Senior in HS, can I get some advice? :P

Rick39 · 01-19-2012, 04:22 PM

Hey Guys, So I think I'm going to Arizona State University to get my bachelor in education (english professor someday maybe? haha :P) and I was wondering about a "Certificate" Program at ASU. It says its for Game Development and while I know its not enough to land me a level design gig at an actual studio, do you guys think it would give me enough training to start working on a portfolio?

I know there's game design schools out there that could get me better prepared, but they're quite a bit of money and honestly i'm terrified of having my only skillset be video games. What if I can't find a job? Or the industry tanks? I know I may be sounding paranoid, but If that does happen, I got nothing. I hope this made sense, and if you guys could point me in the right direction i'd be very appreciative haha :P

Rick39 · 01-19-2012, 04:23 PM

Whoops, I probably should have posted this in general, forgot I was in design! Can I mod move it for me?

tsloper · 01-19-2012, 04:55 PM

Quote:

I was wondering about a "Certificate" Program at ASU. It says its for Game Development and while I know its not enough to land me a level design gig at an actual studio, do you guys think it would give me enough training to start working on a portfolio?

I just said this in one of the other* forums (adding the words in brackets):
You can get your [4-year bachelor's] degree anywhere, then take your education and build a portfolio.
Then you can take your degree and your portfolio and move to somewhere where they make games, and get a job.
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson27.htm
[An Associate's degree isn't enough. And read http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson49.htm]

*Actually, now that this thread has been moved, it's in this forum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick39

1. I know there's game design schools out there that could get me better prepared, but they're quite a bit of money
2. and honestly i'm terrified of having my only skillset be video games.
3. What if I can't find a job?
4. Or the industry tanks?
5. I know I may be sounding paranoid, but If that does happen, I got nothing.

1. You're smart. You don't need no game degree. Read these:
http://scientificninja.com/blog/on-game-schools
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For-profit_education
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson44.htm
http://www.igda.org/games-game-june-2009

2. Don't be too worried about that. A degree is not a ball and chain tying you for the rest of your life to a particular field.

3. That's a real possibility.

4. That's not a real possibility.

5. That's not true. See #2 above.

Rick39 · 01-19-2012, 05:39 PM

Thanks for the quick response! So I can pursue the Education degree, or I can decide to specialize in Gaming? I'm not locked into being a teacher and I'm not locked into being a level designer either?

tsloper · 01-19-2012, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick39

1. So I can pursue the Education degree, or I can decide to specialize in Gaming?
2. I'm not locked into being a teacher and I'm not locked into being a level designer either?

1. Why not do both?

2. You won't even get into a level design job unless you learn enough to build a strong portfolio (much less get "locked into" it). It's all up to you.

Rick39 · 01-19-2012, 07:37 PM

Hmm I guess I'll have to look more into the program at ASU and see how much it really teaches. Do you happen to be familiar with these types of programs at all?

I'm already trying to start a portfolio, but self teaching UDK is kinda slow going, I also am using codeacademy to get some basic programming skills down at least (it can't hurt right?) but again, slow going.