Engineering... in computer games?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I have a huge passion for gaming. I've made dozens of friends all over the country and the world playing computer games. I'm telling you guys this to dispel the notion that I was one of those children who told their parents at a young age "I want to make video games!" (though I did) and just stuck with that because I'm too addicted to mindless gaming. I just love computer games. </p>

<p>Now that that's out of the way... I selected engineering because, well, it makes money. I also enjoy math and physics, so the shoe fits. I want to be someone who works on the game itself, not optimizing sales or productivity like an Industrial Engineer would. However, I'm having trouble identifying a specific discipline of engineering that best suits my interests of being a computer game developer. I've nixed EE because that seems to focus more on hardware and circuits and wiring, something I have no interest in. Mechanical for many of the same reasons (physical science). Computer Engineering I understand to be much the same as Electrical, just with computer parts. Software Engineering is probably the closest thing to what I want to do, but sadly very few universities actually offer it, and none of those which I'm applying to have it. So out of all the engineering disciplines, common or uncommon, do you think would best fit what I want to do?</p>

<p>P.S. Please, if you feel the need to dispel an incorrect notion of mine or just flat out tell me I'm wrong, feel free to do so. What do I know, I'm just a high school kid.</p>

2

<p>Hi! Looks like I am the second one to read your post! I have a high school freshman who sounds similar to you. Three schools we are going to look into because of their focus on game design are RPI, RIT, and WPI. I’m not fully versed on any of the three yet, but do have some experience with WPI (summer program there). Also discussed the other two schools recently with 2 RPI grads who mentioned that they both have game design as majors, and not just the “art” side of game design. Start with those and let me know what you find! What year are you? My son would probably love to “meet” you! Do you have favorite games? He is into League of Legends and Starcraft right now. Those are both played with other players, right? I’m not very in the know with this stuff…</p>

3

<p>You want computer science. Many colleges offer a graphics branch in computer science too so that should have you covered. Even if they don’t though, if you have the drive required to make games, it shouldn’t be too hard to self-learn. Go out and read some books on programming and game development and you should be fine. A lot of the best game developers never went to college.</p>

4

<p>agreed ^</p>

<p>look into computer science.</p>

5

<p>Computer science. I looked at job postings for a few game developers once, and that seems to be the degree the ideal candidate should have.</p>

6

<p>The solution to your problem is Stony Brook University top notch CS program, with a specializtion in Game programming. You might get your behind burnt in CSE 380, CSE328, and CSE381, but if it’s what you want, go for it. We use C++.</p>

7

<p>^For a second I thought this post was a parody of QCstudent’s posts…then I realized it was actually written by the Holy Prophet of Stony Brook CS himself.</p>

8

<p>^ Haha! :slight_smile: What can I say, when you have an interview just about everyday, the least you can do is appreciate your department. Jokes aside, the game programming speciallization, where Microsoft and other famous game companies attend the ‘game competition’ which is at the end of the semester is a great way to get your foot in the door. </p>

<p>[Stony</a> Brook University Game Programming Competition - Results Page](<a href=“http://www.cs.stonybrook.edu/~games/]Stony”>Stony Brook University Game Programming Competition)</p>

9

<p>@my3gr8boyz I have a good list of colleges I’ve already applied to, even heard back from a few and my mother is very loathe to adding on more schools at this point since the application process is all but done for me. Thank you for the reply though. I do play Starcraft, just like your son. I also play a lot of FPS games (your son will know what this means haha) like MW2, CS:S, CS:GO, and some RPG games like Skyrim. I’m in my senior year of high school if you haven’t already gathered.</p>

<p>As for everyone else, thank you for the replies! While I’m not completely turned off to Computer Science and will take it into heavy consideration, I’d like to still ask… Is it feasible at all to take part in game design with any kind of engineering degree, or are the odds just too heavily against that?</p>

<p>P.S. I’ve rechecked the majors of the schools I’ve applied to and Cal Poly SLO, which I believe is a low match-low reach for me, has software engineering, so does that change anything?</p>

10

<p>Also USC and UC Santa Cruz have big gaming departments. UC Santa Cruz is the largest program in the country dedicated to video games.</p>

11

<p>Well that’s fortunate, considering that I’m applying to Pepperdine and Westmont, which both have 2-3 programs with USC for most polytechnic majors.</p>

12

<p>I didn’t even read the OP. But I want it on record that Stony Brook is not, by any objective measure, a “top-notch” CS department. Kthxbye.</p>

13

<p>Re: #12… Why do you consider Stony Brook to be not good for CS?</p>

<p>In any case, CS is a good degree to have for computer game development. Take the usual CS courses good for industry jobs (algorithms and complexity, operating systems, networks, software engineering, databases, security) as well as electives in artificial intelligence, user interfaces, and graphics. Good non-major electives include physics (mechanics), art, and animation.</p>

<p>At the few schools which have software engineering as a major, it is similar to CS, except that it has a few more software engineering methods courses in place of a few CS topics courses. CS is probably slightly better, in that one overview software engineering course (instead of several) should be sufficient for most industry jobs (with the general concepts, you will be able to handle whatever methodology the company uses, or figure out that it is a mess and ways to improve it), and you should be able to put software engineering concepts into practice when you have CS courses with large programming projects. Software engineering may be less selective at schools which admit by major, due to being overlooked by applicants looking for CS.</p>

14

<p>To answer your question, it is very easy to have a say in game design as a programmer, much more so than an artist or a sound engineer. You can basically influence game design through your programming. It’s not the most direct way to go about it, but you will have some say at least. Plus, if you end up working in a company like Valve or working independently (which is huge right now), you will have an opportunity to be directly involved in game design. Software engineering is usually more focused on architecture and the like. This is good if you want to build game engines, but to really make games, computer science is the better choice. I would say that it is better to stick to being a programmer, as this opens up your options and gives you indirect creative control in almost everything you do. Game design is very limiting, and you will be sort of stuck. that being said, UCSC has a great game design department with some big names like Brenda Brathwaite.</p>

15

<p>IMO the extra stuff (e.g. process of building software) you would learn with a software engineering degree can be learned equally as well in an internship. This being the case, you might as well do a CS degree, where you will get exposure to fundamentals that are harder to learn elsewhere.</p>

16

<p>ohmstead: Why are you so keen on software engineering (you seem to think it’s the answer), yet say “While I’m not completely turned off to Computer Science”. You do realize they are very similar? And the engineering degree that leads to developing games is by far CS.</p>

<p>Then read this: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/499742-best-colleges-game-development-game-programming.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/499742-best-colleges-game-development-game-programming.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

17

<p>I want to dispel some misconceptions here and clarify some aspects of the video game industry for you.</p>

<p>I’m involved in iPhone gaming and I’ve also visited EA Games and talked to two game programmers there. In video game design there are several roles: the programmers, the artists, the sound people (musicians?), the designers, and the producers (project managers), and several others. Read more about the roles here: <a href=“Careers at Electronic Arts - Start your Job Search - Official EA Site”>Careers at Electronic Arts - Start your Job Search - Official EA Site. Let’s be clear video game designer positions are incredibly competitive and you are not likely to get one right out of college even if you have a video game design degree. Everyone wants to be a “game designer.” Game designer positions are more often than not reserved for people with industry experience. In my completely personal opinion, video game design degrees are a bit of a joke because much of video game design is intuitive (especially if you play lots of video games), but I’m sure there are a handful of video game design classes worth taking to supplement an engineering degree.</p>

<p>Let’s also be clear. There are many many different areas of video gaming: console/PC gaming, web browser gaming (primarily centered around social games on Facebook), and mobile (iPhone/Android) gaming, to name the big areas. Mobile gaming is red-hot right now, and mobile gaming currently captures around 20% of the video gaming market (and its share is growing rapidly as far as I know). In my personal opinion, mobile gaming is the future of the video game industry and will one day capture 80+% of the video gaming market. Keep in mind that in 4 years the iPhone will be 2-4x more powerful than the Xbox 360 (but probably slower than the Xbox 720) if current trends persist. I may be a little biased seeing as how I’ve made iPhone games before.</p>

<p>In terms of programming languages, the types of games you play (Skyrim, console FPS’s) are coded in C++ and C#. For mobile gaming, iPhone games are in Objective-C (and possibly some C++) and Android games are in Java (and possibly some C++). In the video game industry, C++ is the single most important language you need to master.</p>

<p>Since you are interested in engineering, you are probably going to major in CS and work at a game studio as a programmer. While in college, master C++ and take classes in AI, user interfaces, and computer graphics. Also consider a class or two in classical mechanics (physics), but that’s not as important.</p>

<p>When I spoke to the two programmers at EA Games, they said that the single most important thing for your resume is being able to show your potential employer video games that you programmed and designed yourself in your own spare time, even if they’re amateurish and small in scope. For iPhone/Android gaming, for example, the barrier to entry is incredibly low. If that’s what you would be interested in, there’s no reason you can’t begin teaching yourself either Java or Objective-C and begin making games (for the Android or iPhone). By contracting out the game art on sites like elance/odesk, professional studio quality art for a full iPhone game would be around $600-900. For PC/Mac gaming you could look into game engines like Unity 3D, which are fairly beginner friendly. There’s no reason that you can’t start making your own small little games during your free time in college. Who knows, you might even make a little money (but expect to make very little).</p>

<p>Finally, on a more cautionary note, the fact that you love playing video games has very little to do with whether you will actually enjoy programming video games. Building video games is a very tedious process, and as an entry level programmer at a game studio you might often be working long hours to churn out lots of code in order to meet deadlines. With that in mind, your best bet is to try making your own games and/or getting an internship at a gaming company and seeing if you actually like it, then decide whether it’s the career you want. The good thing about a CS degree is that you can do a ton of things with it.</p>

18

<p>@psydent Like I said in my OP, I’m not very well versed in any discipline or major, so no, I do not really know the difference!</p>

<p>@terenc Thank you for the in-depth post, I appreciate the candidness. I could have guessed it was a pretty competitive field, but that’s okay, I’m a competitive guy ;). I suppose you’re right, I should look and see what the actual work is like before going and majoring in it. The tedious work is something I don’t mind, I’m very detail oriented and love a good project.</p>

19

<p>Let me clarify. Game <em>design</em> is competitive. The designer is the guy who is super creative and thinks up what the game is going to be about and designs (sketches out) the game mechanics and the game visual style and the game world and the game storyline (if there’s a story). Those positions are competitive because there are very few such positions and they usually go to people with lots of experience (why would they trust someone out of college to design games? You might be the assistant to a game designer, though). Other game jobs are not going to be competitive.</p>