Need some school advice...

Striff

Alright, so I am getting ready to transfer in the fall from community college to a 4 year university in California. I know most everyone here are artists...but there has to be some programmers out there or someone who knows one.

I have taken classes to be a computer science or a physics major. I got into UC San Diego for Computer Science and UC Santa Barbara for Physics. When I graduate I want work in the game industry doing any type of programming, weather it be graphical or game play programming.

I live in San Diego so I really want to get out of here and move up to Santa Barbara. I really like all the physics classes that I have taken and am genuinely interested in the subject. However some people have told me that computer science is a much better major to have than physics.

From talking to some of the people at I worked with at Sony Online they said that at least at that studio there is no difference really in either you have a physics or computer science degree as long as you can program. Do you think this holds true mostly throughout the industry?

What do you think I should do? I'm finding it hard to make a decision and would really like to hear any advice you guys have.

jerry

From talking to some of the people at I worked with at Sony Online they said that at least at that studio there is no difference really in either you have a physics or computer science degree as long as you can program. Do you think this holds true mostly throughout the industry?

Do not quote me on this but i'm pretty sure this holds true.

What i can tell you about programming games is this: Yes you will need math if you are going to write an engine or write shaders or get into the messy bits. But if you already have a solid background that will not be very hard to grasp, it's not super complicated. A deep background in physics will probably only be needed if you want to write your own physics library. I don't know if you would want to program that sort of stuff but it would be obvious what route to go in that case. Otherwise that math and physics involved are not so complicated and computer science might give you more programming insight. I know nothing of the programs so you will have to figure that out.

My 2cts.

Mark Dygert

I know very little about your situation so keep that in mind as you read on.

You may be able to land a job in the industry without a degree. However it its probably a good idea to keep going down that road for a few reasons:
- It factors into starting pay range. Without a degree they are more likely to put you under incubator status or probation so they can make sure you'll be able to preform like you say you can. Officially you'll be off this status pretty quick but your pay check won't until you switch jobs.
- When whatever studio you work for, dries up and blows away it will be easier to find regular average joe work with a degree.
- From what I hear programmer interviews are pretty grueling, a lot of mind f*cking going on to try and asses the caliber of the candidate. I hear its a lot worse without a degree.
- The job market is pretty trashed right now even with programmers always in demand its probably a good idea to hold off let the market heat back up and have your choice at working at a few places instead of clawing tooth and nail for a job you really don't want.

If you have the time, and the funds, I say go for a 4 year degree. Its going to be a hell of lot harder to go back to school later.

Striff

I am defiantly going to go for a 4 year degree; its just a matter of which degree to go for.

Sandbag

do you want to program for physics, or general game programming? Might sound a bit obvious but a degree in physics would have benefits for that, where as CS might grant you more overall programming knowledge for everything else.

One of my friends went to school for/received a BA in Physics and while he did take C++ and other programming classes it wasn't the focus of the program as it might be more so for CS.

The best thing to do would be to talk to an advisor or a graduate student in both majors and ask them how much focus is on programming (and what languages) to see which one better suits your means.

Personally I think Physics is more interesting and has better electives...but that's just me.

Ryno

Physics major with minor in CS? Or vice versa? In any case, both UCSD and Santa Barbara are excellent schools.

Also think about what other potential jobs might be besides game programmer. Which major might allow you more flexibility?

Striff

Unfortunately you can't minor in any major at the school of engineering which Computer Science falls under =(

notman

I'm not sure what you meant by your last statement, but Electronics Engineering and Computer Science are good degrees to have in combo for major/minor. Obviously it depends on your area, but that's what I find a lot in our area.