Hi guys, I am currently a senior in high school and I want to get into a career in the gaming industry. Im not exactly sure what field yet. Either programming or graphics. Right now I have some experience with 3d graphics. I am in a multimedia class at a technical school, outside my high school. We have done all the basics, and are starting on organics and such. I love games with a passion, and would love to create them. I dont have very much programming experience, but im willing to learn. I currently have my eye on a technical school in Florida called Full Sail. Does anyone have experience with this school? It looks very promising. www.fullsail.com Im sure this post looks very ignorant and niave(sp?) but im kinda lost about what the best way to prepare for the industry is. Any help would be much appreciated!

Keep in mind that Full Sail will only get you an associates degree. As such, your education at that school will be entirely related to the field you choose (ie., game design) and you will not get the education that a university can offer. Basically, as far as I can tell, unless you are absolutly positive that you will go into the industry you choose to study at Full Sail, I wouldn''t attend that tech. school but rather more of a traiditional university, where you can get a more widespread education (such as all types of gfx or programming). That way, you could be ready for the entertainment industry, or the scientific field (I suggest you look into this, much more job security, and you can still do graphics design or prgramming, such as simulations).

Just some ideas.

Ben

Well, from what ive gathered, this industry is based totally on how good your portfolio is right? So if I develop good techniques and have really good work, thats all that matters right? A couple people I have talked to said you dont even need school if your good enough, but im not even close to being good so im going to need something like full sail to teach me good techniques....I cant exactly get into a state college where im at currently. I havent taken algebra2. So im thinkin maybe I should just stick with the graphics part eh? A lot of people told me programming is really hard, and has a lot to do with logic math and stuff, so that kind of worries me as well...hmm...this is on awful rude awakening for me Anyways thanks for the feedback.

I''ve been to one very good website that focused on how to get a job in the gaming industruy. Sorry I can''t remember the URL. But the ideas expressed on that site goes like this:

*College is a must.

*Don''t just go to college and learn only about programming or graphics or what not. Get a wide range of education because game dev. is not just coding and graphics. It''s an art. The more you know about things like history and culture will benifit you when you go to design a game. You would''ve gained influence from different cultures, and events in history that will help you make your game more interesting.

*The gaming industry is very competitive. The majority of game projects get dropped before they reach the eyes of publishers, let alone make it to the sheleves.

*Don''t attempt making a game alone. You can only do so much by yourself. If you try doing EVERYTHING, your project is more likely to get abandoned because you get tire or run into dead ends.

*When working in a team, make sure everyone can get along even though we all won''t agree on everything. If the team always fights amongst itself, the project will be abandoned and the team splits.

On a positive note: Great games can come from anywhere. Even "garage", home-brewed games can succeed if the game is actually FUN!

Example: Deer Hunter. The greatest enigma in computer gaming history. The game had awful graphics, no music, bad replayability, yet it sold so many copies that rivaled leading game companies.

Example: Half-Life
This game came out of Valve, a small company. They were somewhat new and not well known...yet. Half-Life instantly became the game of the year.