where to study?

[valentin_rad]

There was a topic about going into the gaming industry and it sai something about going to a specialised college. I'm originally grom Romania and was thinking of going to Canterbury University because it offered scholarships to students from families with small incomes (see Borat, opening scene shot in Romania). Anyways IO'v worked on some mods and have a fair understanding of textures, modelling, etc and now I'm thinking of going to a college that specialises on programing.

Can anyone halp me or tell me where to go in order to find a colege?

 

[Yorick]

I roomed with a guy while he was studying at Full Sail. (http://www.fullsail.com/).

Great location. A bit expensive, but pretty solid. They put you through a variety of different schedule hours to really get you used to the kind of crunch that can come with working in the industry.

He has some demo reels up and stuff. http://www.secmem.com

I blame it on his incredible talent as a graphics designer, but either way, he got a job within like 2-4 months of graduating.

 

[63]

I remember the first time you showed me that, Yorick

Your friend is immensely talented.

 

[Majestic XII]

Well, I could tell you about my University but I don't think you're willing to move to Sweden and learn our language. On the plus-side though, Uni is free, the education is one of the best in Europe (With game design, programming and graphics) and they also do alot of gaming/behaviour/cognition research.

Many of the guys and girls in the second and third year are already working, either with their own companies (we have a big "incubator" right next to the Uni which are really interested gamedev students) or some of the big game devs here in Sweden such as DICE, Starbreeze, Avalance, GRIN and Massive.

I would however look for a Collage/Uni in the UK, it's easier to learn English than Swedish (since you need to learn Swedish and English if you want to work in the industry ).

Edit: Might be a good idea to tell you which Uni I'm talking about http://www.his.se/templates/vanligwebbsida2.aspx?id=4667

 

[Stormy]

I don't know where to recommend, especily after speeking to my lecture on the subject. From what i am to understand very few of these "game design" course have any experianced staff that have worked in the industy.

I have been very lucky with my course choice. My lecture used to work at argonort and was him self a lead artist and fancied a move to education.

http://www.solent.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/computer_and_video_games_ba/course_details.aspx

Course details if your intrested.

 

[egoncalo]

Don't go to school for it. It's a waste unless you plan on programming or becoming an executive. Otherwise, practice with tutorials, and get an entry level position like QA or CS. I go to school for it, and have a job in the industry and school did absolutely nothing for me. Everyone at my studio will say the same thing. Just get in at entry level and strut your stuff.

 

[valentin_rad]

Thing is I can't just go and apply for a job in the industry... I live in Romania, not my fault, and the game industry kida forgot to develop in my country...

Anyways thing is I want to study abroad because I can get a scholarship, especially in the UK but I don't want to risk going out for a job because my family can't really afford to sustain me in case I fail... this beeing said, I'm now looking for a university that has both game programming courses but also some game design/art/effects optionals or as close to this as possible

Trust me when I say that after almoust 20 years living here, you'll want to go study in the uk...

So any advice?

http://www.secmem.com/ - the man's a genius... just how good is this university, full sail?

 

[63]

Full Sail is not a university, and there seems to be a lot of positive and negative buzz around the school. From what I've heard, the programs are intense. Most people drop out, so if you're planning on FS, be prepared to work.

 

[Yorick]

Basically it's what Six said.

Yeah, it's true that you end up with teachers who failed out of the industry, just like at a normal school. Secmem had gone in for animation/modeling and switched over to digital media after a few months. But within the first few months (in animation/modeling), the biggest problems he had was the other students.

There were a lot of people who expected to get hired immediately at places like Pixar, and one of the problems Full Sail has is that just like other schools, you end up with the rich kids who's families are paying and absolutely don't have the skill to make it.

They have pretty state of the art technology. Beautiful buildings, a big campus, and enough computers to drown in. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but when I was looking at going, Game Design students were given laptops.

It's a great place if you can handle the stress, don't mind having the huge amount of money in loans, and aren't expecting it to hand you the CEO position at EA.

 

[Asknoone]

and aren't expecting it to hand you the CEO position at EA.

Oh maaaan.

 

[Shinobi]

btw, I know a lot of managers at EA and they consder it a negative strike if you have game formal game development education on your resume...

I went to one of those schools on a scholarship but removed it from my resume when I was looking for work

 

[63]

What school, Shinobi?

 

[Adabiviak]

What school were those chaps attending when they were spotted by Valve when they made the Portal tech (Narbacular Drop, I think)?

 

[63]

Digipen, IIRC.

 

[Shinobi]

What school, Shinobi?

CIA, I believe the name is different now though because oxford or something like that bought it out....

about 2 years ago (when I went, I belive I did a writeup here about it)

 

[Nostradamus]

Guild hall in the Us and The animation workshop in Denmark(yes I know small country but it is one of the leading animation bachelor education stuffs ).... I have heard a lot of bad stories about other schools with teachers taking lessons from the net etc. so just be careful whatever you decide

 

[Yorick]

Oh. Speaking of online.

I took an online course a few years ago through GameVersity. Now viCampus. (http://www.vicampus.com/) They have some decent cheap courses, might be a good place to start.

 

[valentin_rad]

Thanks, I registered, now all I need is the money (vicampus)....
I still don't know what to do about the university. On the one hand I'm beginning to think I's a waste of time to go do a game design one , on the other I want i to be somehow related to computers/ programming, the animation/modelling/ texturing part I think I;ll learn online...