DescentBB

So I'm looking to graduate this comming year and was curious if anyone had any opinions on graduate schools for game design and development? I've heard good things about CMU's ETC, so opinions on that would be cool but I'm looking for other school recommendations as well.

Haven't heard of that, but there are three real game dev studios that I know about:

SMU's Guildhall (Dallas)
Digipen (Washington)
Full Sail (Florida)

Now the only one I've actually had any experience with would be the Guildhall, but not as a student. All I know is that SMU is throwing a ton of money at local developers to make a curriculum and teach the students. From what I understand it's quite good, albeit expensive and difficult (although I would hesitate to call a school good if it wasn't).

Now if you're willing to put forth the effort at those places to get ahead, and really show your stuff off to the devs that are actually there, it would seem to provide an excellent opportunity. Just don't expect them to teach you everything you need to know, and get a job with a that degree without knowing anybody. At least, if you want to work at an independant studio. From what I understand EA is working on something on their own and hiring a lot of graduates of that program. Don't know where it is though.

Hi Topher,

I'm a recent graduate (a bachelor of art in computer science and mathematics, not of graduate school) and I now work as a Game Designer for THQ. What I do mostly concerns gameplay mechanics and creating level objectives and flows, in addition to roughing out levels for the art team to use as models.

I was accepted based on my level portfolio I had amassed over the years. I was also asked to generate a high-level concept for a map based on a fictitious game in about an hour, and then get grilled by the design team about it.

I've only been at this week a couple weeks now, but I'm really enjoying it. We are doing a third-person action console game, which presents a lot of interesting limitations that you have to design around. Drawbacks? Well, the hours are longer than just 9-to-5. I've been putting in about 10 hours a day, to say nothing about crunch times. Another thing is that sometimes the work is quite tedious, btu there is often no other way.

I could have gone to graduate school, but I chose not to. I wanted to get inside the industry and see how I liked it, really. There's a ton I've already learned, just on the job, that no classroom could have really prepared me for. That sort of "real world" experience seems to be very meaningful in the industry. Most hiring firms ask that you have at least two years in the industry, or have shipped an actual game to market. A strong knowledge of C++ seems essential for developers. For designers, I think having a strong portfolio of existing work, and being able to think quickly on your feet, are essential skills. Gameplay design is hard to quantify. You can really only learn it from playing lots of games and analyzing them, and also from building your own creations. These are things you have to "feel," not simply "read."

Graduate school might be great for what you intend to do, but I would really encourage you to submit a resume to many different game companies and just see what results. To me, I tended to feel that the longer I stayed in academia, the farther I drifted from what I really needed to understand for the "real world." Thus far, I've sort of been vindicated in this belief, but that's always subject to change.

Congrats Sol, that's really something. Best of luck!

Heya Topher ... I am a 22 year veteran of the visual simulation development culture (games for the military). I haven't taken the time to go back for a masters degree (grad 1986 EE) but I have from time to time taken classes that I needed to help me with my job. I have had great success with the The Game Institute though and I highly recommend it. They don't have a degree program but they do offer certifications in specialty areas. Check their website for more info.

Good luck!
Ice out ...