I would like to someday make video games for a living.(wouldn't we all) I have applied and been accepted for to a fairly good school in my area. (VFS in Vancouver BC Canada) But I am getting conflicting stories as to which course is right for me and more importantly which will get me a job at the end of it. The first which I almost signed up for is called "Game Design" and the curriculum is as follows:


Game Theory (Analog)
Game Theory (Digital)
Visual Storytelling
Transmedia Storytelling
Player Experience
Writing (Creative)
Writing (Editorial)
Interactive Narrative
Storyboarding
Visual Design Principles
Interface Design
Game Interface Design
3DS Max
Maya
Videogame Art
Flash l
Flash ll
Protools
Film Production
Video for Games
Sound for Games
Editing Studio
Voiceover Acting
Motion Capture Techniques
Machinima
Creative Process
Presentation Skills
Pre-production Techniques
Team Management
Post-Mortem Analysis
The Business of Games
Object Oriented Languages l - lll
Game Mechanics
QA for Games
Level Editing/Modding
Mobile Design & Deployment
Speaker Series
Studio Hours
Mentored Project
Portfolio Preperation
Employment Preperation

Now allot of smart people have told me this course is not worth taking because you will not get a job out of it. But I am trying to figure out why. From what I can tell game companies are looking for a lot of these skills but usually from people with 3-5 years experience making games. So maybe that is why, maybe I should take the more conventional course called “3D art and Animation” which I would most likely specialize in modeling.

Sample Classes
Life Drawing
Classical Animation
Storyboarding
Applied Storyboarding
Sculpting
Film Theory
Art Direction
Composition
Character Design
Modeling
Lighting
Photoshop
3D Animation
3D Modeling
3D Texturing
3D Lighting
Digital Compositing
Digital Character Animation (Maya)

My problem with this program is: I don’t like animating and don’t like doing characters, but I can put up with it if it means getting a better job at the end of it. And how can a course dedicated to making games be worse than a general Art/animation/special effects course?

I have recently completed my first level for Outcast and will release it as soon as I can figure out how to make a PK3 file out of the bloody ZIP file I made!

Thanks for any and all advice,


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"Im not scared Master Yoda." "You will be."

OK, there are many reasons why most Game Companies don't like the game specific courses, and I'll outline a few of them below.

Mostly, Game companies would rather their employees have a wide array of computing skills, art skills, and most importently, previous work on a commercial game. Game Specific Courses are great to have on a resume, but not the most importent, and should NOT be the bases of the Resume. See, a game course usually focuses on what's currently possible in gaming. Times change fast, and so do games, and types of games. Companies want you to have an open range of skills that can be applied to game design. it's like the phrase "Give a man a fish and heal be full for today, teach a man to catch a fish and he'll be full for life." They want you to know how to use programs, not 3DSMax. They want you to know how to make characters (Draw, or model), not Video Game Characters. They want you to be able to program, not program Video Games.

Another major reason they'd rather you had a general course, and not a complete course on gaming is that there are many styles and formats that design teams have. They want to train you how they do things. It's a lot easier for them to train you how to do things their way, than to have to RETRAIN you how to do things you already think you know perfectly how to do.

And lastly, while we'd all like to be video-game designers, few of us are actually going to make it. Having a wider range of skills is a lot better, because you can usually get quite a few jobs with 'Drawing and Animation' under your belt than 'Video Game Character Animation and Art.' An animator at Pixar is going to take someone who's got a degree in 3D Modeling over someone who's got a degree in "Game Archi and Character modeling."

Basically, the gaming degree is way too specific to be the basis of your resume, and if you can't have BOTH of the classes, I'd strongly suggest you take the more general course, than the gaming course. I more strongly suggest you take BOTH courses.

And to get that experience, most classes end up working together during college to make a commercial game which they bring to those conventions of video-games. They sell their game there in hopes of a bigger company picking and choosing each of them from the group. Of course, this is just one way to get entry-level experience. There are quite a few more difficult, but efficient ways of ensuring yourself a job.

I have quite a few friends in the gaming industry, and I'd be happy to give you any more information you'd like to know. Just contact me AIM xone009 MSN jEDIkIRBY007@hotmail.com

JediKirby

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jEDIkIRBY - Putting the Romance back into Necromancer.
Proud Leader of the Minnessassian Council

Live on, Adam.

2 very importent words I forgot to use: Internship
Portfolio

I'm only 16 and I'm about a week away from posting my Resume and Portfolio for modeling, writing, and art online. A portfolio is a must have, and I'd suggest putting one together before you walk into any of these classes.

JediKirby

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jEDIkIRBY - Putting the Romance back into Necromancer.
Proud Leader of the Minnessassian Council

Live on, Adam.

I found this on ravens site, I thought you might like to look at it.

http://www2.ravensoft.com/getajob.htm

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"Whats your name"
Cody
"No, whats your real name"
Arkon............
Proud member of the Co-op