I''m starting my junior year of high school this year, and I''m starting to think about what I should major in at college. I want to do something related to making games, but not programming. I want to do something that has to do with the development of the game, like the people who come up with all the ideas for the game itself, someone like Shigeru Miyamoto I guess. So what type of degree should I get for something like that?

I think your best bet is to become a map-maker. Make levels for FPS and RTS games. Learn what makes maps like DM3 and DM4 (quake 1) so damn good. You'll get a better understanding of gameplay, etc. Just having good game ideas isnt really a way to break into the industry, you need some skill.

not that game design isnt a skill.... but you need a way to demonstrate it

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Ratfest.org

Edited by - ratman on June 22, 2001 11:19:27 PM

I would suggest taking lots English and writing classes. Take some media classes to get a sence of what goes into a big production.

And like Ratman said, you won''t break into the game industry as a designer. You''ll have to work your way up to that. Build on another skill as well.

Thanks. I wanted to take some programming classes, just so I''d know what it was, and then also some creative writing and other English classes. Thanks again.

writing and english courses won''t get your far unless you work at an RPG company. The only real paths are art and programming, level design is workable too, but even then you should be a programmer or an artist. I''d go for programming. I though I''d hate it but then in my second year I basically had to take a programming class to fill out my schedule. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Highschool programming courses don''t give you a good idea of what real programming courses are like, the stuff is actually fun.