Tom Sloper says that you work to your limit and stop. But I do not agree with him. You see I believe limits are elastic and meant to be stretched. I do not think there is anything like a hard limit. Just predispositions and interests. Now seems to me that you have not much interest in Maths. That is okay, I suppose.

If you did then you would not be finding ways to excuse it but instead would not let something so simple as being incapable of doing maths get in your way of becoming good at maths. Now, I say find your interest and learn as much maths as required for you to excel at it. That could be very little but for any of it and in that context I assure you the maths will be so easy it would not seem as maths at all.

Quote: Original post by Daerax
Tom Sloper says that you work to your limit and stop.

I also said, "Give that extra push to everything."
It's one thing to say, "never stop trying." But if you try and fail 100 times, well... you might succeed on the 101st try...
But maybe you're just torturing yourself.
But of course, a lot of great stories have been told about that 101st try. "The Pursuit of Happyness," for example.

The kid kept saying "I can't do it, I can't do it." I acknowledged that it's possible that he really can't. If that's the case, then self-torture is inadvisable.

Of course, now he has raised the question of whether he even needs to do it (if he doesn't aspire to be a programmer, for instance).
That's an entirely different question than the one we were answering.
Maybe the 101st try, in his case, would have been needless self-torture, based on a misconception.

I'm sorry for any misinterpretation Tom i was trying to find a way to tell you what exact position i was in, and i think i dident explain my problem clearly enough. Sorry about that

Anyways thanks everyone for your input i think ive gotten the information i need but id always love more peoples inputs.

thanks again evreyone

Quote: Original post by Theonekiller
i think i dident explain my problem clearly enough. Sorry about that

Anyways thanks everyone for your input i think ive gotten the information i need but id always love more peoples inputs.

thanks again evreyone

Work harder at your English classes, Theo (expression, spelling, punctuation, capitalization...).

Quote: Original post by Tom Sloper

Quote: Original post by Theonekiller
i think i dident explain my problem clearly enough. Sorry about that

Anyways thanks everyone for your input i think ive gotten the information i need but id always love more peoples inputs.

thanks again evreyone

Work harder at your English classes, Theo (expression, spelling, punctuation, capitalization...).

Lol, I was just about to suggest the same thing. If math isn't your strong suit, so be it as long as you don't aspire to be a programmer. However, if you do aspire to be a designer or writer, communication skills are key.

Quote: Original post by ThinkTank
I've never understood why people think that game schools limit your career options. I graduated from Full Sail. The game company that I worked at laid off all of its employees about a month ago. Over the last month I applied to a bunch of positions and received 4 different offers, 3 of which were non-game companies. I think ultimately, employers are going to look at your portfolio and experience more than where you went to school.

I can vouch for what this guy is saying. I interviewed for a traditional job last week. Out of 21 candidates, 18 were CS or IS majors, one was accounting and the last 2 had degrees in game development from Devry.

Maybe game design is getting more mainstream acceptance, or maybe this particular company is more concerned with people and not what is on the piece of paper. Both of the guys seemed just as competent as the rest of us. Either way, It was very cool to see a couple of game development guys there and hopefully there are more people out there creating opportunities and debunking stigmas so the rest of you guys have more options than just gave development jobs... just in case you need them.

Quote: Original post by link3333
I go to DigiPen, and I think the only advantage over normal colleges are the graphics courses and the forced game teams.

Here you take two classes on 2D and 3D software rasterization, a class on shaders (Phong lighting, shadows, reflection, refraction, bump mapping, etc.), and a class on graphical optimizations (BSP, octree, kd-tree, occlusion, ray casting, etc.). Those are required. Then there is a more open class on advanced graphical techniques with shaders. There's an character animation class that includes IK and rigid-body physics. The next animation class goes over particle systems, fluid simulations, flocking, and more. Also a class on ray tracing. Of course, there's a pretty large amount of math classes to support all of that.

The forced game teams are nice. It helps everyone get used to working on small teams and experience working on a game with help from the instructors. We also get pretty good access to the artists (at junior/senior level) in the art program at DigiPen. At a normal college, setting up a team and working on a game would most likely have to be arranged outside of class. It also helps when the other instructors know when a milestone is coming up for game class, and they can ease their homework load for a week.

Other than that, you could probably get a good enough experience elsewhere, but I do think DigiPen's graphics courses are pretty good. If that's what you're interested in, this may be a good route.

But there are a lot of classes that suck. Except for AI with the magnificently-bearded Steve Rabin.

I also go to DigiPen, currently a Junior. And to be completely honest I wish I went to an actual university for a number of reasons. But there are also reasons why I am glad I went to DigiPen.

Before I jump into the pros and cons, you said your math background was a little shaky. I took calculus in high school, and the calculus class here was no different then in high school. You do use a TON of linear algebra (which for me a lot of it just goes over my head, but you should be alright if you remember Matrix/Vector operations.)

Ill say the good things first, then talk about the bad and the ugly.

Pros:
*Like link3333 said, they force you onto game teams, which means you learn how to make a game from top to bottom.

*The professors for your game classes have come from the game industry and are backed by their experience, which could help in finding a job when you graduate.

*The CS professor here is probably the most bad-ass programmer ever (Prof. Mead).

*Its a really small school so your not chilling in classes of 100+ people.

*You'll learn A LOT, and have the projects to show on your resume.

Cons (potentially, unless these things don't freak you out like they do me):
*There are a lot of weird people at DigiPen. (Hope this doesn't come to bite me in the booty). I always considered myself a bit of a nerd back in high school, but hot damn, you come to this school and there a people playing magic/pokemon/the newest video games/ etc, and sometimes thats REALLY ANNOYING. If you sit and listen to some people it literally seems like they have no life beyond these things. (I personally do not value these things, as I prefer to hang out with friends, drive around, holler at chicks, etc...)

*You literally work all week long on stuff. Freshman year for me was not that bad though. Its totally gradual and you don't really grasp that it is until you realize that you've been chilling in your apartment for the past 3 days without seeing the light of day, because you've been working on graphics, or AI project, or the Game project, etc.

*Some people here don't know how to shower... aka they are smelly.

*If you have a girlfriend, and decide to do a long distance relationship (if your far away) then weigh that option, but know that there are about 10 girls here, at least at the programming campus (more at the art campus). So if being around girls and socializing with them is important to you (on any level) coming here would be bad. That said, I feel like you would meet more interesting people at a normal University, because of different majors, or dorm living, etc.

Conclusion: You'll be a happier person going to a University if you enjoy socializing with people, and you yourself are a well rounded person. You'll be able to take cool classes like Human Sexualities, or athletic classes, etc at a real University, you wont get that sort of luxury at DigiPen. If these things are not important to you, and you are totally in love with video games and love computer science to no end, then DigiPen would be a good place to go.

One thing I do absolutely hate about the game classes here, is that the professors don't really teach you that much. Its more like a class where they say "Okay you guys make a 2D (or a 3D game, for 3rd/4th year)." But they don't really show you how to do anything. You have to learn DirectX on your own, you'll have to learn how to do design patterns on your own, etc. The professors are there if you have questions (and will answer them well), but they don't really teach you anything.

Long post I know, but I just want you to really look at this in-depth, and I hope I gave you some insight on the life at DigiPen vs University life. If you have more questions about life at DigiPen, feel free to message me.

-Bobby

Hi, I currently attend Digipen.
I always thought I wasn't a great math student. I was a C+ average student in high school and the highest math I took was Calculus. After high school, I went to a community college for two years and only took a statistics class before I came to Digipen. You don't need to be the greatest math student to go to a specialized game school / university. My roommate didn't make it to Calculus in high school.

If you work hard enough in your math classes, you will pass them. One of my math professor's at Digipen told me that you don't need to get A's, just make sure to pass your classes. It's better to have the experience.

Quote: Original post by Palidine

I think the general consensus is normal college and get a BS in computer science (assuming you want to be a programmer). The "problem" with video game specific is that it pigeon holes you un-necessarily into games. i.e. you're just as likely to get hired with a standard BS (arguably more likely) but with a standard BS you also have the flexibility to move to any industry and be a programmer in the event you decide you hate working in games (which happens often)

Going to a video game specific school will not pigeon hole you into games.
Video game programming is one the hardest programming. You could easily get
a job programming anywhere. You will learn a lot about general programming if you go to a game specific school.

Quote: Original post by bobbydriggs

Quote: Original post by link3333
I go to DigiPen, and I think the only advantage over normal colleges are the graphics courses and the forced game teams.

Here you take two classes on 2D and 3D software rasterization, a class on shaders (Phong lighting, shadows, reflection, refraction, bump mapping, etc.), and a class on graphical optimizations (BSP, octree, kd-tree, occlusion, ray casting, etc.). Those are required. Then there is a more open class on advanced graphical techniques with shaders. There's an character animation class that includes IK and rigid-body physics. The next animation class goes over particle systems, fluid simulations, flocking, and more. Also a class on ray tracing. Of course, there's a pretty large amount of math classes to support all of that.

The forced game teams are nice. It helps everyone get used to working on small teams and experience working on a game with help from the instructors. We also get pretty good access to the artists (at junior/senior level) in the art program at DigiPen. At a normal college, setting up a team and working on a game would most likely have to be arranged outside of class. It also helps when the other instructors know when a milestone is coming up for game class, and they can ease their homework load for a week.

Other than that, you could probably get a good enough experience elsewhere, but I do think DigiPen's graphics courses are pretty good. If that's what you're interested in, this may be a good route.

But there are a lot of classes that suck. Except for AI with the magnificently-bearded Steve Rabin.

I also go to DigiPen, currently a Junior. And to be completely honest I wish I went to an actual university for a number of reasons. But there are also reasons why I am glad I went to DigiPen.

Before I jump into the pros and cons, you said your math background was a little shaky. I took calculus in high school, and the calculus class here was no different then in high school. You do use a TON of linear algebra (which for me a lot of it just goes over my head, but you should be alright if you remember Matrix/Vector operations.)

Ill say the good things first, then talk about the bad and the ugly.

Pros:
*Like link3333 said, they force you onto game teams, which means you learn how to make a game from top to bottom.

*The professors for your game classes have come from the game industry and are backed by their experience, which could help in finding a job when you graduate.

*The CS professor here is probably the most bad-ass programmer ever (Prof. Mead).

*Its a really small school so your not chilling in classes of 100+ people.

*You'll learn A LOT, and have the projects to show on your resume.

Cons (potentially, unless these things don't freak you out like they do me):
*There are a lot of weird people at DigiPen. (Hope this doesn't come to bite me in the booty). I always considered myself a bit of a nerd back in high school, but hot damn, you come to this school and there a people playing magic/pokemon/the newest video games/ etc, and sometimes thats REALLY ANNOYING. If you sit and listen to some people it literally seems like they have no life beyond these things. (I personally do not value these things, as I prefer to hang out with friends, drive around, holler at chicks, etc...)

*You literally work all week long on stuff. Freshman year for me was not that bad though. Its totally gradual and you don't really grasp that it is until you realize that you've been chilling in your apartment for the past 3 days without seeing the light of day, because you've been working on graphics, or AI project, or the Game project, etc.

*Some people here don't know how to shower... aka they are smelly.

*If you have a girlfriend, and decide to do a long distance relationship (if your far away) then weigh that option, but know that there are about 10 girls here, at least at the programming campus (more at the art campus). So if being around girls and socializing with them is important to you (on any level) coming here would be bad. That said, I feel like you would meet more interesting people at a normal University, because of different majors, or dorm living, etc.

Conclusion: You'll be a happier person going to a University if you enjoy socializing with people, and you yourself are a well rounded person. You'll be able to take cool classes like Human Sexualities, or athletic classes, etc at a real University, you wont get that sort of luxury at DigiPen. If these things are not important to you, and you are totally in love with video games and love computer science to no end, then DigiPen would be a good place to go.

One thing I do absolutely hate about the game classes here, is that the professors don't really teach you that much. Its more like a class where they say "Okay you guys make a 2D (or a 3D game, for 3rd/4th year)." But they don't really show you how to do anything. You have to learn DirectX on your own, you'll have to learn how to do design patterns on your own, etc. The professors are there if you have questions (and will answer them well), but they don't really teach you anything.

Long post I know, but I just want you to really look at this in-depth, and I hope I gave you some insight on the life at DigiPen vs University life. If you have more questions about life at DigiPen, feel free to message me.

-Bobby

Wow thank you soooo much, that is exactly the answers im looking for.

I think i am the exact same person as you socially/thought wise

thanks

Quote: Original post by Theonekiller

Wow thank you soooo much, that is exactly the answers im looking for.

I think i am the exact same person as you socially/thought wise

thanks

No problem dude. I was trying to help touch on things that I never thought of when deciding on where to go. I am glad I could help!

And like I said, feel free to message me if you have more questions.