   My future feels a little messy.
  Are there any programmers here (or famous programmers) who are known for two or more specialties?Long story short (because I can go on for pages about this), I think I have a good chance with programming, and a good chance with several kinds of art.If I can't just choose one, will I be shooting myself in the foot for getting an "education" in both?Another query;Are there ever games that come into full realization, with the creator's plan being compromised as little as possible? I'm starting to worry that if my project ever became big enough that someone would want to "fund" me, that I'd be at their mercy as far as staffing and direction goes. :p   
  I know many people that double major in something else plus computer science in order to specialize in that field. Actually one of my friends at the university I go to is a political science and computer science major. I'm not sure how he decided that but he plans to use both in his future job.Programmers are normally stereotyped as having programmer art. They are generally on two separate parts of the brain. You could be unique if your art is really good in having a bridge between the two sides that's larger than most.   ;Quote:Original post by MechzIf I can't just choose one, will I be shooting myself in the foot for getting an "education" in both?If you mean dual majoring, then it's certainly not shooting yourself in the foot as long as you have the stamina to handle two degrees at once. Dual majors are impressive on resumes, they allow you to obtain specialization in your field when you graduate college which immediately puts you ahead of many other potential competition when job hunting, and it demonstrates you have a strong worth ethic and high mental fortitude.In addition, it often will open up the potential jobs you could get by a large margin, which is always nice. Honestly, you can't expect to work for the same company your entire adult life outside of college. Having your options open when that unfortunate time comes that you have to find a new job is very stress relieving.Quote:Are there ever games that come into full realization, with the creator's plan being compromised as little as possible? I'm starting to worry that if my project ever became big enough that someone would want to "fund" me, that I'd be at their mercy as far as staffing and direction goes. :pIf you're an executive or producer or lead designer at an established game development company, then it's possible your vision could come into full realization without being completely reworked by the technical team. This assumes you have enough experience and technical knowledge to know what sorts of game designs are not technically feasible--this assumption should be valid if you have such a job. Keep in mind that in such a case, however, this won't just be your vision. It will most likely a design that was put together by several people, although you could have spearheaded the operation.In indie development, if you've got a good team already and you communicate clearly with them during the design of the game, then things should work out all right.The danger occurs when you write a whole design up by yourself and then go searching for a team to implement it. You may have overlooked some technical complications, the programmers may not be skilled enough to do certain features, some features may be too costly or time-consuming, or perhaps your design is just not clear enough for others to fully understand. It's certainly possible that you could get it implemented exactly as you envisioned it; just don't be too disappointed if this ideal doesn't turn into reality for you.   ;  I have the similar problem. I finished graphics design high school and won some awards for a design but I'm a lot better at programming (a introductory course five years ago and then i picked up the rest myself).I plan to get a Bachelor in computers (perhaps even Masters) but I would also like to study biology or physics since it always seemed like a "worthy" thing to do... Unfortunately I'll have to choose soon, since the time when I can just play whit whatever I like has came to an end and I have to "grow up" now... I'll probably chose programming since I have the highest chance of success there, so IMO specialization in one field and keeping others as hobbies/integrating them in your work is the best way to go [choosing a primary direction and keeping focus]. With art/coding game designer seems ideal position but you will have to work up to it IMO and coding is the best way to go if you already know it since it will give a technical backing to your "artistic vision" [IMO again]. Well unless you have rich folks who are willing to support you trough collage for next 10 years [grin].As for famous programmers I know Carmack builds his rockets but IDK how successful he is.   ;  Double degrees are useful for both generalists and specialists. You can either work broad and do work covered by both degrees, or work in the intersection between your degrees and do work that isn't suited to someone with one degree alone.About your other query: most of the publisher funded dev houses I knew were directed by their publishers. They'd typically hand over a piece of IP they'd acquired like a movie tie-in or a sports label and instruct the dev house to work on it. This is coming more so now that the smaller houses are being bought up and turned into internal publisher houses. I didn't see any publisher influence in staffing but they did have a lot to say in direction - it was their money on the line, after all.If you want to retain your control, you might need to go indie and self-develop, only getting publishers involved near the end of the process, if at all.   