Yeah, you don't want to go to a state school they just suck...
take for instance Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Georgia Tech, Berkely.
You won't learn anything there. They will teach you a lot of theory and different
languages beyond C++ and gaming. You don't want that. Don't waste your time on that..you are young and know all about the field of computing and there couldn't possibly be anything as interesting as game design.
Full sail
ZeRaW, I actually did projects in all those topics in my regular Bachelor of CS program at uni. It all depends on which classes you take.
I took AI and covered all those AI topics and I took Computer Graphics (which was essentially Game Engine Programming) where we got to implement BSP and Octrees.
Like I said before (I was the person who posted the last two anonymous poster posts), it doesn't matter what school you go to. It's what you choose to study and how hard you get into it.
I took AI and covered all those AI topics and I took Computer Graphics (which was essentially Game Engine Programming) where we got to implement BSP and Octrees.
Like I said before (I was the person who posted the last two anonymous poster posts), it doesn't matter what school you go to. It's what you choose to study and how hard you get into it.
well you got me amazed there. In all the universities I have seen I didnt even see one mention of an AI course or Advanced CG in a BS degree. and they call it game engine programming. Well it seems you were lucky enough to go to a uni that offered game programming courses and you took them. I mean I do not think regular universities give such courses (I was doing BS in another uni where the first semester they directly started giving us C++ with stupid projects) ... anyways.
Most engineering departments programs do offer classes such as AI, computer graphics, computer animation, etc. You might have to do a little more work to find them, since they're probably offered as high-level undergraduate courses in obscure course number ranges or as graduate-level courses. It's not just about game development, these are interesting fields in their own rights were tons of research is being done all the time, so it's not necessarily something you will only find at a game development-oriented school.
It's been said before, both in this thread and in threads like this one in the past, probably one of the best things you can do is get a CS degree from a regular 4-year school, and then go to a school like DigiPen or Full Sail or Guildhall or wherever for a masters. You get the best of both worlds, a broad-scale education that exposes you to a little bit of everything, and a focused education in game development, if you even feel like pursuing that career path after your bachelors. I personally plan on doing this after I graduate; I have a sibling at SMU so I plan on attending Guildhall for their masters program.
It's been said before, both in this thread and in threads like this one in the past, probably one of the best things you can do is get a CS degree from a regular 4-year school, and then go to a school like DigiPen or Full Sail or Guildhall or wherever for a masters. You get the best of both worlds, a broad-scale education that exposes you to a little bit of everything, and a focused education in game development, if you even feel like pursuing that career path after your bachelors. I personally plan on doing this after I graduate; I have a sibling at SMU so I plan on attending Guildhall for their masters program.
I'm nearing graduation on a 4 year Comp Sci degree, but have recently been offered the chance to do an honours course -- interestingly, there's the distinct possibility that I could do a thesis on electronic gaming and the state of the industry. I know this is unrelated, but I do have a point here -- basically, what the others have said is true, I'm sure people don't care where you learn what you learn, as long as you can prove it in an interview....but you also gotta keep in mind that many companies will screen people out who -don't- have a degree at all. It's probably quite frustrating for the people who are highly skilled but never bothered to attend a university...but it just seems to be the way things are.
That said! If you plan on doing a degree in a particular field, be -certain- you have an interest in it. My degree (just for example) is joint degree in Comp Sci (Major in pure programming...whatever -that's- supposed to mean :S) and another major in International relations. Got offered a job from a couple scary government agencies the other day...and I almost considered it -- but I guess I just want to do gamedev enough to stick with it :)
Goodluck wherever you go, and remember to ask questions about courses you might take -- find out what they teach, and in what depth -- it can be important.
~Shiny, </end ramble>
That said! If you plan on doing a degree in a particular field, be -certain- you have an interest in it. My degree (just for example) is joint degree in Comp Sci (Major in pure programming...whatever -that's- supposed to mean :S) and another major in International relations. Got offered a job from a couple scary government agencies the other day...and I almost considered it -- but I guess I just want to do gamedev enough to stick with it :)
Goodluck wherever you go, and remember to ask questions about courses you might take -- find out what they teach, and in what depth -- it can be important.
~Shiny, </end ramble>
Author
Well.. seems like my dad wont guarantee for my bank loan anyway.. so I'll need to get a normal CS.. I guess theres no American banks giving loans to foreigners without a guarantor?
alright, i guess ill chime in with a real opinion this time sense i see some mis conceptions about full sail.
I am currently about to reach Beta stage of my final project. Final project is what i guess you would equate to the thesis for regular colleges. You have 5 months to design, document and build a 3d game with a team of 4 - 6 people.
Anyways, im on my last month and have basically completed the entire program. It was long, hard and expensive. Would i do it again knowing what i know now about the school? Hell ya.
First of all, yes the school focuses in Game Programming, but throughout the course your grasp on the C++ language has to keep up, otherwise you just cant keep going, (unless you cheat, which if caught is immediate expulsion Xo )
When i started Full Sail about a year ago, the best i could do was draw some quads in opengl, i didnt even understand the code to generate the window (thx nehe!)
Anyways, know i can safely say i could pretty much do anything, given the right amount of time for research.
You not only learn the concepts and theories, but you have an extreme amount of practice, because just about everyday you have to code what you learn. As an example, you have to know how to write a Linked list (doubly as well), vector, hash table all by hand to pass some of the earlier courses. You learn how to use the OpenGL and DirectX API's, the Windows API and MFC. You learn how to develop on hand held consoles (Gameboy Advanced). You learn optimization techniques and a bit of assembly. You have all the tools and resources to learn /code what ever you want.
Like mentioned, i agree that what you learn depends on the effort you put into it, but Full Sail definently gives you all the tools you need.
Now, for my biased part. I've only heard about what regular CS degree courses are like, but from what i understand, you learn mostly theory and little practice. I've been told that people with CS degrees can't even pass the basic full sail programming tests to teach some of the classes, not because they can't write a finite state machine, but because they can't even get the basic C++ concepts down or the stl/data structures well enough. It comes down to not enough practice programming. Of course, there are those that can easily do this stuff with CS degrees, but it's because they take their time to learn the concepts taught in class.
In fullsail, you have no choice but to put these concepts into practice, otherwise you won't pass the class ;)
As for not opening yourself up to other job opportunities. I'm pretty sure i have the ability to write database software. I can write a huffman compression and anything i don't know i can research. There is no coding barrier because i've been coding so damn much i know the syntex well enough.
You do learn Math/Linear algebra, but you will most likley forget most of it except the vector stuff if you don't keep using it. The school is far more code oriented than anything else, but to make a badass game, someone on your team better know what their doin with math.
overall, i think it's a good school.
I am currently about to reach Beta stage of my final project. Final project is what i guess you would equate to the thesis for regular colleges. You have 5 months to design, document and build a 3d game with a team of 4 - 6 people.
Anyways, im on my last month and have basically completed the entire program. It was long, hard and expensive. Would i do it again knowing what i know now about the school? Hell ya.
First of all, yes the school focuses in Game Programming, but throughout the course your grasp on the C++ language has to keep up, otherwise you just cant keep going, (unless you cheat, which if caught is immediate expulsion Xo )
When i started Full Sail about a year ago, the best i could do was draw some quads in opengl, i didnt even understand the code to generate the window (thx nehe!)
Anyways, know i can safely say i could pretty much do anything, given the right amount of time for research.
You not only learn the concepts and theories, but you have an extreme amount of practice, because just about everyday you have to code what you learn. As an example, you have to know how to write a Linked list (doubly as well), vector, hash table all by hand to pass some of the earlier courses. You learn how to use the OpenGL and DirectX API's, the Windows API and MFC. You learn how to develop on hand held consoles (Gameboy Advanced). You learn optimization techniques and a bit of assembly. You have all the tools and resources to learn /code what ever you want.
Like mentioned, i agree that what you learn depends on the effort you put into it, but Full Sail definently gives you all the tools you need.
Now, for my biased part. I've only heard about what regular CS degree courses are like, but from what i understand, you learn mostly theory and little practice. I've been told that people with CS degrees can't even pass the basic full sail programming tests to teach some of the classes, not because they can't write a finite state machine, but because they can't even get the basic C++ concepts down or the stl/data structures well enough. It comes down to not enough practice programming. Of course, there are those that can easily do this stuff with CS degrees, but it's because they take their time to learn the concepts taught in class.
In fullsail, you have no choice but to put these concepts into practice, otherwise you won't pass the class ;)
As for not opening yourself up to other job opportunities. I'm pretty sure i have the ability to write database software. I can write a huffman compression and anything i don't know i can research. There is no coding barrier because i've been coding so damn much i know the syntex well enough.
You do learn Math/Linear algebra, but you will most likley forget most of it except the vector stuff if you don't keep using it. The school is far more code oriented than anything else, but to make a badass game, someone on your team better know what their doin with math.
overall, i think it's a good school.
Author
anyone know if theres any american banks or whatever that give out loans if I have a guarantee for just some of the amount??
Quote:Original post by nef
You do learn Math/Linear algebra, but you will most likley forget most of it except the vector stuff if you don't keep using it. The school is far more code oriented than anything else, but to make a badass game, someone on your team better know what their doin with math.
overall, i think it's a good school.
Out of curiosity how far do they go in calculus? Do you take the equivalent of 3 semesters of university level calculus? If you know off hand, what book did you use and did you cover it all?
I had an team member from Full Sail, and he was great. I'd love to find more motivated ppl from Full Sail.
If there was such a thing during my day, I surely would have done that rather than going to depressing Georgia Tech...
If there was such a thing during my day, I surely would have done that rather than going to depressing Georgia Tech...
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