How should I go about education, where would I fit in the industry?

[DreadTchotchke]

Hi everyone I am new to this forum and I hope to meet a ton of awesome people here.

With that out of the way, let me get to the questions. I am currently a High School senior and my whole life has been video games. I have always wanted to design games but all the schools I have looked at for the degrees I want (Full Sail, Devry, etc.) are way out of my price range and distance range.

I am thinking about attending an in-state Tech university and transfering out to a more specialized school later, but I don't know what I should study before transfering out. My High School didn't have much in the way of electives so I am lost there.

What I want to do in the Video Game industry is mostly to work with ideas and to have my ideas put before others. I do have excellent writing and creative skills and have already written several of my ideas down in the form of short stories or novels. What I lack is in drawing and math. If I were to enter the games industry, would there be a position I can fit in or would I be left out?

To add detail about my questions and predicament, I will add that I live in the Northwestern Quadrant of Arkansas (I know, I know: I just invited redneck jokes)

In Brief:
1. What program of study should I choose before transfering to a college with a game design degree?

2. What position in the games industry mostly works with ideas?

[Osmethne]

1) How well have your short stories and novels done? If you've got a decent track record with them, you could use those as experience toward writing positions. Just a warning ahead of time: You'd more than likely be writing other people's stories and lore, not your own. If that's not what you are looking to do, then the best bet is to identify what part of game design you are most interested in (modeling, world/level building, programming, etc) and take course that lean in that direction.

2) To say that ideas are a dime a dozen would be to over-value them. Game developers are looking for people what can execute the ideas and turn them into a reality. More importantly, turn them into a fun and engaging reality.

[Adrir]

Originally Posted by DreadTchotchke

What I want to do in the Video Game industry is mostly to work with ideas and to have my ideas put before others. I do have excellent writing and creative skills and have already written several of my ideas down in the form of short stories or novels. What I lack is in drawing and math. If I were to enter the games industry, would there be a position I can fit in or would I be left out?

Are you passionate about writing or design? What do you actually, specifically, want to do?

Originally Posted by DreadTchotchke

1. What program of study should I choose before transfering to a college with a game design degree?

Whatever you want. You don't need a "Games Degree" to work in the games industry.

Originally Posted by DreadTchotchke

2. What position in the games industry mostly works with ideas?

Unemployed.

Ideas are not enough. Everyone in the games industry has many brilliant ideas. They aren't worth anything. You need to be able to do something with those ideas!

[DreadTchotchke]

Originally Posted by Adrir

Are you passionate about writing or design? What do you actually, specifically, want to do?

From the jobs listed in the link, I mostly fit the description of the writer. However, I would also like to have a hand in what goes into the mechanics of the game as well. If that is not specific enough, I want to write the fiction of a game world, write the characters, and the dialogue, and also be able to direct how the character's roles are utilized in gameplay.

Thanks for the reply and the link.

[Adrir]

Originally Posted by DreadTchotchke

From the jobs listed in the link, I mostly fit the description of the writer. However, I would also like to have a hand in what goes into the mechanics of the game as well. If that is not specific enough, I want to write the fiction of a game world, write the characters, and the dialogue, and also be able to direct how the character's roles are utilized in gameplay.

Keep reading, keep writing and keep playing games.

With respect to (Q1) - you should study what you are passionate about. It sounds like this could be English, Creative Writing, Literature or something along those lines that you know you'll love doing. If you haven't already, you should also read Tom Sloper's Advice.