   Education concerns.
  I decided I am going to go into game development and was wondering what everyones opinion on education is. I don''t really have much of a choice with the situation I''m in to go to a university out-of-state or even one that is more than 20 miles away(I live in the south chicago suburbs and even commuting to  the universities in the city would be way too much stress). I''ve read that a Computer Science degree would do but I want to know particularly what kind of classes. There are a few colleges in the area that provide an education in CS but their curriculum differs. Both colleges will offer the programming classes I need but they both offer more of the business classes for the degree than math/physics classes. The cis degree has a big emphasis on programming and business and only goes as far as college algebra in mathematics. Another degree program is computer technology. The program goes all the way through calc and physics III BUT the program is very lean on the programming and focuses more of circuit design. I can either get all the programming I need or all the math. I''m gonna keep looking at different degrees at different colleges in my area but what has helped everyone the most throughout their education. What classes, self-study, etc. 
Remember, even if you''re a good game developer, you''d still want a real degree.. something to carry you ever tough times..bas   [sPiKie] mmorpg isnt hard in vb;  self-studyPick something you like an become an expert in it.ie. engines, AI, implementing scripting lanuages, etc. ;  Most Universities will make you read the books listed here and then give you an exam on the material. If you have the self-motivation you can read them yourself and work on your own projects to build up a portfolio. ;  I feel I was grounded in the fundamentals and theory in college: operating systems, graphics, databases, programming paradigms, math, physics, EE, etc.  I only took one graphics course in school, and didn''t try my hand at graphics programming until some 10 years or so after I graduated, but the fundamentals stuck with me.  i.e., reading OpenGL books/tuts for the first time didn''t throw me.I''d highly recommend a CS degree, but I''m probably biased because I have one.  I''d be very interested in hearing from others in the field that don''t have one.--Dave Mikesell Software;  That''s one thing I noticed throughout the years is that the videogame developer''s profession is splitting up into specialties much like the film industry or even medical sciences had to as they evolved. I have a basic understanding of what the different jobs are as a game developer. They split things up as ThoughtCriminal said but what kind of study goes into each specialization. Developing game engines, my guess, is that they require a strong math background. What kind of knowledge goes into the other specialties though. I will be going for my CS degree and will be doing self-study as well, but for the self-study, after I learn the basics, should I immediatly pick a specialty that sounds interesting and go with it or should I just keep reading books that go along with the subject material at school and worry about specializing later? ;  Didn''t do much self-study in school.  I was too busy with school work, working a job, and having fun :-)   --Dave Mikesell Software