Life Change

[Bullfrog]

Well I think the time has come to get out of the dealership scene. I have been considering going back to school for some time now and I'm looking at going the route of game design. There are alot of options after finishing this other than gamin, military contracting as one example. I'm crious, has anyone on the forum has persued this or similar schooling and where to would be the best place to tackle a program like this. I know devry, SAIT, & MRC have similar programs, does anyone know how devry stands with companies? Just trying to get the ball rolling.

[James]

Re: Life Change

I think devry offers mroe specific courses for that line of work however...good luck getting a job haha. Unless you are in the top like...2%, you'll likely end up coding .Net for some telco or writing custom apps for a random company.

[Russell]

Re: Life Change

game design is hard to get into as a job, but like you said there are lots of other jobs out there other then just game design.

[nordex]

Re: Life Change

If it were me I would be looking at something more general. There are some serious shortages in the IT world and why enter into an industry that you are going to be hard-pressed for a good paying job when you can specialize in another computer related area and find a great job?

[Bullfrog]

Re: Life Change

If it were me I would be looking at something more general. There are some serious shortages in the IT world and why enter into an industry that you are going to be hard-pressed for a good paying job when you can specialize in another computer related area and find a great job?

Such as? I'm looking for a more creative side.

[Russell]

Re: Life Change

I am in a software development job and there is hardly anything creative about it, unless you call picking where a text box will show up in a window creative.

[James]

Re: Life Change

Take some kind of advertising in school and take some side classes in stuff like photo shop and other design suites if you want creativity.

You're thinking you'll work on games for blizzard and stuff like that..the guys who actually do the rendering of models and stuff like that arent developers, they're just good with creative suites.

[Billip]

Re: Life Change

I've been in the IT world for many years, and have also worked with a few creative companies. My thoughts are:

• Any world class "creative" type company (ie: web design, game design, etc.) have different types of people who do the creative work (illustration, interface design, etc.) and programming. This makes sense because they really are two different skill sets, and usually people who are good at one are not good at the other. So if you want to do game design (illustration, story design, etc.) don't get into IT... get into art.
• I completely disagree that software development is not creative. I think it is very creative, and the best software developers are the creative ones. There are a million ways to solve a problem and coming up with the best solution takes creativity.
• Generally speaking, I'd stay away from Devry. It's a good school if you just want to get a job, but not where I'd go to develop your passion.
• There's a lot of money to be made working in IT right now, but the companies that pay well are also the most boring and soul crushing to work at. In the end you will be happiest if you find what your passion is and do that.

[Bullfrog]

Re: Life Change

I've been in the IT world for many years, and have also worked with a few creative companies. My thoughts are:

• Any world class "creative" type company (ie: web design, game design, etc.) have different types of people who do the creative work (illustration, interface design, etc.) and programming. This makes sense because they really are two different skill sets, and usually people who are good at one are not good at the other. So if you want to do game design (illustration, story design, etc.) don't get into IT... get into art.
• I completely disagree that software development is not creative. I think it is very creative, and the best software developers are the creative ones. There are a million ways to solve a problem and coming up with the best solution takes creativity.
• Generally speaking, I'd stay away from Devry. It's a good school if you just want to get a job, but not where I'd go to develop your passion.
• There's a lot of money to be made working in IT right now, but the companies that pay well are also the most boring and soul crushing to work at. In the end you will be happiest if you find what your passion is and do that.

well said.

[Chris]

Re: Life Change

Couldn't agree more with Bill!

In terms of getting into a more creative job, you could apply to Mount Royal's Electronic Publishing program. It's a 4-year degree program and at the end you get your BA in Applied Communications. You learn a whole gamut of stuff from graphic design, web development, writing, and project management (just to name a few).

This was the program that I graduated from and now I'm working as a Project Manager at a marketing agency. I get to work on projects for clients ranging from fun ones like MTV and Nintendo to more business-like ones such as Shell and the CBE.

I think if you're looking for an "in" to the creative companies, the Electronic Publishing program would be a good fit.

[Chris]

Re: Life Change

http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/communicati...s/epublishing/

[niXon]

Re: Life Change

The new Media Program at the University of Lethbridge

[Kor]

Re: Life Change

I know one developer at Bioware and another at EA, both were top theory students in their university undergraduates with nearly 4.0 GPA's. Both were strong in mathematics at the university level and had a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm about that domain, including theoretical knowledge of things like physics simulation, advanced geometry, etc.

Those are really the qualifications you need to get a good job doing the actual software development at a game company. Also be prepared to not be paid well for the amount of work you do. It is simply too competitive, everyone wants that job and the best people with 4-8 years of school or 10+ years of development experience will take pay cuts to work on those kinds of projects. You are unlikely to be able to get into software development at a game company, EVER, with a degree from a technical school (IMO).

I am talking about the software side. If you are interested in the design or art side of things, that is a different story. As Bill said, they don't hire people to do both. They hire artists to do the game design and art, and they hire software developers to write the game engine and mechanics and tools.

A lot of the technical schools and programs will teach you to use things like 3d modeling tools or some photoshop. While those skills are useful, they won't get you in the door at a game company unless you are also already an outstanding digital artist. This takes talent not just education.

Props for the life change though, I'm thinking about getting out of my line of work and into something else in the next 6 months also.

[Tuna]

Re: Life Change

Props for the life change though, I'm thinking about getting out of my line of work and into something else in the next 6 months also.

Me too! Trade?

[Bullfrog]

Re: Life Change

Sometimes a change is needed to keep sanity. I've often thought about a trade also, possibly carpentry, not sure.