Whaaaaat? My CS program requires like six different math courses... and now I just realized I can use that to declare a math minor.

Anyway, if you want to get in computer science, you'll need to enjoy solving problems. I love computer science for that. You're given a few tools and with those you can create pretty much anything, you just need to know how to use them to achieve your goals. While you may not be doing straight out game development, the techniques and such that you learn can be applied to game development (and software development in general, of course). For mathematics, I've programmed a few games from scratch and the most that I've used was some basic trigonometry. Then again, those were very simplistic games (2D platformer) and I'm sure there's more to it. Especially if you're getting into dynamic lighting systems or 3D or whatever.

The only way you're going to get away with that is adding a year of gamedesign to your C++ course.

Or by being passionate about what you want to do.  Or by playing video games.  Or by attending conferences.  Or by any number of things.  Are you really trying to make this argument?  This could be said of any industry.  A hospitol isn't going to hire a a doctor who doesn't care about treating people.  When you apply to work for a game company some of the first things they ask are questions that show how much you know about the industry.  But the fact of the matter is you do not need to go to a game design school to get that information.  And frankly, they aren't going to care if their programmers know all the latest market trends.  All they care about is they have the knowledge to get the job done in the best way possible (hint, you don't get this from a game design school) and that they are passionate about the game they are making.

fuck CS majors, you get to take all sorts of really esoteric and boring courses on theory of COMPUTATIOn AnD AUTOMATA. i just want to learn coding gatdammit

but......but...I studied square enix character development theory....what do you mean you don't care.

I think bridge is just pissed off he realized his degree is going to be worthless

If you know C++ coding then that's awesome, but you're not gonna be able to do anything special with it if you don't understand most of the logic in a game and what's going on in the industry.

If you don't know C++ then not only would any game company LAUGH THEIR ASSES OFF AT YOU for even applying, but you can't even get a job at another company to get the experience required for them to consider you in the first place.  I agree with Coxswain, you're either angry for realizing that you will not get anywhere like this, or your in denial that this is the real world.  What do you even mean logic in a game?  If you understand how to program a game, then YOU DO know the logic in a game, but it's not going to happen the other way around.  By the way Bridgeman, where are all these fantastic games you're making with this logic?

Here, let's look at what some game companies want of their employees:

    *  3+ years experience with C# and SQL Server
    * Experience with .Net Web Services or WCF
    * Experience writing and shipping production server code preferred
    * Solid understanding of database performance and tuning
    * Strong familiarity with Windows server platforms
    * Ability to do self-directed work as well as work alongside a team of other developers
    * Working knowledge of C++
    * Passion for making great games
    * Bachelors Degree in CS or related field

    * Proficient in C/C++.
    * Strong background in 3D math.
    * Solid software engineering fundamentals.
    * Ability to adapt to new environment quickly and to learn from others.

    * Advanced understanding of C++
    * Experience developing Windows GUI applications using Win32, MFC, wxWindows, or Qt
    * Strong mathematics skills, including proficiency with trigonometry and linear algebra
    * UI design experience
    * Strong communication skills
    * Ability to work in a collaborative team environment and handle multiple projects simultaneously
    * Service-oriented attitude with an eye for efficiency and workflow
    * Advanced understanding of game content pipeline and tools

This isn't even counting the senior positions, these are the lower level jobs.  Notice what their first qualification is?  UNDERSTANDING C.  They also require a lot of experience in a variety of other CS concepts, so unless you do a ton of REALLY IMPRESSIVE independent stuff, you're fucked.  But you want to do design?  Well, here's what a designer for Blizzard has to have:

    * 8+ years experience in web design and information architecture
    * Advanced degree in information science, information design, human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology, human factors, or a related field
    * Extensive experience in simplifying complex workflows in a web-based gaming and community application
    * Deep understanding of user objectives, user scenarios, key product strategy, point of differentiation, usability principles, web applications framework, and the development of a product road map
    * Expert understanding of methods for designing easy-to-use interfaces, including user and task analysis, information architecture, interface design, heuristic evaluation, and usability testing
    * Strong communication, analytical, and interpersonal skills working within cross-functional teams
    * Strong passion for creating world-class player experiences on the web

Not a single one of the possible degrees has anything to do with game design.  A psychology major would do better for this job than a game design major.   To put it simply, you are wrong about the industry and the world.

yeah, i'd say computer science or softeware engineering or something along those lines.

i had a bunch of friends who were in game design... i believe it was part of the software engineer program but more specific. it sounded like ar eally awesome course. lots of 3d stuff, programming, etc. it was pretty hard though. these guys had to do a LOT of work.

i'm pretty sure the jobs after this are surprisingly diverse too. one friend of mine did really well and now he's working for like that candian csis which is basically the canadian version of the cia.

Yeah most of the things that the employers want concern stuff learnt in Computer Science and it really does, I'm not just saying that so I'm lucky I also chose Computer Science.

By logic in a game I mean understanding what people wanna find in a game, what they want to do, what kind of characters they wanna control, and a whole lot more of that kind of stuff, but hey I just had my first two semesters, just summing up what I got here.

Yeah that's great and all but guess what?  You don't get to do any of that shit!  Unless you start your own game making company (hint: you will not make profit through this, so if you expect this to be your job you are going to starve to death) you are going to join an existing game making company.  You know what happens when you do that?  You do what you're told.  I have no idea where you got this idea that you're going to start off doing level design or ANY of the creative stuff.  If you can't start off doing the basic shit, you can't get your foot in the door.  You probably won't be able to get your foot in the door anyway if you're focusing on that.  It doesn't matter if you're learning C++ too (hint #2: there are two plus signs, if you can't get this right you aren't learning C++, and if you've had two semesters with no C++ you're fucked...you've put C+ more than once so I can't tell if this is just a typo or if you are WAY BEHIND).  If you aren't learning the rest of the CS foundations, you won't get anywhere, because game companies rarely take people straight out of school (whereas many CS companies will).  Even if you are taking many of the same courses, if they're part of a game design degree then they're all being targeted towards game design.  That specific of a focus means you are missing out on things.

Maybe a game design course isn't the way to go if you want a job at Blizzard or Rockstar or Bungie.

fffff these people are the top companies for a reason, almost all serious companies have the same qualifications.

Your whole attitude towards this issue is the exact reason you won't work in the gaming industry--you have no idea what companies want, and you don't understand how the industry works.  You're fucked.

Not too much homework and a relaxing school environment.

HAHA, So not only are you not being prepared technically, you are not even being prepared for the workload of the job.  Man, even if you managed to bullshit your way into a job what are you going to do when you have to work 60 hour weeks?  When a milestone is coming up and you may have to sleep at the office just to get your work done in time?

I had no idea mr. velfarre... you must be the director of your own great game design company to be able to predict the future like that?

I'm not a dude, and I've looked into game design enough to know that you can't just waltz into the industry.

http://www.sloperama.com/advice.html

Here, this site is all based around getting that great game design job, and you know what it says several times on the site?  GET A REGULAR DEGREE FIRST.  It says more than once that if you want to go get a game design degree go for it, but only after getting a regular degree.  If you have a CS degree, you can use it while trying to get a game design job.  If you have a game design degree, you can't use it for anything while you're trying to get a game design job.

But yeah, you basically said yourself that it's very possible you won't get a job with your degree, so why are you so angry at me for saying the same thing you did but with more examples?  Game design as a hobby is just fine, but you don't go to school for a hobby, you go to school to prepare for a future job.  If you want to take game design classes on the side, be my guest, but don't be surprised when you can't get a job ever.

To be honest I don't really know why I'm bothering considering you're a pretty terrible poster and you're never going to understand how true all this is.

edit: Also apparently this guy who made the website I linked to is best known for the Shanghai mahjongg games, which is the best version of these games I've ever played.  I have one of them for the 3DO and I'll play it for hours on end without realizing it.

Well it's not a matter of how old you are is it? It's whether or not you can afford to pay for years and years of school. If I get my masters without living in a box for year 4 I will be bloody amazed!

Yeah, even if you live in a country where you don't have to pay tuition, you still have to deal with living expenses, and chances are if he's so gung-ho about how laid back his school is, he can't handle that.  I'm lucky that my parents can afford for me to get my degree and my masters, but that's not most people.  I can definitely promise you though that if I was getting a degree in game design, I doubt they'd be so willing to pay for it--at least with CS it's not likely I'll have trouble finding a job (especially considering the Lexmark headquarters is like a 15 minute drive at most from my school, that's where a lot of students at my school go to get their start).

is the peace corps any good?

like what do you do? is it para-military stuff or what? I was actually thinking about doing it for awhile and going to college through it if I couldn't find any work.

lol no it's not paramilitary dude. You generally need to have a degree to go into it and you can get stuff like student loan reductions and even free grad school education with a living stipend if you go through a masters international program. But it's basically a two year stint of volunteer work in a poor country.

peacecorps.gov