An Introduction and a Few Questions

[Sigillimus]

Hello there, everyone. My name is Cody, and I'm an aspiring gamer hoping to make it career-wise in the industry that I've devoted so much of my life with. I've developed a great passion for roleplaying games, moreso the online variety, and I hope to someday be working on those games that I love to play.

While this introduction is going to be relatively short, I did have a few little questions that I hope someone can help answer for me. Everywhere else that I've gone haven't gotten back with me or their answers weren't quite what I was looking for.

1. ) Is the Computer Information Systems major relevant to the game industry?

I just got done visiting the community college where I intend to complete my first two years of college before transferring to a four-year university, and I decided to go down the Computer Information Systems degree path. I was just wondering whether or not this degree or concentration is relevant for programming or designing video games, or is there another potential degree that could suit my needs better?

2. ) How difficult is breaking into the game industry by creating your own indie gaming development team?

I've got quite a few friends who work in various different fields (business, legal, programming, writing, etc.) who share my love of video games, and we were just wondering what the market was like for indie game developers.



I'm so glad that I managed to find a great community like this, and I hope to use the resources here to help me on my path to becoming a game designer or programmer, and maybe even help others on their way as well.

[tsloper]

1. Yes, but the fact that it's "relevant" doesn't say much. You should read these:
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/designprep.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson15.htm
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/schools/
http://archives.igda.org/breakingin/resources.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson25.htm

2. Very. More reading:
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson16.htm
http://www.igda.org/games-game-october-2009
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson24.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson27.htm

By the way, a "gamer" is a guy who plays games.
Many or most game developers are gamers, but only very few gamers are game developers.
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson28.htm