blueout

Wanted to throw in a plug for USC for game programming and design. The school's ramped up their programs in both areas considerably in the past year, with significant help from the local game houses (esp. a large grant from EA). We've now got a full minor in each area, and game "production" (which will have some programming built in) should be a major soon. I've taken a couple of the programming classes: they're not easy, but they teach a lot, and are a great addition to what's already a solid compsci curriculum. Because the school covers a lot of ground, you can switch tracks fairly easily to get a broader understanding of games (I've taken design courses and 3D-art courses, which is a nice change from engine programming). Plus, in part due to our proximity, we do have inroads with a lot of the local devs and producers, which comprise a nontrivial persentage of the American game industry. In the interest of full disclosure, though: our math department is NOT GOOD, so if you don't have a strong foundation in calculus, you're probably in for an uphill battle. I think you'll find the following true of any 4-year compsci program: it's hard, the classes aren't much fun, and fairly few of the classes you take have anything to do with gaming. However, a solid curriculum in computer science will teach you a lot of stuff (such as math, algorithms, design fundamentals, discrete mathematics, assembly-level programming and electrical engineering) that a games-only curriculum is likely to gloss over. I can't yet say with any authority that games programmers find this useful, but they keep demanding that they do. PS: Because I haven't seen it mentioned yet, anyone here in the Guildhall program at SMU? I've heard nothing but good things from out of there.