What are you supposed to major in to become a video game designer?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I thought at first you just needed to major in computer science in order to become a game developer. The thing is I also want to learn 3D modeling and animation for video games. I have no problem taking programming and software engineering classes along with the one 3d imaging course in my school. But I'm also supposed to know sculpture, cinematography, and a little architecture. </p>

<p>What can I major in? Do I need to major in Computer Science?</p>

<p>Also is one 3d imaging/animation course enough to work in the field? I would need to learn how to use MAYA, and then take the initiative to improve on my own, correct?</p>

2

<p>I would imagine that you would major in game design and/or animation.</p>

<p>I don’t think you would be looking at a traditional university, but rather an art school.</p>

<p>Some schools that you might want to check out as far as game design goes are UAT in Arizona, Van Arts in Vancouver, and Columbia College in Chicago.</p>

3

<p>I’m already enrolled in a university, and there is no game design/animation major. But it has courses in architecture, engineering, digital art, and cinematography. I feel I could use all these courses to work in game design, I just don’t know what I should major in.</p>

4

<p>Computer Science is probably the way to go then. Maybe do a dual-major with that and digital art. Architecture, engineering, and cinematography all can be used in designing a game well too, as far as making good building designs for your game, realistic physics, and cinematic cut scenes, but computer science is going to be the one that provides you with the best base for game design imo. Maybe try googling current people in game design, and see what they went to college for and how they got into game design. You can probably email these people once you get their names too, and I would bet most would be happy to respond and give you info on how they got into game design.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. I am now set in my ways.</p>

6

<p>Computer science is the best. No idea how many courses you’d need to take for 3D imaging though. I say Comp Sci is best though because it’s marketable outside of the game industry.</p>

7

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<p>Especially since most people in the game industry don’t last very long.</p>

8

<p>You could just search for this info ya know. But while CS is one avenue into game development, it’s not the only one, especially if you want to actually design games (characters, levels, concepts, interface, etc.). For example, many people have gotten hired as level designers by designing levels as add-ons for existing games. Most first-person shooters have custom level design programs for free, so there’s not much cost involved in getting started. For modelling and animation skills, CS won’t help you. You need to download Blender (a free 3D modelling and animation suite) and start learning.</p>

<p>Game development is one of those industries where ability speaks louder than a degree, this includes programmers (though most of those guys have a degree). Visit gamasutra.com and ask the people there.</p>

9

<p>major in underwater basket weaving</p>

10

<p>Are you more of an artsy or technical person?</p>

<p>If it’s more arts, go with digital animation. If you’re technical, go with computer science.</p>

<p>Game design is a combination of the two, but if you can plan out a good concept, you can work with programmers to actually get it built. It’s just kind of like how architects design a building, but engineers can handle the logistics of actually getting it built safely and economically.</p>

11

<p>I like to say I’m both creative, and technical. I wanted to be a cinematographer so that I could deal with the technical aspect of film production, and I was also interested in architecture, and I also would have liked to learn scultpure so that I could create a statue of myself.
I like to work with technology but also show my creativity. Computer Science seems like a very compatible major for me.</p>

12

<p>Many colleges are starting to offer degrees in Digital Media. It’s a combination of computer science and communications (film and video). Sounds like you need to seek out one of those programs.</p>

13

<p>Just remember, any kind of graphics programming is going to be a bit mathy.</p>

<p>You should strongly consider what you want to do in gaming and educate yourself, either formally or at home, to do that. CS is a great degree to have, one of the most marketable, but <em>learning</em> CS and actually programming isn’t for everybody. Most game companies are looking for three great skill sets when it comes to game programmers:</p>

<p>-people skills (many nerdlingers are sorely lacking here)
-project management/software engineering skills (programming is but a small part of software engineering, a well-engineered piece of code, efficiently developed, could be a tool the developer will use for years)
-math/3D/programming skills (when I say programming skills, I’m talking about the type of people who figured out how to do 3D texture mapping on the GBA or who can squeeze a million more polygons into a scene, etc.)</p>

<p>Do any of those sound like fun to you? If not, then getting a CS degree may not be the road for you. The most important thing to do is get started, right this second, on your own game and art designs.</p>

14

<p>I agree with the people who said look out which aspect you most want to do, as you will be working with other people who can help complete the game with you, and help with the skills you don’t have.</p>

<p>I do journalism, and we see this a lot. We are becoming a lot more active in journalism as far as creating new ways to consume the news. So when we are working on android or ipod apps, it’ll usually be a 3-4 person team, with one journalism person, who is usually the person whose app idea it is and has the main idea of what the app should be, and then the business person is there to help monetize and market it, and then the computer science people, usually 1-2 of them, are there to actually make the app become reality. </p>

<p>I like knowing the technical aspects behind stuff, so I started learning a lot of the more technical programming and design stuff myself.</p>

<p>I would recommend to start learning Flash CS5, that’s a good place to start as far as game design go. I would start by learning the Flash CS5 basis, then move on to an in depth book on action script, and then move onto a book on using action script for game design. I haven’t seen any books that are too good on 3D game design in Flash (although there may be one out there, 3D is just so complicated, that I don’t think anyone really has taken the time to make a book on it). </p>

<p>Flash games would be a good place to start. There is a lot of money to be made in the casual game market iwth online flash games, but also, with Flash CS5, you can make ipod and android apps now. I think action script is far superior to programming apps then using say the main iphone coding language cocoa. </p>

<p>Just something to consider. You wil no doubt learn great things in your computer science classes, but it will probably be the time you take to learn things on your own, and the games you make in your free time that helps lead you to a career in game design. If you can make a great game that people love to play, that will get you attention.</p>

15

<p>at my school you major in digital media in the school of media arts and studies. for assignments you sometimes make actual videos games but some of my computer science friends do similar things too. i’d say look up majors like these and talk to advisors in the college. try to find an advisor who has actually made video games and been in the field. they would be best to direct you correctly.</p>

16

<p>I actually have downloaded Blender a long time ago, and still have it. I used some online tutorials to get the basics down, and I actually created a full character, though a weird looking one. I still remember some things. </p>

<p>I also used micromedia flash mx.(old version of flash) and created some flash movies. I would like to learn scripting, as I never learned.</p>

<p>It’d be great to have a professor teaching me how to use these programs though, and correct me, and show me better ways of going about things. The only thing I may be worried about is Calculus, I never took it. So I don’t know what to expect. I was never terrible at math though, and have no problem taking math courses.</p>