Science being around the major programming languages and Art being around graphics design.

I want to be a content designer. design raids dungeons maybe some quest chains. stuff like that. Would the computer science degree be uselss for that?

[NoRest4Wicked]

Honestly, your best bet would be to either talk to the schools under grad adviser or look through a list of jobs - http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company...egion=Americas - for example and see through their education requirements.

[Offshoreguy]

The hardest part is getting your foot in the door so to speak. Here where I live EA has a testing center and they hire contractors to do game testing. While it is minimum wage and contract it has led to better jobs for a lot of people looking to get into game design as well as game testing.

[grisset]

I think the best bet is to start as a programmer, and work your way up the ladder. There are almost no people that get into the game industry on day one as a content designers level

[Chickat]

I think the best bet is to start as a programmer, and work your way up the ladder. There are almost no people that get into the game industry on day one as a content designers level

Can i be a programmer with that degree?

[Exit0sus]

I think the best bet is to start as a programmer, and work your way up the ladder. There are almost no people that get into the game industry on day one as a content designers level

I imagine there are fewer people getting into a game design position by completely switching roles at a random time. There is no "working your way up the ladder" from programmer to content designer since they're completely separate roles.


I was going to say a degree in Computer Science would probably be pointless for a Game Design position since it's more of an "arty" role a than "sciency" one. But after reading the first reply I'm not so sure. I had no idea there was such thing as a BA in Computer Science o.0

Either way, I'd follow Redriot's advice about checking requirements of game studios - you'll probably find that most of them don't mention any specific qualifications and go with a list of required skills instead (there's so few places that do courses on Game Design specifically, it would be stupid to list it as a requirement). Of course, you're a step ahead if you DO happen to have relevant qualifications as well.

Not necessarily related to the question but: Whatever course you choose to go with, make sure you do Game Design things in your spare-time as well and build up a strong portfolio of work. Handing over a portfolio of nothing but University assignments doesn't really tell potential employers that you're passionate about the work. I'd argue that a good portfolio is just as strong as any qualification, maybe more so for Game Design.

[xervyn]

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode...veloper-part-1

You should also check out some of there other episodes that may apply to you.

[Badpaladin]

I had no idea there was such thing as a BA in Computer Science o.0

It's pretty much a standard CS degree but without the heavy math, physics or other "engineering" courses. I'm sure there's a market for people with a BA in CS, but they're going to be passed on for people with a BS every time.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Computer science would get you into working on the hardware/software used to make video games.

To be a creator, you need some form of video game design which includes art courses.

[grisset]

Can i be a programmer with that degree?

Oh, sorry. When I see CS, I think programming. That's what all my CS friends are anyway.

[Brightamethyst]

Would a degree in computer science get me a job in the field or is the degree useless?

The biggest question is, a job doing what in the game industry? Do you want to be a programmer, a level designer, a writer, the accountant who does the payroll? There's not just one job called 'game creator.' Figure out what you want to do first, then get a degree in that.

Or, if you know what you're doing and can prove it, just apply anyway regardless of your degree and hope for the best. I went to school and studied jewelry and metal design, and then spent the next 8 years doing script programming and being the "IT guy" at a medical call center. You certainly don't need an art degree for that.

I want to be a content designer. design raids dungeons maybe some quest chains. stuff like that. Would the computer science degree be uselss for that?

That's more about being creative than anything else, but it's still a wide range of things that a single person doesn't necessarily do. All you can do is apply for jobs and see what happens.

Also, remember that the gaming industry is a project based industry. You won't necessarily find a stable, long term job with one company. Companies hire people when there's work and let them go when there isn't, so if you get hired to work on a game, once it's done you may find yourself looking for a new job again.

[lordjust]

I want to be a content designer. design raids dungeons maybe some quest chains. stuff like that. Would the computer science degree be uselss for that?

In which way do you want to work on these things? Design raids and dungeons needs someone that is very creative and you don't need a degree at all because all you need are ideas. Also the CS degree is just the start from there you have to specialize in the field you want to do. Program stuff or communications (network stuff, websites and so on) or other things.

With a CS degree you could become a software engineer and create software which is used when creating a game or you could work on a game like when the content designer says he wants X in the game you look how you could implement it and so on.

The biggest difference between CS and game design is that in GD you have a look at everything that has to be done while creating a game. You'll still need to specialize afterwards because there are so many different things.

Will you have it easier to get a job in a gaming company with a GD degree? Probably yes because you'll get to know some of the big developers like Epic, Valve or Blizzard (when you study in the US) or Crytek (when studying in Germany) but when you're really good at something it's worth more than a GD degree. Just study what you think is most fun for you and be one of the best so that you will get a job. In the end it's irrelevant if you get a job in a gaming company or somewhere else as long as you have fun in your job.

Also you could look up what developers need and what you have to do to get that qualification.

[Chickat]

I think im just going to go for my computer science degree while doing side projects in programming and game design. How would i begin to learn how to make a starcraft 2 map lets say. I could google it, but id rather get information directly from someone who allready does it. I may also want to make a wow addon.

[llDemonll]

You won't get far in the industry (or anywhere) if you want to be spoon-fed knowledge. You need to be willing to seek out what you want to know and learn it yourself

[Badpaladin]

I think im just going to go for my computer science degree while doing side projects in programming and game design. How would i begin to learn how to make a starcraft 2 map lets say. I could google it, but id rather get information directly from someone who allready does it. I may also want to make a wow addon.

You're going to have to look both of those things up on your own. The entire point of projects outside of school is to learn things on your own and apply what you've been taught in school.