Hey there! I have been considering the decision of leaving my country to go out there and study game development (Since here the few schools that have GameDev are pretty … well bad)
And i would really appreciate some guidance on the topic … like requirements, how much money, places, recommendations … anything you consider relevant is truly welcome! =) A URL to some useful page would be also welcome.
My ideal focus would be Artificial Intelligence, Engine-Development and programming in general (C++, C# are both languages i currently know but without a mastery of them)
…
i do have 2 doubts right now:
-Australia, i have family there! is that a good place to study?
-Here schools have requirements on “how well you did on high school” (scores and stuff) i suppose US works the same way(?)
If you are going to study abroad, do computer science instead. Computer science opens up a ton of non games jobs as well as games jobs. Many game dev degrees leave you limited to games, and some don’t even give you that.
Studying abroad is very expensive. If its worth doing, its worth getting a solid degree.
Plenty of game dev schools here. But they don’t have the greatest reputation. Its also very, very expensive to go to school here if you are not an Australian citizen.
All reputable schools screen their students for basic abilities before accepting them. If a school doesn’t do any screening then stay away, they are more interested in your fees then in your level of achievement.
Mmm … Yeah … That’s an issue here as well, and a lot of people had told me the same … Study Computer Science may not be a bad idea … Do you have any recommendations in terms of schools?
Also, with what do you exactly mean with “Screen”? Something like Tests? Or they just look at your scores? Or a combinations of both?
I’m relatively new to Australia. I don’t have a solid feel for the schools here. But I would strongly recommend studying at an accredited University. There are thousands of educational institutes by only a handful are actually full scale university’s capable of issuing degrees.
Either or both. As a general rule the harder a school or program is to get into, the better the education is. This is not universally true, but its a good guide. You should tackle the hardest degree that you are capable of completing.
Okay! Thanks for the advices man! =) I’ll keep them in mind!
I’d say if you are going overseas Australia is not a good place as we are a small community, the largest studio in Australia is around 180 people so jobs are rare and when they come up you need to be top 1% to get them.
It’s better to get a college bachelor’s degree at a minimum in physics, computer science, mathematics or some other more general topics. Getting a degree in game making is like sending off a pencil sketch you made to get a degree in pencil drawing via a comic book.
It’s better to get a degree from your home country if you are paying via student loans for your education. Unless the USA, some other country, or you home country pays your way to attend a foreign university for free it’s much cheaper to study in your local political jurisdiction in just about every case than paying foreign tutition. Example, I once met a Libyan man in Zuerich whose schooling in China was being paid for by the Chinese government in Bejing. Well, for that man he’s not going to find a cheaper deal to attend university unless they pay him to go, which by the way is often the case as well. And in my computer science and mathematics classes at my American university, about 1/3 of the class were foreign nationals and they weren’t paying their own way through school.
You aren’t getting into an accredited university without legitimately passing their entrance exams unless you are some sort of major sports talent.