AAU, SCAD, or elsewhere for Game Design online?

Stoneclast

Hello everyone, I’m hoping to get your insight on this matter because despite my extensive research and reviews I have read I simply can’t reach a decision.

I was originally going to apply for the BFA in Game Development at SCAD but I’m no longer able to because I’m in the military and have a high chance of deployment and change of duty station per year. This has led me to re-route my undergrad game degree to an online program as I don’t want to push my education back another 6+ years.

I plan to take classes at Gnomon for concept art and 3d modeling but I want to get an AA/BA/BFA/BS in the design aspects of games beforehand. So a degree that is more focused in level design, storytelling, game development, animation, and basic programming…. Opposed to what I plan to learn at Gnomon. I want to take classes for all parts of the game-making process so I can decide what I really want to do in the industry.

My hunt has taken me down to a choice between Academy of Art University Online (AA or BFA in Game Design) and SCAD e-Learning (BA Game Development) but I’m finding it difficult to make a choice because their programs have opposing pros and cons. AAU seems to have a great online curriculum but I have no idea whether or not the program is good compared to other schools. Meanwhile, SCAD has been moving up the ranks for top game design schools in the Princeton Review but really lacks the amount of game and related courses available to take online.

Has anyone been in either of these school’s programs (whether it be online or campus) and can provide me with experience and suggestions? Or does anyone have recommendations for a different online game design program?

LMP

I graduated from Academy of Art University. And, I honestly feel that I learned more key things that have helped my get my job now outside of classes. There were a few good instructors in my time there who actually really increased my knowledge, but they have left already. The greatest thing I personally got out of AAU was the friends I've made.

Axios

I graduated from SCAD's game development program (on campus) a few years ago and I think that it was overall far too expensive as a fair chunk of my functional knowledge before getting a job was from the internet (cough, polycount) or from friends I worked with. That being said, I doubt I was self motivated enough to learn what I did without being put in that environment so I don't regret anything. This would not make me terribly optimistic about the online program though, unless it's significantly more affordable. Can't really speak to what I think you should do, but that's my experience.

ZombieWells

Okay, so here it is made really simple. You don't need to go to an art school for any of this! shocking I know... I didn't go to SCAD, I went to the school down the street, AASU. No game courses what so ever, zero, none, nothing. There is actually more information, and better learning experiences right here on the internet then your ever going to find setting in a classroom. Also being self motivated, and knowing how to dig up cool stuff up is going to be a major part of your job, so get used to it. Start right here: http://wiki.polycount.com/
and here https://www.3dmotive.com/library_guest do the streaming thing and get a taste for what you want to do, simple and really broad, so a good start. Now, go here and start focusing in http://eat3d.com/ and here http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/ and visit other site for inspiration http://cghub.com/ . Ask more question on Polycout after you get a good idea of what you want to do. Also there are stickies about this subject... Now, I can safely say that I just saved you hundreds of thousands of dollars and four years of your life

Kwramm

I wouldn't pay the money for a games degree just to find out that you don't want to do for a living what you learned there. There's probably much better ways to learn about the game dev process, how the work REALLY plays out in a day to day setting at a studio and if that's something for you. There's probably many people who can give you an idea what it is about and which skills are involved, if you ask the right questions.

Tuition in the US for games studies have gone through the roof. I'd only invest that money if I really really really really were 100% sure that this is exactly what I want to learn and exactly what I want to do afterwards.

If you just want a degree then there's probably more useful ones to enter the games industry with than a "games" degree. Other than that, you only need a degree to prove something to yourself, to help immigration or to move on to postgraduate.

If you want a degree that helps when you do art, go for a traditional art degree. That gets attention and give you skills many people from games art courses won't have right away.

Swizzle

My suggestion: Go to Gnomon and ignore the rest unless you have a definitive plan to work outside the country and need a degree for a visa. There are VERY few companies in the game industry who give a crap about whether or not you have a degree. They want people with demonstrable skills, not some random fuck with a piece of paper.

Gnomon has fucking excellent people working for them and you're going to learn a ton. If you're actually going to their campus in Hollywood and not just taking online classes, you're putting yourself in a good position to get hired at several different game and movie studios if your work is good.

Stoneclast wrote: »

AAU seems to have a great online curriculum but I have no idea whether or not the program is good compared to other schools.

As for this... I'd suggest avoiding AAU. My fiancee and a bunch of other people I know either graduated from or are currently going there, though not through their online programs. They have a LOT of regrets, and it's safe to assume their online courses are nowhere near as comprehensive as their on-campus programs. AAU is a for-profit school, so they like to push people through their programs as quickly as possible and they give passing grades to a lot of people who make complete crap. If you feel that there is a lot you can gain from the structure of classes, though, it may be worth a look. They are stupid-expensive.

About those game design degrees: Just like any other college courses, you get out what you put in. However, a generalist game design degree is most likely not going to help you. The industry is rapidly progressing to the point where it's very difficult to be a generalist because there are so many people who are good at specific jobs, so you're most likely going to need to get really good at one thing and then just dabble in the rest.

I'd like to echo what Kwramm said, as well. If you're only going to a school to figure out what you want to do, then that means you're going to waste a lot of money. I'm talking thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Game design degrees are extremely expensive because they're mostly provided by for-profit schools who are aiming at kids with little knowledge of what they're getting themselves into.

LMP

Swizzle wrote: »

As for this... I'd suggest avoiding AAU. My fiancee and a bunch of other people I know either graduated from or are currently going there, though not through their online programs. They have a LOT of regrets, and it's safe to assume their online courses are nowhere near as comprehensive as their on-campus programs. AAU is a for-profit school, so they like to push people through their programs as quickly as possible and they give passing grades to a lot of people who make complete crap. If you feel that there is a lot you can gain from the structure of classes, though, it may be worth a look. They are stupid-expensive.

Yeah, don't go to AAU, especially online. I only ever took required Liberal Arts credits online.
Among my friends and classmates from my graduating class at AAU, I'm the only one I know that isn't currently unemployed, working a menial non-industry job, is working in QA, or at best has a game industry art job that's contract. I'm the only one I know who's on a full-time indeterminate length contract. And, I don't even know how that happened, luck?

Stoneclast

Thank you for your responses everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to get back here... I've been really busy recently and forgot to get back to the thread. To clarify a little, I'm not some silly kid who randomly decided to live the dream of making games just because I play them. I do have prior background in art and was at Ringling for an unhappy year in Illustration (I am a gamer too though haha).

I really have a passion for this and have taken in your great advice. I have always felt like I needed to go to school to get somewhere... while at Ringling I didn't feel like I was learning anything great except from the recruiter visits and career conference. I know I can learn everything on my own but I feel like I don't know all of the great resources, where to start, what to do... etc. I know I mainly want to focus on concept art, but I definitely want to know modeling and texturing, and would like to dabble in everything else.

I will be going to Gnomon... when I'm ready. While I have a background in art, I feel like I am an absolute noob in art related to games. I would like to save on the ridiculous expenses and avoid taking a bunch of classes that aren't relatable to my degree though. So I'm going to use your advice and teach myself as much as possible before going there!

Zombiewells, thank you for the excellent resources. Does anyone have any more online resources/classes/websites that will help me in this endevour? Course curriculums? Books?

Also, where could I find videos for recruiter visits and conferences from game/animation studios? I will probably only really miss that about school! I'm especially interested in ones where they talk about their creative process. I just watched Bungie talking about Destiny at GDC and it was amazing!

Sorry for all of the questions- I'm overwhelmed at the thought of teaching myself everything haha.