I have 2 questions for anyone that''s taken courses thru gameinstitute.com. Gaiiden might be of some assistance here too. I''m thinking about taking the intro to c++ course, just wondering how involved the course is. Does it briefly cover certain topics or do they explain things in a nice, sensible english fashion? The other question is how flexible is the game institute itself on assignments? I''d like to take the class starting 12/14/01 but I am going to have guests visiting me right after Christmas for a few days so I won''t be able to work on any assignments or do any of the reading. If someone could give me some info on how they do things, it would be greatly appreciated. Hitchhiker90 "There''s one bitch in the world, one bitch with many faces" -- Jay "What are you people, on dope?" -- Mr. Hand

Hi,

I''m currently doing the D3D Game programming and the Advanced BSP/PVS/CSG courses over at GI. Having not done the Intro to C++ course, I can''t tell you how detailed it is. I can tell you however that all of the courses are very flexible and the situation you described should be no trouble. In the two courses I''m doing all of the ''assignments'' are simply work for you to do in your own time - they are not marked or even submitted. If you want to take some time off you can simply stop reading for a week and pickup on it the next week.

Mark

At the moment im in Week 4 of the intro to C++ course. Game Institute is fine, and like Marack said you can do the assignments at your own time. Also at the end they give you a few months to finish up also. As of the Intro course its doing a good job for me. Most of the examples it has shows toward how it would be used in making a game.

Jeff D


Suffered seven plagues, but refused to let the slaves go free. ~ Ross Atherton

It''s a little more expensive, but if you plan on pursuing a degree in the future, you can take a course in C or C++ at the local community college, then when you finally start the university you can transfer it for credit. Otherwise, you''ll have to sit through a C++ class at the expensive uni.

$0.02

gameinstitute is nice if you like self-studies coz it explained c/c++ in gaming terms just like Jeff D said and plus you could have answers to your unanswered questions coz they offer a online chat with your instructor

jeff d: what assignment? gameinstitute doesn't give you assignment right? you just have to read and understand all their pdf's etc., then at the last day, you'd take their exam and pass it to be able to get a certificate right?

oh btw hitch, i'm currently enrolled their, intro c/c++


Edited by - mickey on December 3, 2001 6:09:01 AM

Would you say these courses are good to enroll in or is it just as good to learn from a book like SAMS with help from seasoned programming friends if need be?

Geoff

I''ve take a few of the GameInstitute classes and it really depends on the professor. Some classes are better than others. I found the Direct3D class to be fairly weak, professor had to leave mid way through the course, material was presented late, and some other snags. I did take the math and BSP classes, both of which were excellent. Well presented and in depth. So it really depends on who''s teaching it.

The classes are weekly. The course material is comprised of weekly pdf course material, audio lecture notes and text lecture notes. The assignments are not turned in or graded (maybe the other courses are), so it''s up to you to be diligent enough to do it. The professors and other classmates respond fairly quickly to any questions you post on the message boards. Regarding the C++ class, although I haven''t taken it, I would suggest giving it a try. You should still buy a C++ book, you''ll always need one.

I meant the assignments where the downloadable program that the professor gave. And some did make us have to finish, but we didn''t have to return em.

I finally got ICQ up also. I just dont use it much

Jeff D



Suffered seven plagues, but refused to let the slaves go free. ~ Ross Atherton

Whoops, sorry I missed out on this one, I was in bed throwing up. Oh wait that was the day before. Okay then I was in bed recovering from throwing up

Either way, I guess all I can add is saying that the amount of work given out during a course depends on the professor. GI requires a final exam and weekly lessons, but a prof may include his own assignments and even a mid term if it''s a 12-wk course. So it depends.

Carry on.

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