3 answers
Falkyn
Student
Fort Collins, Colorado
2
Questions
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What courses in college do you recommend to take for becoming a video game programmer?
I want to go into the video game industry #computer-science #video-games #computer-gaming
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3 answers
Blaire Kegerise
3D Environment Artist
10
Answers
Seattle, Washington
Updated
Blaire’s Answer
I'd honestly recommend getting a degree in computer science while working on some personal games on the side. A CS degree will be more well rounded, and will give you the option of going in to software (which pays a lot and has great benefits) or game development (which is fun). Good programmers are in high demand, so a non-specialized CS degree will allow you a lot more flexibility in future career options than a specific programming-for-game-design degree.
Greg Moler
Director, Solution Architect
2
Answers
New Haven, Connecticut
Updated
Greg’s Answer
so, since video games has changed to be such a large career path, some larger colleges will often times have dedicated courses to some of the topics of video games. however, since video games has so many factors and areas, there really isn't a 'do this to do video games' answer.
you have architects that design, deploy, and manage infrastructure. areas here include networking, hardware, cloud certifications (google, aws, azure, oracle). a slight offshoot here is security engineers, and often this area goes hand in hand
you have dbas that manage most of the data store infrastructure deployed by architects. courses in understanding database technologies would be relevant here
depending on the game, there are many languages that can be supported. so really, any CS degree will teach you how to program. once you have the programming concepts, moving and learning new languages is much easier. however i'd start with something lower level like c/c++ if they are still teaching it. it really is quite low level enough to learn the core basics of programming. and could even lend to a career in building game engines! but there is no wrong answer here. the key is the concepts in programming, not the language
and then there is graphic design, while it's not directly related to programming, digital artistry is a much needed component of building a game.
as stated above, usually a CS career path will cover a lot of above outside of the art factor. i wouldnt worry about a focus on specific courses, but a broader education on all of the above, so you can choose to dive in once you know what interests you.
you have architects that design, deploy, and manage infrastructure. areas here include networking, hardware, cloud certifications (google, aws, azure, oracle). a slight offshoot here is security engineers, and often this area goes hand in hand
you have dbas that manage most of the data store infrastructure deployed by architects. courses in understanding database technologies would be relevant here
depending on the game, there are many languages that can be supported. so really, any CS degree will teach you how to program. once you have the programming concepts, moving and learning new languages is much easier. however i'd start with something lower level like c/c++ if they are still teaching it. it really is quite low level enough to learn the core basics of programming. and could even lend to a career in building game engines! but there is no wrong answer here. the key is the concepts in programming, not the language
and then there is graphic design, while it's not directly related to programming, digital artistry is a much needed component of building a game.
as stated above, usually a CS career path will cover a lot of above outside of the art factor. i wouldnt worry about a focus on specific courses, but a broader education on all of the above, so you can choose to dive in once you know what interests you.
Yee Ja
Software Engineer
6
Answers
Round Rock, Texas
Updated
Yee’s Answer
I never had a job in game development, but the last time I was job hunting, most game development positions were looking for C++ developers with knowledge of object-oriented programming. I would recommend looking at the job postings from the game companies which produce the games you like playing. You can see from the job postings which skills are desired and from there, you can figure out the appropriate college courses to take.
I hope that helps and good luck!
I hope that helps and good luck!