What should I do?

<p>Hi, I'm hoping to study to become a future game developer/programmer for online gaming companies but I am not sure what exactly I should take and major in for college.</p>

<p>So far I'm stuck because the University I'm going to only provides a Computer Science major (5 year bachelors degree) program that seems related to the career I'm looking for. However, on the University's website, the career possibilities section for that major lists the following:
Applications programming
Web programming
Network management
Systems programming and analysis
Software development and maintenance</p>

<p>Would that help with becoming a future online game programmer? Because I really want to focus more on the programming field.</p>

<p>If anyone would care to read over the page a bit and let me know if it seems fitting for me, here is the link to the site - Academics</a>, University of Cincinnati
I'd really appreciate any help and advice, I'm a little confused.</p>

<p>*EDIT; Could anyone also please briefly explain what exactly computer science is or what I'd be learning with a CS major?</p>

<p>Thanks!
(Sorry for any typos, I typed this on my iPad).</p>

<p>Computer games use most of the same concepts that other computer software uses:</p>

<ul>
<li>they need efficient algorithms to keep time and space use down</li>
<li>they interact with the operating system, like all programs</li>
<li>they use the network to contact other players and the game world</li>
<li>they store state in a database that needs to be accessed and changed efficiently</li>
<li>they need security against cheaters</li>
<li>they need to be designed and developed with a reasonable software engineering process</li>
</ul>

<p>Of course, they may make more use of graphics and artificial intelligence than many other types of computer software.</p>

<p>So a computer science degree program that includes courses which cover the above concepts should be good preparation for game software development. Add some art and physics (mechanics) courses as well.</p>

<p>If you really want to do games, I’d suggest looking into transferring to Miami University, Shawnee State, or Ohio University (if you want to stay in Ohio) because they have dedicated gaming programs. I don’t know how acceptable someone straight out of college with a vanilla CS degree is going to be.</p>

<p>Or you can take a look at an example program and see how close you can get to that with your Cincinnati classes.</p>

<p>[IMS</a> Major « Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies](<a href=“Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design | Miami University”>Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design | Miami University)</p>

<p>I really don’t understand why UC’s CS program takes five years when other schools offer four year programs.</p>

<p>Honestly, that’s what the main problem really is. I’m very limited as to where I can go for college, as it must be in Cincinnati. The farthest I could possibly go (with luck) is Ohio State which is a better option, but at the moment UC seem’s to be my only choice because I have very close family in Cincinnati. </p>

<p>I also don’t know why their CS program takes five years, are there any other colleges that do that? I think I might contact the school and ask a few questions about the program to see if it’s what I’m looking for.</p>

<p>A while ago I was considering going to college for the regular schooling and taking online courses and earning my degree online, but I heard it isn’t a good idea to take online classes. Do you guys have any suggestions as to what I can do? Learning the basics of programming online and through books won’t be hard, as I’ve done some of it before, but I’d still like to go to college and earn a degree in it.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies guys, and sorry for all these questions. I just want to follow the right path, and it’s starting to feel like I can’t.</p>

<p>Is Miami too far away? It’s only about 30 miles.</p>

<p>Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems like a good first step would be to look for job listings for the kinds of roles you want to get, and see what they require. Do they say “CS degree”? If so, go with CS. If they say “BS degree”, then it doesn’t necessarily matter what your degree is in.</p>

<p>My impression is that jobs like this will probably want to see a portfolio of creative work you’ve done. This might include storyboards, concepts, graphics, dialogue, etc., but you’ll likely want to have developed a few games using a variety of recognized technologies.</p>

<p>While you may be able to learn online, getting an online degree isn’t a good idea. Most of those degrees aren’t valued by employers. Online is not yet state of the art and there are too many bogus outfits to dodge. Some state schools are offering degrees in CS or IT but they are extremely expensive. If you learn your stuff, you can get into industry based on your proven skills but it is a harder route to go and you will be shut out of some places.</p>

<p>A computer science degree is a very good degree to get. It will provide you with foundational knowledge to work in gaming AND many other areas through your career. To get an actual gaming job, you may need to get some extra specialized knowledge and internships, but you can’t go wrong with the CS degree.</p>

<p>There is a lot of information online about what to do to get into the gaming industry, but this blog article I found is very illuminating, you can skip over the art route part and get to the software development section. There is extremely useful information here.
[John</a> Ratcliff’s Code Suppository: So your teenager tells you they want to ‘make video games’ for a living…](<a href=“http://codesuppository.blogspot.com/2013/04/so-your-teenager-tells-you-they-want-to.html]John”>John Ratcliff's Code Suppository: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living...)</p>

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<p>I found the answer to this, I guess I didn’t read into it enough. UC provides a program called “ACCEND”;

So it looks like rather than completing a total of 6 (4yr BS + 2yr MS) years to earn your MS, you get a shortened time of 5 years. After which you can decide if you would like to continue on to a Ph.D in Computer Science and Engineering.</p>

<p>

After doing a bit more research online and watching a few videos, I think I was completely mislead and didn’t understand the true value of a degree with Computer Science. I think I’m going to put aside a game development career for now. I’d rather get a job with a CS degree and work on several projects first to build up a nice portfolio. Then later on I will consider getting involved with a game development career or not.</p>

<p>Now that all that has been solved, I’m stuck with one more question. Should I take on the Computer Science major @ UC and earn my MS after completing the 5 year program, and get a job, or should I continue on and pursue a Ph.D in Computer Science and Engineering? I’m not quite sure I fully understand the pros and the cons of both, but so far I’ve heard that getting a Ph.D will close many doors as you would be “overqualified”. Could anyone further explain this?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot once again for all the replies and help. This is really helping me understand what I want to do in the future.</p>

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<p>Cincinnati CS has required co-op semesters. The bachelor’s degree program is eight semesters’ worth of classes, but spread over five years with two co-op semesters mixed in. See the sample schedules on the right side of this page:</p>

<p>[Computer</a> Science, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“http://ceas.uc.edu/current_students/curriculum_information/computer_science.html]Computer”>http://ceas.uc.edu/current_students/curriculum_information/computer_science.html)</p>

<p>Don’t worry right now if you want to go the PhD route or not. It isn’t necessary unless you want to be a researcher or want a certain pay grade in gov’t work. As you work through your undergrad degree, you can get involved in research projects and find out if that is something you would like to continue. If you do want a PhD, you must have research experience, not internships, to show that you have the capability for it. You would need to be very focused on doing research because it will take you years to do your PhD. You will get funding for it, but you will be giving up salary, contributing to your retirement plan and career advancement and experience.</p>

<p>Something to file away and look at in a couple of years, very useful:
<a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

I’ve heard this, and I’ve also heard that an MS degree is better for someone who wants to focus/specialize in programming. Is this true as well? Also, would getting a Ph.D really not help someone who wants to specialize in programming at all? Is it really just about research?</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>If you can do a combined BS/MS degree program in five years, that makes more sense. A five year BS program, when everyone else does four year programs, makes no sense.</p>

<p>I will say that a Master’s isn’t really required for a CS job. Most places won’t increase your salary just because you have a graduate degree. I never felt like my Master’s did anything for my career, although I’m still glad I got it because it thought the subject matter was interesting, and it makes me feel smarter.</p>

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<p>To be honest, the reason I want a degree higher than bachelor level is for my own self, so I can gain more knowledge and understanding in the field.

</p>

<p>If you can afford it, that’s a perfectly good reason.</p>