cowgill

I am going to be transferring to Sac State in about a year. There are several degree programs I have considered before I attempt to enter into the game industry. The reason I am asking this is because all of these degree programs cover the very core of CS, I am just wondering which degree would be the most optimal for game design.

1. Traditional CS

This will be the obvious choice as it will cover a good deal of math (vector calc, diff eq, linear alg, discrete math combina, etc) as well as all of that fun algorithm stuff and so on. This also has a co-op.

2. Comp Eng

This goes into the hardware portion as well as the fundamentals of CS. It also has a co-op at Sac State, adding an additional year to the program.

3. Applied math/CS program

This program is what has caught my eye. I can focus on the maths that are relavant to my field and it includes all of the CS courses that would still seem to give me a great grounding in CS. In fact because I do not have to take a bunch of general science clases in this degree (bio, chem, physics) I can add even more CS and math classes to my course load. It basically alows me to tailor my degree more so than the other 2 options. It also has a blended program that will allow to get my masters in 5 years. No co-ops though.


I would really like to do the applied math/cs blended program, both for personal enjoyment and the flexibilty in making my program, but I am coming here to see what you think the industry wants to see and what would best help me obtain my first job in the biz. Please note, I am not going to be doing anything else with my life. I am either working for a game company actively making the games or I am flipping burgers while making games in my spare time. Either way, its gaming or bust!

Also please note I posted in the enginerring forum, but I am not trying to spam!

Hollinn

Hey cowgill,

My advice would be to declare the Traditional CS and take the introductory courses pertaining to Comp Eng and the Applied Math program in your first semester, as well. You can then reassess your decision according to what you think is most appropriate after that initial semester.

In terms of employment (especially in the game industry) all that matters is that you have a CS degree, with a high GPA and good internship/work experience relevant to the field. Why should an employer (at a game design company, no less) care if you took additional coursework in applied mathematics?

GLOBALTRAVELER

It never hurts to get a sound CS and Math background. For CS, please refer to the postings on UCBAlumnus about which courses to take. Although, your interest is game design, you have to understand that it is a smaller niche area so just in case you cannot land a game design job, you will be prepared for other jobs that support for more widely used CS areas.

The Math background adds flexibility to do even more CS-related and non-CS related jobs. There has been 3 times when I asked to work in non-CS related role just because of my math background (well, at least that is what I was told).

ucbalumnus

Computer graphics can involve a significant amount of math.

Blobof

fft ftw!

cowgill

I excel at math and CS (so far at least in linear algebra, diff eq, C, and C++). And I do love both fields. I guess the only things I need to worry about when doing this program is making sure I balance between the classes that tailor more to the cs and math of game design, and a fundamental foundation set of classes for a well rounded degree, in case I need a plan 'B.'

passacaglia

I would definitely recommend the traditional CS route. I can't see the hardware aspects of CE being directly relevant to game design. If you're specifically interested in game design, it may also be a good idea to pick up a second major in something like creative writing. I know an undergraduate who is doing this and he has an internship at Blizzard this summer.

That said, you should always keep an open mind when it comes to your future career. It may seem like game design is your dream career now, but that may be caused by lack of experience: you cannot know what other cool things are out there until you experience some. If you enjoy the math so much, why not consider the more technical jobs in that industry such as game programming?

Luckily, any of those three majors will not really corner you as far as jobs are concerned.

cpeyton

I remember asking my counselor about this and he told me there are two different roads the artistic road where you create the characters world and environment, then the technical road where you are much more of a software engineer then and artist. If you choose cs you choose the second road i would suggest you take all the computer graphics classes that have calculus and linear algebra as pre reqs. i also suggest you visit this site http//:GameDev.net to get your feet wet by browsing the projects there.