recommended schools for programming

[hungry]

nik_bg what you say is utter rubbish!! personally i think intelligence is overrated. hardwork, perseverence, passion, enthusiasm and the like are much more important qualities. ive known many of talented people held back by apathy/laziness/lack of ambition/confidence etc. (i guess ill include myself in that).

[omnimutant]

This topic caught my eye, and I am more Intrested In the Design aspects. More so whats envolved or required of a designer in a gamming company? As a graphic designer who loves games I've always wanted to eventually break into the industry but not really sure, where my skills could be put to use the best. I have a basic Understanding of programming logic, but I'm not really intrested in the Programing side of things. I'm not really an illustration or 3-D modleing guy either, but I'm more of an Idea man. I'm good at putting concepts together, tweaking things so they feel just right etc. So I guess I'm wondering really, what is it that the true "Designers" do in the Gamming Industry?

[nik_bg]

hungry,

 

May be you have missunderstood me. What I mean is that education is the least important factor - someone from MIT may be much worse programmer than a person who is self educated! (MIT, sorry for the example )

 

What you say is in fact continuation of my thought: of course nothing will happen without ambition/will. I assume these are present by default

[hungry]

hungry,

 

May be you have missunderstood me. What I mean is that education is the least important factor - someone from MIT may be much worse programmer than a person who is self educated! (MIT, sorry for the example )

 

What you say is in fact continuation of my thought: of course nothing will happen without ambition/will. I assume these are present by default

ah ok. i forgive you then.

 

in that case im not sure if i agree or disagree. i don't really know many self-educated programmers anyhow. but i assume they would educate themselves by reading books which is not to dissimilar to a university education for some.

[Child of Flame]

I'm interested in getting into computer science, namely the gaming aspect of it. While I don't have much programming experience yet, what I've dabbled in has been enjoyable enough. I'm also good at real world art, and am starting to dabble with some 3D art editors. I also consider myself a rather good amateurish writer, which is why working for a gaming company that does lots of RPGs like Obsidian holds so much appeal. I love to create stories, and sting ideas together and make a flowing tapestry of words. What would be my best advised course of action for learning skills I could use in the gaming industry? This Digipen school sounds intriguing but a 75% dropout rate?!! I do want to do more art/story based jobs should I succeed as a game dev, but that doesn't mean I want to skimp on coding either.

 

Thank you for whatever help I may recieve,

 

JT

[FrankK]

This Digipen school sounds intriguing but a 75% dropout rate?!! I do want to do more art/story based jobs should I succeed as a game dev, but that doesn't mean I want to skimp on coding either.

 

Thank you for whatever help I may recieve,

 

JT

Digipen's drop out rate is probably due to the heavy math. If you fancy yourself not intimidated or (gasp) liking calculus and linear algebra you will do fine in a curriculum like Digipen. We've recently hired a Digipen grad that we are more than happy with.

 

If you are more of a logic/problem solving person, I would just get into a Comp Sci program at any 4-year college/university. While there, focus on the mod scene and get to know game code so that you have a good portfolio to present. Having extensive mod experience or making a demo using DirectX or OpenGL would also get you pushed to the head of the proverbial heap.

[triCritical]

Digipen's drop out rate is probably due to the heavy math. If you fancy yourself not intimidated or (gasp) liking calculus and linear algebra you will do fine in a curriculum like Digipen. We've recently hired a Digipen grad that we are more than happy with.

Calculus and Linear Algebra are a piece of cake. Lie Algebra, Complex Analysis and Topology, now that is the good stuff.

[merry andrew]

We've recently hired a Digipen grad that we are more than happy with.

I should be applying in 2-4 years

[Adam Brennecke]

I'm the DigiPen grad that Obsidian recently hired. If you have any questions about the school then ask away.

[pants_happy]

why don't you have a cool avatar or title like the rest of the devs?

 

oh, you mean a question that pertains to digipen... how would you rate your experience there as a whole? were the professors as good or better than your average state college (and if that's the only college you've attended, were you satisfied with their ability to teach?) how much does getting your B.S at digipen cost on average?

sorry for all the questions, but i have a couple more: what do you currently do at Obsidian, and being as honest as possible, do you like your job and is it living up to your expectations?

[Adam Brennecke]

why don't you have a cool avatar or title like the rest of the devs?

[pants_happy]

thank you very much. B)

[mkreku]

Digipen's drop out rate is probably due to the heavy math. If you fancy yourself not intimidated or (gasp) liking calculus and linear algebra you will do fine in a curriculum like Digipen. We've recently hired a Digipen grad that we are more than happy with.

Uhm.. In the swedish Computer Science Programs the calculus and linear algebra courses are the basic math courses. Actually, those are the first two courses you read. Then comes discreet mathematics, differential equations, "flervariabelanalys" (I wonder what that translates to) and thoeretical linear algebra. Those are the math courses I have under my belt. So far.

[Adam Brennecke]

Digipen's drop out rate is probably due to the heavy math. If you fancy yourself not intimidated or (gasp) liking calculus and linear algebra you will do fine in a curriculum like Digipen. We've recently hired a Digipen grad that we are more than happy with.

Uhm.. In the swedish Computer Science Programs the calculus and linear algebra courses are the basic math courses. Actually, those are the first two courses you read. Then comes discreet mathematics, differential equations, "flervariabelanalys" (I wonder what that translates to) and thoeretical linear algebra. Those are the math courses I have under my belt. So far.

Linear Algebra and Calculus are the basic math courses at DigiPen too. However, if you aren't into math, that's probably as far as you are going to get. Some higher level math courses offered at DigiPen are: curves and surfaces, quaternions, differential equations, graph theory, discrete, computational geometry, numerical analysis, wavelets, etc.

[triCritical]

Linear Algebra and Calculus are the basic math courses at DigiPen too. However, if you aren't into math, that's probably as far as you are going to get. Some higher level math courses offered at DigiPen are: curves and surfaces, quaternions, differential equations, graph theory, discrete, computational geometry, numerical analysis, wavelets, etc.

Wow a class on quaternions. The most I have done on Quaternions was the little that they were dealt with in tensor analysis and the section in Goldstein, Classical Mechanics.

 

What is Digipen? Is it just for games, beause wavelets is a signal processing filter. And what do you mean by curves and surfaces, Multivariable Calculus, topology, contour mapping? Finally what is graph theory, I might be interested in the subject because I do a lot involving graphs and OpenGL?

[triCritical]

The professors, especially the math and graphics professors, are top notch. The class size is very small, (average size is about 20 students in the junior/senior years) and this enables the students to build a good relationship with their teachers. All the professors know all the students by name and face, which definately isn't the case for a normal university/college.

Depends on the University. Caltech is famous for this, but highly selective. Heck there is probably more physics faculty at Caltech then undergraduate students. The other extreme would probably be the UC's. The lower division classes can often have 200-300 people enrolled, but upperdivision, at least for majors like physics and math will have a less then what you described at Digipen. I think it is pretty much the norm to see much smaller class sizes as you begin taking upperdivision classes. Mainly because half the university is majoring in liberal arts and Psychology (sp?).

[Child of Flame]

This Digipen school sounds intriguing but a 75% dropout rate?!!    I do want to do more art/story based jobs should I succeed as a game dev, but that doesn't mean I want to skimp on coding either.   

 

Thank you for whatever help I may recieve,

 

JT

Digipen's drop out rate is probably due to the heavy math. If you fancy yourself not intimidated or (gasp) liking calculus and linear algebra you will do fine in a curriculum like Digipen. We've recently hired a Digipen grad that we are more than happy with.

 

If you are more of a logic/problem solving person, I would just get into a Comp Sci program at any 4-year college/university. While there, focus on the mod scene and get to know game code so that you have a good portfolio to present. Having extensive mod experience or making a demo using DirectX or OpenGL would also get you pushed to the head of the proverbial heap.

Well, I imagine I could learn Calculus. I usually seem to take a bit longer than most to learn math, but once I learn it, it sticks with me for eternity.

[Tyrell]

Enough with DigiPen, another great school for videogaming is Full Sail University's Game Design and Development program. Check it out at Full Sail: Game Design and Development

 

I was going to go there after HS but in the game program they only offer a 2-Year Associates Degree. Plus it was too expensive and they had no room & board so that meant that on top of paying for the school, I'll also have to pay for a damn apartment! It was in a nice setting though, Winter Park, Florida which is in the Orlando Metropolitan area.

 

So instead I chose to goto Kansas University on a full Track & Field scholarship, that way I won't have to pay a dime for anything. Books and Tuition, Room & Board, all of it payed for. So all I have to do is run around a 400m track a few times and they pay for my whole school.

 

Here at KU I'm majoring in Computer Science. I'm heading into my 2nd year and after that year I'm transferring to the University of South Florida in Tampa. There I'll also be on the Track/Cross Country team . I'll finish my 2 years of college there and maybe depending on my funds situation I'll go for my masters in Computer Science.

 

However I don't really want to be a game programmer though, just a normal computer programmer for some business. They make more....

 

But yeah, also check out Full Sail, they are pretty good.

[merry andrew]

But yeah, also check out Full Sail, they are pretty good.

I've heard that they're not as good as DigiPen if you're looking to be a game programmer .

[Child of Flame]

But yeah, also check out Full Sail, they are pretty good.

I've heard that they're not as good as DigiPen if you're looking to be a game programmer .

Me too, and in my experience, in smaller class settings you learn a helluva lot more than larger ones. Which is why Digipen holds so much appeal to me.

 

<edit> Washinton's also at least on the same COAST as me, alot closer to home, yet far enough away that I should be able to feel on my own. </edit>

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

And no, I generally don't care at all about what the art looks like. Programmers need to be able to know their way around art tools and create basic art for testing purposes, but I certainly don't expect them to be good at art.

Programmer art rocks.

[Tyrell]

Well yeah, but you also have to consider that DigiPen is a 4-Year (Bachalor's Degree) while Full Sail is only a 2-Year (Associates Degree) school.

 

So overall DigiPen is going to be the better school cause you learn more with those two extra years. But for what Full Sail offers, you really can't just throw it out of the question. It is still a good choice for those seeking to be a game programmer.

 

Outside of programming Full Sail has a Computer Animation program for those who are interested in going into the gaming industry as a videogame animator. Whether it is character animations or background renders. Full Sail has a course to teach you that. That is something that DigiPen doesn't offer.

 

So Full Sail offers two areas of the gaming industry (Programming/Animation) whereas DigiPen is just programming.

 

Not that Full Sail is better cause of that, but it does offer something else.

[Adam Brennecke]

I've heard that they're not as good as DigiPen if you're looking to be a game programmer

 

That's true. Just don't go to DigiPen hoping to learn how to design games. However, it is still a good way to break into the industry even if you eventually want to become a game designer.

 

Outside of programming Full Sail has a Computer Animation program for those who are interested in going into the gaming industry as a videogame animator. Whether it is character animations or background renders. Full Sail has a course to teach you that. That is something that DigiPen doesn't offer.

 

So Full Sail offers two areas of the gaming industry (Programming/Animation) whereas DigiPen is just programming.

 

That is not true. DigiPen offers a four and a two year degree in Computer Animation. DigiPen started as a animation studio, so it's roots are in computer animation. It's a good program as well.

[merry andrew]

Just don't go to DigiPen hoping to learn how to design games. However, it is still a good way to break into the industry even if you eventually want to become a game designer.

That's the plan that I described to one of my math teachers over a year ago. Nice to know that I wasn't completely talking out of my arse!

 

I figure that I can learn design by just continuing to play/examine games. I'm under the impression that I need to go to school to learn how to program properly, so off I go.

[Tyrell]

Well you still can't throw Full Sail out of the window when it comes to programming schools. I hear that Full Sail has a high % rate of students getting a job in the industry within months of graduating.

 

DigiPen isn't the ONLY school out there for videogame programming. Also its location in Orlando, FL so if you live in the Southern part of the Country, going to FS would be convienent to you.