Hi, I am currently attending DeVry University for Game and Simulation Programming. I just finished my first year at DeVry and am unable to tell if my education is applicable to the gaming industry or if there are better options.

First, what is most important for Game Programmers to start learning? I have taken several C++ classes now and feel like I have a good understanding of a large portion of the language. We started with the basics, then moved on to file i/o, pong, and other simple things.[/quote]

"Pong" is not a language feature.

While C++ is the language for consoles for the past decade, it changes. How is your Flash? Java? C#? Python? Perl? Languages come and go, you need a solid grounding in algorithms and the data structures they use. Learn the patterns of software development that apply regardless of language.

However, the "game programming" classes after that have been data structures only. I can make contiguous lists, vectors, singly and doubly linked lists, several searches, serveral sorts, binary search trees and hash tables. This is all good to know and is important for any programmer but I am unsure about how important it is next to other game-related things. For example, I don't even know where to start when it comes to building a 2d game engine or something like that in C++. [/quote]

Those are exactly what you use in game programming.

How would you implement an arbitrary inventory for your player's backpack? How would you search your world with millions of interesting AI targets? How do you look up your specific image texture out of the 16GB of textures on the disc? How would you serialize data for a network packet? How do you determine the path through the network mesh to reach a network peer? How do you juggle 32 processor cores on next year's high end PC without deadlocking or having resource starvation? How do you generate the hundreds of AI scripts needed for gameplay objects in a complex game? How do you write resource compilers for your game? How do you interleave data streams to give maximum throughout?

Just knowing C++ will not help you answer these things. You need to have a solid grounding in computer science.

Also, what is more important in the industry? Learning C++ or building a portfolio using engines? A few other students and I have been working with Unity 3d for awhile now and trying to implement a game that will hopefully be a published title before graduation. Is this important and valid or should we focus more on C++? [/quote]

Which is more important to an auto mechanic: learning about the V6 engine block or welding car bodies together? The answer: Neither, or perhaps both. You will probably use C++ in your career, so you need to know it, but if you ONLY know C++ you won't get very far. You will need to work with existing engines in your career, but if your only skill is working with the externals you will preclude yourself from working on the internals.

Yes, it is good to develop a portfolio, but only so far as it proves that you can do the job. If you are applying for a job as a Unity3D script writer (or game object scripter or game play engineer) then having a collection of Unit3D demos is probably a good thing. If you want a job as a flash programmer then having a portfolio of flash games is a good thing. If you want to work as a graphics programmer then you better have some pretty graphical demos.

The demo is not the point. The demo is only evidence toward the point that you can make games.

Originally, (until now) DeVry has allowed the use of engines on mid-term and final projects so that we could learn Unity and count it as school work. Recently though, the professors have decided that all of our projects should be hardcoded in C++. Is this for better or for worse? I'm not saying that I disagree with anything they are doing, I am just confused about whether or not they are right. I hope that makes sense and I hope that someone has some insight! I am dedicated to learning whatever I need to learn to make it in this industry, there is just an enormous amount of options and it can be overwhelming. [/quote]

I have no issues at all with their testing, either better or worse. I don't think it has a right or wrong situation. They want to evaluate what you have learned in order to help guide your studies, and if they think that is the best method, then so be it.

If you really want to get a job in the industry my suggestion is to carefully consider the merits of a traditional CS degree. Also, consider what happens if you get the degree but for whatever reason are unable to find a job in game programming.

Let's assume jobs are tight, the market is flooded, and you won't be able to get a job in games until 36 months after you graduate. What jobs will you take during that 36 months that will enable you to grow your career? We can't all be astronauts when we grow up, and even those who do need to develop their career before and after they get the dream job.

Several friends want to leave DeVry and "go indie." I know we're talented, but I'm stumped.
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That is an unwise decision on their part. If they can't figure out how to "go indie" while still in school, they will have a much harder time trying to "go indie" while flipping burgers.

Hi zbell, you wrote:

1. I just finished my first year at DeVry and am unable to tell if my education is applicable to the gaming industry
2. or if there are better options.
3. First, what is most important for Game Programmers to start learning?
4. Also, what is more important in the industry? Learning C++ or building a portfolio using engines?
5. A few other students and I have been working with Unity 3d for awhile now and trying to implement a game that will hopefully be a published title before graduation.
6. Is this important and valid or should we focus more on C++?
7. the professors have decided that all of our projects should be hardcoded in C++. Is this for better or for worse?
8. I'm not saying that I disagree with anything they are doing, I am just confused about whether or not they are right.
9. I am dedicated to learning whatever I need to learn to make it in this industry,
10. there is just an enormous amount of options and it can be overwhelming.
11. Several friends want to leave DeVry and "go indie." I know we're talented, but I'm stumped.

1. Don't worry about it being "applicable." Worry about whether you're learning what you want to learn. Wait, strike that. Don't "worry," just "learn." Follow your passions, learn the stuff you want to learn.

2. Almost certainly there are, but can you afford them, are those other options within your reach?

3. Computer Science.

4. False choice, a classic bad two-choices question to which the answer is "both." Read FAQ 52.

5. Wrong goal. You should be making that game to learn how, and (if it's good enough) for a portfolio piece. It's unrealistic to shoot for a moneymaker at the same time you're trying to learn how to program.

6. Another false choice (another bad two-choices question to which the answer again is "both").

7. I don't know if it's great that ALL your school projects should be in C++. You should learn C++. You should learn Unity. You should learn Java. You should learn Flash. You should learn Computer Science basics.

8. Same thing. We can taste the bitter beneath the sugar coating.

9. I think you should dedicate yourself to getting a good college education, preferably in Computer Science. If you can't do that, then dedicate yourself to learning everything you can, just for learning's sake.

10. See FAQ 70. When overwhelmed by options, you can organize them, make sense of them, and thereby make good decisions.

11. Well, Bill Gates dropped out and Mark Zuckerberg dropped out, and it turned out all right for them. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard. Are your budz as bright as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg? Are you all in Harvard? What I always say is, "if you want to be like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and drop out, first you have to go to Harvard. Then you can drop out." Don't be an idiot. Don't drop out.
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Hey, thanks a bunch. I didn't realize that you were a moderator on here. Anyway, I'll stick with this school for awhile and see how it goes. The bright side of this school is that we only have class two or three days a week depending on the semester and what not. So I have tons of spare time to learn all that I want to learn. I will continue my C++ studies until I am confident enough to tackle flash, C#, Java, etc. We are also working on a Unity project (but it's more or less on the back burner). We're doing this just to get used to the work cycle and so that we can say that we've been dedicated enough to "finish something."