Is Game Design a good Carear to get into?

I'm 16, and now I've been trying to figure out which Carear I want to get into. I've always be intrested in Game design. And lately, I been thinking about maybe going for a Level Designer.

Right now, I'm in the Art Instruction School, Almost finished 2 years of learning to Draw / Paint.

After that, I was thinking about possibly Computer Graphic Design?

Anyways, I came to OT for advise. Which school types would help. if it's a good Carear to get into. And perhaps some tips on what I need/should do to get into this Carear, from someone that's maybe looked into the same Carear?

Any help?

Thanks.

It's not a great major if you are actually expecting to get into what you majored in. It'll get you your degree though if you enjoy it. As for graphic design, that's what I majored and it's another you likely won't get a real job in the industry. Too many people with the major, not enough jobs to go around.

am i the only one who noticed he spelt career wrong?

It's not a great major if you are actually expecting to get into what you majored in. It'll get you your degree though if you enjoy it. As for graphic design, that's what I majored and it's another you likely won't get a real job in the industry. Too many people with the major, not enough jobs to go around.

Pirate700

Thanks for the opinion.

The Art School, was mostly just for a Hobby. But I thought the Artistic, might help with Design. Not sure about the Graphic Design.

I honestly don't know what Carear I want. I enjoy Art, and Games, I also enjoy Music, but I gave up Music a while ago.

am i the only one who noticed he spelt career wrong?

almasdeathchild

Its not the smartest thing to major in, but if you have the money and the diligence and the contacts, you could always go the Insomniac route, make your own company and hope for the best. Its a long shot though.

Plus game design is HARD. Lots of work involved, people like Ed Boon don't even have enough time to finish a Grand Theft Auto game, and in the later stages of development you get to have 80+ hour work weeks for making the game finished.

Personally I was interested in game design, but I decided I'd become an English major with a minor in Business. This way I can play ALL the games and write about them for some magazine or website, or I could strike it rich as a businessman and found my own company to make games. Eh, its wishful thinking.

am i the only one who noticed he spelt career wrong?

almasdeathchild

Study Mechanical Engineering.

Its not the smartest thing to major in, but if you have the money and the diligence and the contacts, you could always go the Insomniac route, make your own company and hope for the best. Its a long shot though.

Plus game design is HARD. Lots of work involved, people like Ed Boon don't even have enough time to finish a Grand Theft Auto game, and in the later stages of development you get to have 80+ hour work weeks for making the game finished.

Personally I was interested in game design, but I decided I'd become an English major with a minor in Business. This way I can play ALL the games and write about them for some magazine or website, or I could strike it rich as a businessman and found my own company to make games. Eh, its wishful thinking.

Study Mechanical Engineering.

D4W1L4H

No.

Study Mechanical Engineering.

D4W1L4H

[QUOTE="SPYDER0416"]

Its not the smartest thing to major in, but if you have the money and the diligence and the contacts, you could always go the Insomniac route, make your own company and hope for the best. Its a long shot though.

Plus game design is HARD. Lots of work involved, people like Ed Boon don't even have enough time to finish a Grand Theft Auto game, and in the later stages of development you get to have 80+ hour work weeks for making the game finished.

Personally I was interested in game design, but I decided I'd become an English major with a minor in Business. This way I can play ALL the games and write about them for some magazine or website, or I could strike it rich as a businessman and found my own company to make games. Eh, its wishful thinking.

codymcclain14

Well that can be applied to game design, as well as other fields and jobs, so you could still be heavily involved in game creation and design, though I'd say that's a career for someone willing to suffer for their work.

[QUOTE="codymcclain14"][QUOTE="SPYDER0416"]

Its not the smartest thing to major in, but if you have the money and the diligence and the contacts, you could always go the Insomniac route, make your own company and hope for the best. Its a long shot though.

Plus game design is HARD. Lots of work involved, people like Ed Boon don't even have enough time to finish a Grand Theft Auto game, and in the later stages of development you get to have 80+ hour work weeks for making the game finished.

Personally I was interested in game design, but I decided I'd become an English major with a minor in Business. This way I can play ALL the games and write about them for some magazine or website, or I could strike it rich as a businessman and found my own company to make games. Eh, its wishful thinking.

SPYDER0416

Well that can be applied to game design, as well as other fields and jobs, so you could still be heavily involved in game creation and design, though I'd say that's a career for someone willing to suffer for their work.

Well, we can rule out English major for you. Good start.

Realistically you'll never get a career in game design so might as well do yourself a favor and think about something else. But honestly your only 16 by the time you actually have to get serious about a career you'll have completely different aspirations.

Let me be blunt.... there are more people then you...

Not everybody is going to get lucky enough to get a job in a studio that has a good series

Unless your super ambitious and got GREAT CONNECTIONS you will probably end up working the lowest end things if that

The field is oversaturated. Am I saying do not do it? Hell no but you need to think of the big picture before you make a choice and you NEED TO know the risk especially if that degree turns up as a dud.

As I have stated in the past, if you really want to get into the games industry, you need to learn the programs that developers use such as 3dSM, Photoshop, Unreal Ed, UDK and Maya to start with. Start making mods for games (at least games that still allow mods to be used in them). Build a big portfolio of mods as most devs want someone who know the software that they are using as well as game engines. Learning scripting can also help.

I wouldn't like it. Don't you basically lose your job every time a game is finished? Unless the place has another project lined up to start on immediately.

i actually made an effort to major in it once, and if there's one thing i can tell you, it's dont major in it unless you're creative, and a very good artist. IT's very important that you're good at drawing. There were a few drawing classes in the course i took, and sadly, i didn't pass them. DRawing is important becaue you need to make conceptual art for games. it's alos important to be good with software and 3D modeling.

If you want a good starting place, i recommend that you get mastering unreal Technology. it's a book that teaches you how to use the unreal level design system and you don't need to be a fan of the series to effectively use it.

it's alos important to be good with software and 3D modeling.

If you want a good starting place, i recommend that you get mastering unreal Technology. it's a book that teaches you how to use the unreal level design system and you don't need to be a fan of the series to effectively use it.

dissonantblack

Hmmmmm, I wonder who said that already in this thread?:|

I popped my head into this thread just to tell you that you spelled career wrong...:Dchilly-chill

Game design is a pretty lousy degree to get, many of my friends tried and bailed because it's too "tunnel vision" if you catch what I mean. You're better off with Computer Science and studying programming languages and graphics and getting the degree in those and then applying to game studios. This way you can have places besides gaming to fall back on for a career if the gaming thing doesnt work out. With a game design degree, you dont have much to go on

I popped my head into this thread just to tell you that you spelled career wrong...:Dchilly-chill

Game design is a pretty lousy degree to get, many of my friends tried and bailed because it's too "tunnel vision" if you catch what I mean. You're better off with Computer Science and studying programming languages and graphics and getting the degree in those and then applying to game studios. This way you can have places besides gaming to fall back on for a career if the gaming thing doesnt work out. With a game design degree, you dont have much to go on

wis3boi

[QUOTE="chilly-chill"]I popped my head into this thread just to tell you that you spelled career wrong...:DGamerwillzPS

You don't really need to know someone in the business. The two guys Sierra hired and bought Counterstrike from were modders. They showed the needed aptitude in using Valve's Unreal ed. Serellan AKA The Rooster, was hired by Red Storm Entertainment for showing his knowledge of the RSE engine and ability to use 3dSM. He went on to be lead designer for GRAW MP on the 360. He has since moved to Bungie the last I heard. Wolfsong was hired by GRIN and worked on GRAW2 for PC and Snowfella has done some modeling work for Blackfoot Studios for being able to use 3dSM and the RSE GR engine.

If you can show that you know the software, you can get hired on without really knowing anyone. The devs will notice your work if you have mods that people want to play and are popular and have good design to them.