Hi, my name is Chris. I'm a Senior in High School. And I need to know which college is better for me to do... to be a Game Programmer. My dream is to work in games like these.
I've found on the internet a Art institutes college has a degree in Game Programmer. But, some other web sites say that I should do Computer Science... And It seems like that I should get a degree in General Programming, then get a degree in Game Design or something....
I just dont know what to do... Please somebody, help me!!!

Hey Chris, a degree in Computer Science is a good background for almost all computer or programming related jobs. A lot of game designers have studied CS.

Personally, I'm going for Software Engineering, but I don't know how good that is for game programming. :shrug: All I know is that I love to program and I love to design software

A focus on more general programming and going to a college that offers a more technical set of a majors would increase your versatility as a worker in the market place and would probably give you a better chance of being hired (in any job) if the rate of job creation does not improve from current levels. I'd go with computer science and focus on programming in a more general way for a undergraduate degree simply because a job in the game industry isn't guaranteed, and versatility in your programming abilities would let you land other programmer jobs in non-gaming companies.

You put a good point about, If I'm going to find a job or not.....
But, If to focus on general Programming shouldn't I get a Computer Programmer Degree?

I really wouldn't aim to go to a college that gives you a degree in game programming. What I would personally do is find out what you want to do as a "Game Programmer" then start researching different areas. Some people will program the combat mechanics, graphics, and character interactions while others might program the AI code for a game. A background in Computer Science is definitely great and to supplement that I would suggest you look at C++. Almost every single degree for a "Programmer" i've seen wants people with 2-3 years experience with C++ with a possible bachelor's degree in computer science.

Some requirements may also have heavy influence in C++ programming. Beyond C++ I would look at other programming languages out there and see how those work so you can have better sway with someone hiring you. Knowing something like XML will definitely help out since some PC games like to use that language setup. Ultimately I would make sure you have the capability to learn a new language or easily grasp it because many game companies will develop their own in house language code. They'll integrate this into the game and use scripts to make specific events with that scripted language being a heavy influence.

Another area I would study is game types that you want to go into. Some people like doing MMO game while others might be FPS oriented so it can be quite tricky picking what you want as there is no "Set Mold" as far as I know. If you "REALLY" want to be impressive try to learn a little about online gaming and how the game communicates with the server. Those jobs aren't in super high demand, but they get paid the big $$$ since they are effectively network administrators, server maintenance people, etc... .

However with that said here's what I think you should do:

1. Go for a Bachelor degree in CS with computer programming if you want to do game Programming. This will give you a much broader area incase the gaming thing falls through and you can go for something else.
2. Decide what "Game Programming" you want to go for since game programming is a pretty broad term.
3. Also figure out if you want to specialize in one gaming area or stay open. An FPS coder won't have the same skill set imho as an MMO/RPG programmer.
4. Look at current requirements on atleast 5 different game company websites. Sony Online Entertainment, Bethesda, Capcom, Electronic Arts, and Atari being some of the mentioned ones.
5. Keep yourself flexible so that you can learn a different programming language. Many job applications may ask you if you are easy/quick to learn in house scripting languages.

I concur with Exorince and Darth here. I'm a software engineer, but I don't do games development. I have two friends that do, though. There are many different types of jobs in the games development field. Some people are technical artists (create models, textures, etc.), some are developers (they do high-level scripting and such using a toolset built by engineers), some are engineers (do the hardcoe programming...like engine development and such...very technical and can get pretty heavily into higher mathematics), some are content developers (level designers, story writers, etc....sometimes overlaps with what the high-level developers do), and so on into things like project management. I'd decide how far you want to go down the rabbit hole. Studying to be a software engineer requires the most education of the lot, but it also qualifies you to do more things. If you want to be able to get into the low-level engine programming and such I'd try to find a good computer science program and study how software works in general, then focus on games later.

Hey people,
Thanks a lot. Seriously... I was completely lost. I'm going to still looking, but now I decided that I'm going to do Computer Science instead of the "Game Programmer degree". And Focus in Games later. What I really want to do is work with RPG and Action games like those that Bethesda have.
Thanks for everyone and I hope this post may help somebody too. =D

I think that's smart, Chris. Most of the good developers I know and have worked with are very flexible when it comes to learning new languages and working on different types of projects. That's because they have a really solid understanding of software development fundamentals. Once you have the fundamentals down you can learn the industry/application-specific details more easily...in fact, both of my friends that do games development learned on the job. The point is, with a good software development base you can learn anything you want. Starting off with a tight focus on a certain type of development is likely going to leave you with an incomplete understanding of the discipline.

Once you acquire some programming skills, you should consider doing some indie game development in your spare time. Simple games like 7 days a skeptic (google it), or flash games.

Although it is worth noting that Computer Science isn't a programming degree. There is lots of maths and theory.

That. Your best choice would be a university that has math+programming, because there's lots of math in game programming, especially (but not limited to) graphics. Just play Portal 2 with developer commentary and listen to the node describing how they made the intro (the room going around, bumping into stuff etc.) and you'll see what I'm talking about.

edit: You can listen to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN4dUo5nddU at 02:44. You won't be able to do anything even remotely close to that without some serious knowledge of maths, and stuff like that is a must have for modern games.

Learning how to program seems like tough work...

Search Google for Games Developer or Games Programmer jobs and look at the requirements for the jobs.

There seems to be a lot of sub sections for games developers, focusing on different aspects. You may find you'll have to specialise in one field, such as Graphics, which is different to developing a GUI application or writing AI, for example.

Here's a cut and paste from one job which seems to be typical in most the ones I've looked at...

-Demonstrated experience of C/C++ to industry standard.
-Cross platform experience.
-Application/tools development experience.
-GUI experience.
-Framework design experience.
-Application framework experience (MFC/.NET/Powerplant etc).
-Good communication skills essential.

I would imagine a games developer course would be a good starting point, you can always specialise if you find you like a particular aspect.

I'm currently on a Uni course for Software Engineering and while we looked briefly at graphics and games, we focus mainly on creating applications rather than anything graphical.