This seems to be the right group to ask. I''m looking to break into game design and am adding programming to my skills, because the more skills I have, the better I am. And it lets me talk to programmers, obviously. Anyway, I was wondering about GameInstitute, specifically, if any of you have taken any of the courses they offer or have heard anything, good or ill. FYI, I''d probably start with the Intro to C++ course. Thanks!

I don''t know what GameInstitute is, but the only school that focuses mainly on game design that I know of is ...that one.... in Nevada...I dunno I''ve HEARD its pretty good, but then again, the person telling me this was a paid representative from their school... It had something to do with arts, and sounded more like a design/modeling (as in computer models) school than it did a programming school...the guy kept talking about how so many students end up working for NASA, which is weird because, although to work at NASA you need a lot of physics skills, you would think most of the people who goto colledge for game programming would end up...programming...games.....

"I''ve learned something today: It doesn''t matter if you''re white, or if you''re black...the only color that REALLY matters is green"
-Peter Griffin

I''ve taken a couple of their courses (Game Mathematics and DirectPlay). They''re ok, not extraordinary. Probably good for beginner or intermediate level.

Breakaway Games

i have taken too, introduction to c/c++, all i can say, the nice thing about their text book is, it''s written aimed for game programming, and my intructor told me that, everything in the textbook are all the ones likely you''ll be using in game programming

You know, I take classes there...and to tell the truth I have
mixed feelings about it. For the first class, the
Intro to C and C++ programming, its pretty easy, and fun.
After that, I moved to DirectInput programming, and got
instantly lost. The good thing is that most of the time the
instructors will answer questions within the day you ask them.
The first class they reccommend you take is the math class, but
I found that it was a very difficult course, I consequently
have only finished the intro to programming class, and am still
not quite sure enough in my knowledge to take the other exams.
The good thing is that they give you a little certificate for
every class you finish. But the bad thing is, I think for
beginners it is a very difficult cirriculum. One other thing to
note is that they teach mostly with the use of their SDK. The
Thing I dont like about that is that its like trying to learn
twice. I was explained that it was because in the real world
of game programming you are almost always using someone else''s
SDK. But still I''d want to know the base stuff before I learned
an SDK. Thats at least the way I feel. So I can''t really
reccommend it one way or the other. I''d say if you''re an
absolute beginner, maybe a different way is better to go.

-Lohrno

Thanks everyone! I''d probably just take the Intro to C++ course, since I seem to be learning it fine, if slowly, on my own, but I think a class-kinda thing would help more. We''ll see from there.

Rats, I missed another one didn''t I? Well if you have any more questions about Game Institute you can email or get in touch with me at any time. We''ve been hearing good things about our C++ intro course. It''s ultimately up to the instructor to provide a good overall experience - we''ve had problems in the past with instructors not making time to chat to students or not informing them if they are unavailable for a time. If you run across anything like this contact me ASAP so we can straighten things out. Thanks.

_________________________________________________________________

Drew Sikora
A.K.A. Gaiiden

ICQ #: 70449988
AOLIM: DarkPylat

Blade Edge Software
Staff Member, GDNet
Public Relations, Game Institute

3-time Contributing author, Game Design Methods , Charles River Media (coming GDC 2002)
Online column - Design Corner at Pixelate

NJ IGDA Chapter - NJ developers unite!! [Chapter Home | Chapter Forum]

You know, Stan Trujillo is usually extremely helpful, I''d just
thought I''d point that out...if you ever run into him, be sure
to give him a pat on the back.

As far as everyone else goes, I dont have enough experience
to say...I''m so lost in the math class that I think I''m gonna
need to hire a private tutor for it, I mean the only questions
I have are basically "I just dont get it." John De Goes
seems okay when hes around...and he seems helpful...just I think
mostly my problems in his class are problems with me not even
having enough understanding to ask meaningful questions.

As far as anyone else, I havent taken their classes, but I
look forward to trying them all out.

My only gripe is with the eiSDK. I posted a small gripe in
the DirectInput class messageboard about it. I think if we
use any SDK, we should have created it in previous classes.
Stan explained to me that people in the real world use SDKs to
create games all the time, but I think that if we dont understand
the basic code well enough to write it ourselves, it becomes
wasted time...

Thats basically my feelings on GameInstitute...They offer nice
classes, and its cool that you can take game development
classes onling, but I hope some things will be changed soon

-Lohrno