School Question

Apparently UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) has a would reknowned computer science program (this is the last year of them doing C++ however, starting next year it will be in Java) and they have excellent job placement and also offer courses in game design i believe

And you also have to remember... do you truly want to become a game developer, or are you just in that "i want to make games for a job!" phase that all computer-literate gamers go through at one point or another?

I agree that game programming is a very tough road and many people in it get burned out and leave after a few short years. After all, many things that are fun as a hobby become tedious and stressful if done professionally. (How many pro-atheletes do you think really enjoy playing their sport as much as kids on a playground?)

But if you really think its for you, you''ll almost certainly want to have a BSCS, as most posititions list that as a minumum requirement. As far as game-specific schools go, I''m not sure. I was considering attending FullSail in Orlando, but it costs $32,000 for basically a one-year program. But it certainly seemed good if you can afford it.

But definitely don''t rule out learning on your own. I learned far more in the one year of reading the right books and articles after graduating then I did in 5 years in college. GameDev alone has many great articles for picking up skills, not to mention the help from chatting with other programmers like this. And always keep practicing. As they say, writers write and programmers code.

I''m rather committed to this, actually, and have been for some time. I''m just recently reconsidering my original plan, which was to get a computer design related degree and then get a computer science degree afterwards because I came across the programs that I mentioned above.

The one in San Francisco is more art and game design oriented whereas Digipen seems to be more of a math and programming oriented degree. The San Francisco one also is taught by people in the field, so it would help in terms of networking. My worry is that it is too art/design oriented and not computer science oriented enough. It also just started this past fall. I''m wondering if this degree (assuming I did well in it) would be enough to get me a job in the industry.

In terms of a BSCS being a minimum requirement: They also list many years experience as a minimum requirement for most of those jobs as well. That''s why I wonder if one of these new degrees might be a more direct way to get in, and then I could learn whatever else I needed to know after the fact.

I wish you luck, RG.
Though, I might suggest that you definitely think hard about whether you are going to be an artist who knows some coding, or vice versa. In my research on what companies are looking for, I think they tend to take someone who thinks that they are equally good at both and assume that that person is not very good at either. Instead they want someone who has focused on something enough to excel in it. But definitely, knowledge of both can''t hurt. Just really consider exactly what your role will be at a company. I think its pretty rare that a single person does both programming and artwork.

If you like art, though, you probably want to learn as much as possible about graphics programming in particular. Someone who is very good at that is always in demand, although it is also a notoriously difficult area.