I've asked this on another forum, but thought I'd also ask here to get more varied answers.

I am currently studying Computer Programming and Analysis at my local college because I want to get a job in game design and the program includes classes in programming (C+, C# and Java), level design, and app creation. I was looking at the schools Continuing Education list and notice that they include those same classes.

So my question is, do I really need to continue studying under this program and get a degree when I could just take the individual classes and learn programming and level design etc?

Would it really matter to a company whether I had a degree which included those classes or if I had certificates saying the same thing? Wouldn't it make more sense to directly learn the things I would need to get a job in the industry rather then take all the required extra classes you have to take in order to get a degree?

Would it really matter to a company whether I had a degree which included those classes or if I had certificates saying the same thing?

Yes, the degree will likely be considered "worth more," all other things being equal. This industry is filled with excellent developers who don't have a degree, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to get a job without one. Especially in the current job climate.

Wouldn't it make more sense to directly learn the things I would need to get a job in the industry rather then take all the required extra classes you have to take in order to get a degree?

You're assuming you know for a fact that those "extra classes" are extra and not relevant to your future work in the industry. But you're not in the industry, so you should be careful with such assumptions.

Those extra classes usually contain a lot of general information that many people would expect you to have, and a lot of it may be surprisingly useful. They add breadth to your knowledge, which is desirable: you depth in a few key areas and breadth in as much else as possible. Almost everybody in your position has your attitude: that you somehow know better, and that you can tell right now that you will or won't need the knowledge of some particular class.

After a few years in the industry you'll end up on the other side of that spectrum, thinking "huh, I'm glad I learned that way back then" or "huh, I wish I had taken that extra class on computational topology, this would be much easier to understand now." And if nothing else, slogging through those "useless" classes shows you can slog through things you don't necessarily want to do. This is a necessary real-world job skill if you want to remain employed anywhere.

Finish the degree. Most "certifications" are worthless in the games industry.

Yes, the degree will likely be considered "worth more," all other things being equal. This industry is filled with excellent developers who don't have a degree, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to get a job without one. Especially in the current job climate.

I agree with Josh. A degree is more than just the classes that you take. It takes a certain level of motivation to earn a degree and it shows right away that the person who earned the degree had the ability to complete something that they started.

Also taking a variety of classes expands your thinking and makes you a more well rounded person. For example I believe that classes such as technical writing and courses on computer ethics/law/and security are important classes to take.

I would personally view a job candidate that did not have a degree and only had taken classes that interest them as someone who might not stick through the game creation process. There are parts of making a game that are really fun, but there are other parts that take a lot of determination and motivation to get through. Some parts of making a game require a determination to struggle through difficult, boring, or tedious tasks.

Would it really matter to a company whether I had a degree which included those classes or if I had certificates saying the same thing?

Yes, the degree will likely be considered "worth more," all other things being equal. This industry is filled with excellent developers who don't have a degree, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to get a job without one. Especially in the current job climate.

Wouldn't it make more sense to directly learn the things I would need to get a job in the industry rather then take all the required extra classes you have to take in order to get a degree?

You're assuming you know for a fact that those "extra classes" are extra and not relevant to your future work in the industry. But you're not in the industry, so you should be careful with such assumptions.

Those extra classes usually contain a lot of general information that many people would expect you to have, and a lot of it may be surprisingly useful. They add breadth to your knowledge, which is desirable: you depth in a few key areas and breadth in as much else as possible. Almost everybody in your position has your attitude: that you somehow know better, and that you can tell right now that you will or won't need the knowledge of some particular class.

After a few years in the industry you'll end up on the other side of that spectrum, thinking "huh, I'm glad I learned that way back then" or "huh, I wish I had taken that extra class on computational topology, this would be much easier to understand now." And if nothing else, slogging through those "useless" classes shows you can slog through things you don't necessarily want to do. This is a necessary real-world job skill if you want to remain employed anywhere.

Finish the degree. Most "certifications" are worthless in the games industry.

I'm 28 so I've been working for a while now so I do understand the point of "slogging" through thing you might not want to do. But what I meant by useless or unnecessary classes would be my Generations At Work, or Macroeconomics, or Logic classes that I'm required to take. I can understand how any and all of my computer related course are going to help, but not any of those non computer related courses. It's kind of like how you have to take chemistry in high school.Is it ever going to come up in normal life? Probably not. That's kind of how I feel about these other required classes I have to take in relation to a career in gaming.

Yes, the degree will likely be considered "worth more," all other things being equal. This industry is filled with excellent developers who don't have a degree, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to get a job without one. Especially in the current job climate.

Josh is 100% right about this.

Without a degree if you want to get into programming you will have a hard time finding anyone who will give you a interview without a stellar portfolio and glowing recommendations or work experience. The Degree is pretty much just a stamp on your resume saying I went to school for this and I should know my stuff, this gets you to the interview.

If you plan on going into game design, this is an extremely rare and hard position to get without any experience in the games industry, if you have a CS degree then you will already have a huge advantage over anyone who doesn't. A designer who knows how to code and script and understands programming limitations can be a huge help over someone who has no idea.

I have heard from others that a degree really just shows that you can stick with something and finish it. I was just thinking to myself that I could spend 2 or maybe 4 years getting a degree in a computer science that would teach me programming, and level design etc, or I could just straight learn programming and level design etc. The latter seems more efficient, less costly, and less time consuming. I mean if I wanted to be a nurse and the college required me to take classes in Greek myth, English comp, calculus I wouldn't see how that would correlate to my wanting to study nursing.

Yes, the degree will likely be considered "worth more," all other things being equal. This industry is filled with excellent developers who don't have a degree, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to get a job without one. Especially in the current job climate.

Josh is 100% right about this.

Without a degree if you want to get into programming you will have a hard time finding anyone who will give you a interview without a stellar portfolio and glowing recommendations or work experience. The Degree is pretty much just a stamp on your resume saying I went to school for this and I should know my stuff, this gets you to the interview.

If you plan on going into game design, this is an extremely rare and hard position to get without any experience in the games industry, if you have a CS degree then you will already have a huge advantage over anyone who doesn't. A designer who knows how to code and script and understands programming limitations can be a huge help over someone who has no idea.

I have heard from others that a degree really just shows that you can stick with something and finish it. I was just thinking to myself that I could spend 2 or maybe 4 years getting a degree in a computer science that would teach me programming, and level design etc, or I could just straight learn programming and level design etc. The latter seems more efficient, less costly, and less time consuming. I mean if I wanted to be a nurse and the college required me to take classes in Greek myth, English comp, calculus I wouldn't see how that would correlate to my wanting to study nursing.

A degree in Computer Science will open up other jobs than just in the game industry. A lot of companies will not even look at software engineers/programmers who do not have a Computer Science/related degree (you would not even be granted an interview).

For game development having a wide variety of courses really does help. I could see how Greek Mythology, English Composition, and Calculus for example could ALL benefit game development.

http://www.giantbomb.com/greek-mythology/3015-4797/games/

Here are some examples of the subjects you would study while enrolled in a game design major:

• Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Geometry
• Calculus
• Algorithms
• Programming Languages (Java, C++)
• Computer Interface
• Game Design
• Computer Graphics
• Operating Systems
• Art Appreciation and History
• Writing Composition
• Mythology
• Sociology
• Cultural Studies
• Physics (motion, aerodynamics)
• Computer Networks
• 3D Animation
• Software Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence
• Drawing
• Modeling and Sculpture

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/technology/game-design-major.htm

http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/technical/math-and-physics/math-for-game-developers-calculus-r3833

It's kind of like how you have to take chemistry in high school.Is it ever going to come up in normal life? Probably not. That's kind of how I feel about these other required classes I have to take in relation to a career in gaming. I mean if I wanted to be a nurse and the college required me to take classes in Greek myth, English comp, calculus I wouldn't see how that would correlate to my wanting to study nursing.

This is part of my point; note only is this a bad and frankly off-putting attitude (if I asked you in an interview why you only had these certificates, and you told me this, you'd basically have lost yourself the job), but it's kind of naive.

You don't work in, or have any practical experience with the industry and yet you are presuming to make assumptions about what you will and won't need to know in the future? Even if you did have a reasonable practical understanding of the breadth of knowledge required to make games (especially to design games!), you still can't be sure what the future holds.

Would it really matter to a company whether I had a degree which included those classes or if I had certificates saying the same thing?

You do not exist in a vacuum.

When pruning the stacks of resumes, employers can make several quick stacks: Those with industry experience, those with a degree and demos, and... that's usually enough to fill the job.

In some regions of the world the degree is less required, but in the US at least, most game studios are located in well-educated areas where there are plenty of people who are ambitious, and have degrees, and have their own portfolio of cool stuff.

It isn't about you, it is that there are many qualified people who want jobs, and who go that route to get in to the industry. There are other routes, getting to know the right people and networking your way into a job. It is more effective and efficient, IF you really do have the skills.

I also note that you talk about "game design" and you talk about "programming" and "computer science". The two are different, hopefully you already know that. Read the forum FAQs if you don't.

Generations At Work, or Macroeconomics, or Logic classes that I'm required to take. I can understand how any and all of my computer related course are going to help, but not any of those non computer related courses. It's kind of like how you have to take chemistry in high school.Is it ever going to come up in normal life? Probably not. That's kind of how I feel about these other required classes I have to take in relation to a career in gaming.

Games are one of those odd industries where it helps to know about EVERYTHING.

More of this is also covered in the Forum FAQ and Tom Sloper's site.

There is no subject not worth knowing. For example, world religions may seem useless at first, but if you want to build a game for the world to enjoy, you've got to know background. And if you want to tell stories, knowing the stories helps. Psychology should be helpful for obvious reasons.

For those you listed, "Generations At Work" sounds like it is a course about understanding different ages of people. Just like your game designs need to be applicable to all ages and demographics. Sounds useful. Macroeconomics is quite useful in games, nearly all games have their own economies that need to be crafted and then carefully balanced; if you don't understand macroeconomics it may be quite a bit more difficult to build this world. And somehow you feel that a logic course wouldn't be applicable in games... What are games but an implementation of a set of logic rules?

Which also leads to:

The latter seems more efficient, less costly, and less time consuming.

If you are in a program of study, talk to your advisers. Generally they understand that you don't want to be in school forever. Often you can get academic credit for real life experiences, and you can test out of courses, and assuming you are polite and charismatic, you can probably convince your advisers to swap out courses you don't like with alternate courses you do.

Talk to them and establish a rapport, talk with them about your degree program, and see what you can work out. Many people develop their own custom study programs as long as they satisfy the school's general requirements. Many schools have an option to craft your own specialty degree, even though it frequently comes with a title of "general studies". Even within your existing program you can probably customize it, and that means getting some topics in a range of fields (general education) but if you have real life experience this can frequently be satisfied by testing out of the courses. Otherwise if your department is looking for a topic, you might consider swapping out with a different economics course, although in this case that course would likely help your design career goals.

Sometimes the best course through life is not the most efficient shortest path. Much can be learned along the way.