Is this a likely scenario

Anything is possible, but a better question is to ask what's probable. It's probable that you'll have a much harder time getting hired without a degree than you will with one. It's probable that there are thousands of people out there who are as skilled with the UDK as you are, and that you will need something they don't have to stand out from the crowd. It's therefore probable that not having something that they all do have (ie: a degree) will make it much more difficult.

I don't think anyone cares about an expensive degree from Digipen though. Except maybe DigiPen. I think most employers would be just as happy to see a plain old BSc Computer Science from the University of Your Choosing.

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Original post by Amyrildora I was wondering if two people, One doing the concept art and most of the textures (my friend) and the other doing the rest, modeling, texturing some, design, coding, etc. (me) made a decent game with the Unreal Engine, if Companys would be willing to take a look at us without us showing our fancy degrees from a costly college such as DigiPen, P.S. I'm only 15 so I have sometime to sharpen my skills :D

Anything is possible. Make a good enough portfolio, and maybe you can get a job without a degree. But is it likely? No. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go ahead and make that demo. You should.
BTW, nobody ever said you have to have a fancy costly game degree (in fact, we're always saying the opposite).
And having a degree will likely stand you in good stead for life.
P.S. You can also sharpen your English, that too would likely stand you in good stead for life.

*Definitely* keep working on the UDK. If you're only 15 now you're leagues ahead of the game. Good stuff. A strong portfolio and knowledge about common 3rd party engines and tools is essential Designer employment stuff.

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Original post by sybixsus I think most employers would be just as happy to see a plain old BSc Computer Science from the University of Your Choosing.

This. But I would say "most employers *prefer*". There's still tons of bias against the specialty schools. Anyway, if you want to be a designer (as opposed to a programmer) I've seen all kinds of degrees: history, literature, economics, math, CS...

But you definitely need to get a college degree. A college degree in today's world is like what a high school degree was 15-20 years ago: minimum bar for good employment.

And as Tom points out, we generally recommend avoiding the specialty schools like Digipen/Full Sail/etc. A more generic degree BS/BA from a regular 4 year college is typically preferred. Obviously the better a college you can get in to... [smile]

- me

neither is likely to give you a job in game design in the industry. Put them together and you might just get one step closer.
Chances are doing both will result in you knocking on the QA's door, and then secure a job as junior designer.
But doing only one (the game) or the other (the class) won't score you much on their own.

I think the whole point is to show determination. School achieves it an environment with guidelines, while a personal project shows you have some self-governing principles and determination.

One thing I will say about specialty degrees is that they help a lot with networking. Instead of having to do all the networking yourself, you already have a base of graduates in the industry. Even if only half the graduates end up getting anywhere significant, that's still probably hundreds more than a normal school without a game degree. There is a lot to be said for networking yourself (WHICH YOU SHOULD DO ANYWAY), but having that networking base helps you expand faster.

I think a more important part of your education in any job is how you continue to educate yourself after you're done with school.

Thanks to all who responded, sorry for not posting my thanks earlier!! I will definiately take into consideration all that you have said.

@ way2lazy2care, Okay thanks Ill be sure to start studying networking, its been something I've been thinking about anyways!

@ Orymus, okay thanks I'll be sure to take in what you have said. I know it wasnt a straight 100% chance of me getting a job just because of one demo :)

@Palidine Thanks for your compliment! :) and yes I've been thinking of getting my degree in computer science even though that is more programming based, if you've seen my other post I am trying to go for a more indie approach on things and try to learn everything from programming to modeling to texture's etc.

@Tom thanks to you as well, I will be sure to start working on my portfolio, and also is my english really that bad? lol I'm full American so :p

@sybixsus Yeah I realize I need a degree, and I realize that now since Epic has released the UDK thousands of people have been using it and thats exactly what me and my friend plan to do, Stand out in the crowd..How that may work out who knows, but at least we will have a demo game under our belts either way!

Thanks once again to all who have answered, I really appreciate you guys!

What Tom Sloper means is that it is not about your fluency in the language, but how much attention you pay to presenting that language to your listeners/readers.

Take the time to fix your grammar and punctuation mistakes and you will present yourself as a much more articulated individual, which is attractive to employers who may be looking for someone who expresses him- or her- self clearly (in other words, a game designer).

No excuses about this being the Internet etc. That one has been done to death. Just care about your usage of the language and take it seriously.

You are only 15; you have time to sharpen your skills.


Yogurt Emperor