Hi guys,

I'm considering to learn game development professionally, but i don't live in the US. I know there are some online programs to achieve the degree and i want to know if some of guys have experience with the online degree system, and what do you think of it? also do you have any recommendation on a specific place to get the online degree?

Thank you!

The good thing about the games industry is, there's a few ways to enter and there's a plethora of information available on the internet of the many different ways.

Personally I would advise against internet qualifications unless you're 100% sure your qualification is globaly recognised and secondly that you have a great deal of self control to get the work done. Try not to get sucked into the sales pitch given on the website.

Have you considered doing a Computer Science degree? It will give you the tools you need to enter a Games development job but you will need to fill in the gaps with reading material to understand how to make a game.

Quote:Original post by LionMX
The good thing about the games industry is, there's a few ways to enter and there's a plethora of information available on the internet of the many different ways.

Personally I would advise against internet qualifications unless you're 100% sure your qualification is globaly recognised and secondly that you have a great deal of self control to get the work done. Try not to get sucked into the sales pitch given on the website.

Have you considered doing a Computer Science degree? It will give you the tools you need to enter a Games development job but you will need to fill in the gaps with reading material to understand how to make a game.

Computer Science = CS
Game Development = GD

The truth is i'm already signed up for a CS degree starting this year in a good university in my country. But since GD is what i really interested in, i'm always asking myself if i should leave it and go for a more focused degree in GD. When i compare the courses between CS and GD, the CS courses are almost just about mathematics, and a VERY high level ones. I know GD requires math knowledge but i doubt if it needs THAT high level of it. So i don't wanna feel like i'm spending so much effort learning things that on a focused GD degree i wont need to handle. Instead of those math courses i'll learn some GD related topics like 3D and game programming techniques..

Well, as i mentioned, i don't have a GD degree here. So its an online GD degree vs. CS regular degree.

Well, I did a GD course but I wish I had done CS instead. After completing my degree I decided against going into the games industry, primarily because there were no jobs locally available.

Fortunately, I'm now in a programming job that I love but it wasn't easy to get here - you wouldn't believe the number of people who rubbished my degree because they didn't understand it. You also wouldnt believe the number of people who told me they didnt even look at my CV(despite my excellent grades)simply because i didnt appear to have a CS degree.

I'm trying to give you advice for the scenario where you might not make it into the industry, hopefully it wont be an issue but you should prepare for it all the same...

Hope this helps you

Quote:Original post by LionMX
Well, I did a GD course but I wish I had done CS instead. After completing my degree I decided against going into the games industry, primarily because there were no jobs locally available.

Fortunately, I'm now in a programming job that I love but it wasn't easy to get here - you wouldn't believe the number of people who rubbished my degree because they didn't understand it. You also wouldnt believe the number of people who told me they didnt even look at my CV(despite my excellent grades)simply because i didnt appear to have a CS degree.

I'm trying to give you advice for the scenario where you might not make it into the industry, hopefully it wont be an issue but you should prepare for it all the same...

Hope this helps you

Well, what you said helps me very much. You see, i was planning on getting the GD degree, and for a start, use it as a CS degree to get into a job that requires CS. I didn't think its so hard using the degree for both purposes..
It would be amazing for me to work at the game industry but i'll have to live abroad in order to do this and i don't know if i want it.
So you gave me some thinking material. Although its hard for me to choose from financial motives rather from passion motives, we need to make a living.

Thanks