Hey guys!
Just couple weeks ago I got really interested in Game Dev, so interested that I decided I wanted to do a course on it for university.
My question is, for anyone who has done/doing/ a course on Game Dev/Programming, do you have any advice or warnings you have for me?
Thank you so much.
ps: I am studying in New Zealand, Auckland
Auckland is one of the better places to do it in my opinion. The Media Design School there produce some good graduates that have a fairly good rate of employment.
A small disclaimer though, my knowledge of grades there is by proxy and from a couple years ago now. But places like PikPok and other developers in the country have hired many grads from Media Design School.
It’s good you want to focus on code as your chance of employment are probably higher as a programmer, followed by Artist and then Designer. In fact, Designer is probably the hardest thing to be employed as, most designers cut their teath in the industry first either as QA, Code, Art or some other discipline before becoming a full time designer. The reason for this is mainly because as a Designer, it’s hard to communicate your skills as a designer without some other skills to help you get your awesome ideas across to others (selling your vision).
Anyway I’m going off topic now.
Auckland is fairly good.
You could also contact the NZGDA as ask them as they tend to keep an finger on the pulse of all things New Zealand game dev and games education.
Hi! I am so happy you replied, this is my first post and I never would of imagined someone was going to take the time and read/ reply, so thank you very much !
I’m also glad you mentioned Media Design School, cause that is where I am planning to go. I forgot to mention that I am also currently studying here in NZ, Auckland, so I know much about the grades etc. So, judging by your reply, going to Media Design School is a really good choice? If so, I would appreciate if you could explain why it would be.
Thank you again!!
Again I’m not totally up to date with all the courses and tutors and how things are going. The games industry is small and the movement of key people can change things drastically. But last I heard they communicate well with industry and therefore teach skills that industry demands. They ran some cool projects that place people from multiple disciplines together on a team with the goal of building a product. Some of the vital skills you need to be successful in the real world.
All that being said, I myself went to Otago and studied a Computer Science BSc and did a summer games paper there between 2nd and 3rd year. I also did a tonne of game dev in my spare time outside of uni. I got employed right at graduation into the industry and from there continued to learn and build on my skills. A games specific paper is not a must have but it’s definitely more fun, as long as it doesn’t distract you from learning the key fundamentals of programming 
How willing are you to relocate? Local hot spots for game development are Wellington and Melbourne. Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane also have smaller game scenes. Outside of those centres there is pretty much nothing.
I’m most likely going to stay here in Auckland and go to Media Design School. But can you tell me anything about Game Dev in Wellington ? Out of NZ sounds fun though, would you able to tell me how those schools in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane compare to those here in NZ, specifically Media Design School (Auckland).
Thanks.
I don’t know much about the schools here. There are a lot of them it seems I bet 1 or 2 are good and the rest aren’t.
The problem in Australia is even if the schools are good they’re producing about 10 times too many grads for the number of positions in the local workforce.
Wellington’s game dev scene is really good. There are a tonne of new devs down there. There is a good community and meetups every month that have pretty good vibe and attendance. I don’t really know what Victoria uni does in terms of games though.