University for gamedev programming and design

[SMESH1]

Hello again, I need an exact answer to which university to enroll in the department of game creation, and don’t write to me that it doesn’t matter where you studied, I need to find out exactly where there is a good course in game creation for a bachelor’s degree

[jwatte]

I would recommend: University of California, Santa Cruz.
Computer Science: Computer Game Design (ucsc.edu)

University of California is a world-leading university, and Santa Cruz is a pretty campus, close to San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, and within a few hours drive of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Monica, all of which have plenty of large game developers and publishers and other media companies.

I did not go there, but I know people who go there, and who teach there.

[game-maker]

@jwatte

I did not go there, but I know people who go there, and who teach there

Self-taught @jwatte?
(if you feel like saying)

[jwatte]

Well, I did go to comp sci college, but not for games. My first game credit was for Nethack, the open source UNIX game distributed over FTP and Usenet, which I contributed to while in school.
We did have one 3D graphics class, using the original Foley, van Dam computer graphics bible. But the world has come a long way since then Even if you go to a high-end game development program, in five or ten years, the specifics of what you learned will be outdated. Any developer will have to keep learning by following new developments.
The benefit of a good education, though, is that fundamentals don’t change. Linear algebra is linear algebra, and the memory hierarchy is the memory hierarchy, even if “how much can I do in a second” changes drastically over time!

[ClockworkOcean]

@jwatte

fundamentals don’t change.

I’m constantly amazed that the basic architecture is still the same. What once used a whole floor of a building, now fits in your phone, but it’s still ‘fetch-execute’

[game-maker]

@SMESH1

don’t write to me that it doesn’t matter where you studied

Maybe not… But it might really matter HOW MUCH you paid at least (esp in the ). Seriously its getting harder to feel positive about game dev careers looking into the future. Considered doing a masters a few times and glad it didn’t ever come together, as the cost / hassle is not worth it imho. But the problem is, you often have a few areas of weakness when you’re self-taught, that’s the part.

Anyway, linking a couple of articles in case it helps anyone else balance the risks / rewards of going to college for game dev (esp in locations where the costs are high). The links don’t even cover the risks of AI either, which is another mind****. Universities need to respond quickly to the AI trend though, from 3D creators to Coders anyway. As traditional old methods of learning / working feel very risky now imho.

Universities and colleges need to take a long hard look at the role they play and the promises they make to students. Claims that students are being prepared for well-paid, exciting careers seem dubious given the current employment situation. These claims are suspect given that few games programs systematically track the career trajectories of their graduates. Exactly what jobs are they preparing graduates for?

Layoffs in the video game industry are becoming the norm, even at companies that continue to deliver huge profits. It hurts to see our coworkers, who are so passionate about this work, who actually make these video game companies so successful, be the first impacted by any cuts of layoffs at work. Companies will claim that we’re all a family, but a family doesn’t lay off or outsource people. It’s clear that one way or the other, the only way forward is for all of us to come together as workers to protect each other