9 replies to this topic

[Boerke]

Hi my american friends.

I come from germany and i am going to study next year on a university. I want to study something about games design.

Could you give me some examples of subjects are possible to study in a university? The german internet is not useful in find some information about it.

I am more interessted in graphics.

Thank you

[alphadog]

Just to be certain: you are coming to the US to study game design? Which school?

[Boerke]

Oh no, sorry. I am in Germany and i am going to study here. But the choices in Germany are not really much. I just want to ask: What have i to study for designing or working on games :) ?

Its not that i dont know, but there are so many ways. What is the best way? And which ways are there?

[Reedbeta]

"Working on games" is a broad area. What do you want to do - programming? Art (modeling, texturing, animating, ...)? Game designers nearly always have a strong background in one of these, and need to be conversant on some level with all of them.

[Boerke]

I like more the Art. So the modelling and so on. :)

[fireside]

Just my opinion as a hobbyist, but something you might not think about is some basic architecture courses. If you've played quite a few games, you know how interesting architecture can make or break them. Also, some basic drawing courses for human form, etc, and 3d modeling and animation courses.

[alphadog]

Well, I'm not sure how university is structured in Germany, but you want a strong background in Art in general. Your primary knowledge needs to be in such concepts as portraying emotion, composition, breadth of knowledge and exposure to various forms of art, etc. When selecting classes, I'd make sure you put some emphasis on commercial/computer-assisted art, because you will have to know how to use Maya, but it's about more than just knowing Maya. However, macrame is right out!

For electives, I'd add a couple computer graphics classes from a Computer Science department, so that you can understand the fundamentals of the concepts that make up the foundation of the tools you'll use for the rest of your life. It's nice to know how to light a scene, but exactly how is lighting done in programs, generally?

One last piece of advice: don't over-specialize in school. You may never make it into the games industry professionally, and may want to take your degree to other venues that could use your work. (TV and other media, etc...) Sounds counter-intuitive, but it isn't. Plus, I don't want someone who knows how to use Maya, I want someone who can portray a fantasy character in a way that I've never seen before. IOW, it's not your Maya class that makes you hireable, it's your portfolio with cool artwork that does; IMO, cool artwork comes from inspiration, and inspiration is fed most from breadth of experiences.

[Boerke]

Ok. I think there is a big difference in the german universitysystem. We can only choce one thing, and not many subjects. Just architecture for example.

[khaos]

In Germany you have to learn the most things on your own.
You get the basic background on which you can build up, later on you can of course do some internships, like in my case hardware and software but the same as above: You have to learn the bigger part on your own.
Ah, and you can also choose a subsidiary subject. I think with bachelor you know also have to choose a subsidiary subject.

[alphadog]

If you can only select a "fixed menu" of classes, I would find the closest to computer-related art, emphasis on art.