   Will my plan for becoming a game programmer work?
  For a long time it has been my dream to build games. Recently I decided to go back to school and get a degree so I could finally reach this goal. I just took 6 months of Java and I must say it was a lot of fun, coding feels pretty natural for me. Recently I've started working with XNA and I must say I'm very excited to see what I can make with it. I haven't actually entered a major yet, I've just been getting math and programming prerequisites out of the way. I'm trying to decide where to go from here. I'm considering this degree: http://www.bothell.washington.edu/CSS/degrees/bscss.xhtml because I can quickly get started, and because they have a blossoming XNA program. Other schools like DigiPen or Seattle University look really expensive. I've heard horror stories of people graduating with 60-70 thousand dollars of debt. Going to a cheap public school like UW, grants will pay for most of my education, meaning I can probably graduate without any debt. I plan to take continuing education 3d programming classes at DigiPen in the summers, and use both my allotted independent studies to develop game programming skills. I don't think creating a portfolio will be too much trouble as I build little games for fun already. Once I know C++ and C# I imagine the games I work on will naturally become more complex and impressive. Will my plan work? Will this lead me to a Game programming job? What pitfalls are hidden in my path? Any honest and experience based advise/criticism/wisdom is welcome. I'm just trying to avoid making big mistakes.   
Quote:Original post by statigarWill my plan work? Will this lead me to a Game programming job? Nobody can foretell your future. Your plan sounds like a good one, but nobody can answer this question without a crystal ball.; Passion baby, it's all about having a passion for it. You can program games anytime you want.. There is no official criteria for being a game programmer, other than just programming games, whether it be for fun or work. Good luck!   ;  As Tom said, sans crystal ball, no one can tell you what will work, but what's important is that you do have a plan that's based in reality, and that you do appear to have passion for the work. All to often people wish to get in the industry with no real plan, or a plan that is entirely unrealistic, so you're already two steps ahead of that crowd.On the issue of the expense of other schools (and as a Digipen graduate, I can sympathize with your concerns,) the cost of one's schooling should never really come down to a desire to avoid debt, only in one's inability (for whatever reason) to procure the funds. Your education is an investment that will pay off over the rest of your working life, the 10 or 20 or even 50 thousand dollars of difference it may take to get a higher-quality education, will generally pay off in spades over the next 40 or 50 years of your life, even though that kind of debt can be a daunting thought now. Any financial advisor on the face of the earth will tell you to avoid debt at all costs, except in two cases: buying a home, and getting yourself the best education you can. Another thing you may pursue is to participate in one of the regional game development clubs and groups that are in the area. Unfortunately, the GameDev.net and Seattle IDGA chapters seem to be at a stand-still, but I know of at least one meetup.com group that meets to discuss game design, share work, and participate in the occasional group project once or twice monthly. I've been meaning to go to one of their meetings, but haven't yet -- if you'd like the details you can PM me and I'll link you up.   ;  In theory, if you became a VERY good programmer, then you would be able to get a job without a degree, but I'm in university, and I've met people who went to college (community college for those of you in the US) who are in my program because they were constantly being passed over for people with a full bachlor's.;  From what i've looked up in the uk.im guna need a computer science degree for most places.although as godsend said, you could get one without i guess, if your really good.an xna course tho :/ daym, wish i lived where you do.   ;  I agree about passion. And one important note - you will want great math and advanced software engineering education A LOT more than some sorts of "game programmer" stuff. So i strongly suggest choosing very serious majors.   ;Quote:Original post by ryanp321From what i've looked up in the uk.im guna need a computer science degree for most places.although as godsend said, you could get one without i guess, if your really good.an xna course tho :/ daym, wish i lived where you do.There are a few places in the UK that use C# with XNA for their Game Programming courses (at least in the first year or so).   ;  Start building up a portfolio of stuff that you have done as soon as possible. Employeers are not going to be impressed with a piece of paper that says you have a degree, they will be impressed with the work that you do.  Makes lots of small games, things that you can show off your skills with.   ;Quote:There are a few places in the UK that use C# with XNA for their Game Programming courses (at least in the first year or so).There are even less companies who use XNA to write games. I can't think of one. Some tools are written in XNA. Today companies are developing on multi-platforms and the language(s) of choice is c/c++.Knowing how to program and knowing how to make games are 2 different skills. I have known people who have been into higher education who can prattle on about how to use "this" language to its best but have not been able to program the solution and or written such dreadful code they dont have a clue what it does.As long as you have fun making games and expect to learn new stuff all the time then the future is bright.   