   What do you think of UAT?
  http://www.uat.eduhttp://www.gamedegree.com/Out of all of the game design schools I've checked out UAT being rated as one of the best in numerous magazines, having a 3 year 3 semester a year time span, having instructors that are famous, and even having the most up to date technology sold me on the college.But I'd like to know what you think about it the main thing that hurts is the 30,000 a year cost, and the fact if you live in the apartments nearby you have to pay for mostly everything, so its alot of expenses to tack on.Additionally as I stated in my other thread, my math skills suck and its quite possible I may consider going to a local college to beef up my math, which is going to be hard seeing as how the local schools want really high GPA's and my gpa sucked because I suck at science, and had idiots in my english classes that made it quite hard for me to concentrate.Is it worth it to go to a 2 year associates degree local college to get my math skills up, before I go to UAT? Is it worth it to go to UAT?What are the math skills I should try to take in my associates degree, is there a better way?Thanks for your time.Sincerely,Aesieru   
  Do you want to do game design or game development?  If design is what you're after, you don't need a whole lot of math.  Design is more about understanding user interface issues, understanding interactive storytelling, etc etc etc.As for your question about getting a game degree, I've heard a lot of people have stigmas about them not being as high quality as a traditional 4-year degree.   ;Quote:Original post by cwhiteAs for your question about getting a game degree, I've heard a lot of people have stigmas about them not being as high quality as a traditional 4-year degree.I believe, for most people, it is not so much a question of the quality as it is the breadth and depth of the education. What game schools teach, I'm sure they teach well.   ;  The Design thing for them seemed to be about art, not storyboarding, the game programming curve seemed to be about math.   ;Quote:Original post by cwhiteAs for your question about getting a game degree, I've heard a lot of people have stigmas about them not being as high quality as a traditional 4-year degree.My primary concerns are what you'll do with a game degree to diversify. I've changed my concentration and minor several times throughout university, and I know that if I don't get a games job I can always go to another job and use my CS degree to apply there.There is no such guarantee of degree "portability" to non-games jobs with a game-specific degree; one employer or resume-grepping headhunter may not see the value in hiring a games coder even if you can. It's all about flexibility; that's why I generally recommend avoiding vocational schools. Games are still a very immature field; I've had interviewers look at me strangely when I talk about solving problems in the game-development field as the average person has absolutely no idea of the depth and complexity of the problem space or its relation to computer science.   ;  I've found a question I need answering and if it doesn't receive much input here I may post a topic on it.What are the actual general game jobs? I mean I was under the thought that these were themGame Programmer: Basically does the innerworkings of the game, behind what you see coding, mathematics, algorithyms.Game Designer: Artists, basically draws everything and plots it all down. They make what you see when playing a game.Game Developer: Combo of the two.But now I'm hearing that designers don't do that, I checked out the UAT Game Design description and sure enough it wants art.I'm confused... but I want to get this straight so I don't spend time learning something that won't allow me to in the future make the games I want.   ;  Okay, game programmers work on the engine, gameplay, logic, and everything else needed to make a game work. They really only need math for the 2d and 3d rendering, physics, and shaders. Artists do storyboarding, concept art, 3d models, and levels. They don't require math at all(well, not in any of my friends cases.Designers do the story, how gameplay will work, and what the graphics should look like. The most art they usually do is basic concepts, and telling the artists how things should look.   ;Quote:Original post by DelsanaI'm confused... but I want to get this straight so I don't spend time learning something that won't allow me to in the future make the games I want.Well, now we're into the meat of your post. What do you want to do? Do you want to work for a big game company? Small game company? Two-man startup? Do you want to start that startup?Big companies generally don't hire people right into design, from what I understand. Small game companies usually use their own people. Check out Sloper's guide for some advice breaking into the industry.   ;  What "I" want is to be able to have something to do with the creation of games, and eventually lead up to the point where I can make my own game, and either have it sponsored by a company, or start my own company and release it. I feel that this game idea over (90+ pages) now will be an AAA class game.I am now faced with what do I want to get a degree in "Design or Programming" and that is the real question, I know some HTML have a Masters Certification for Microsoft Office, have a National Certificate in Java so yeah I have some things under my belt but I don't know what to really choose.   ;  If you want to eventually make YOUR game, become a game designer. You'd first start helping other people flesh out their games, and when you've proven yourself after a few games, the higher-ups may see that you know what makes a good game and let you lead a team to make your own.   