I never said they were rude, overly aggressive or derogatory. Only that sometimes I got smacked around a little (you know, being told I’m too old at 31 to learn to program…stuff like that; not necessarily rude, but a little off putting).
Actually, you can learn a lot from books. In fact, I think that’s what you do in school…learn from textbooks. :)
As I’ve said before, I do plan to do that. But for now, I’ll work on the skills I’ll need to do so. Doesn’t that sound logical? I read quite a bit during my work day as my job allows me to do so, while it doesn’t allow me the concentration time I’d need to code games.
This is a really important issue. We covered the UK game development courses in an issue of PC Gamer UK a couple of years ago, and I was staggered by some of the damage bad courses and sky-high expectations were doing to the careers of kids.
There was one fact that really stood out. I don’t have the exact figures to hand, but I know I’m ball-park correct:
That there are around 2,000 game development jobs in the UK, total. Yet, game development courses were producing nearly 3,000 graduates per year. It was /disgraceful/. I don’t really know enough about the current UK situation - but back then there was an almost panicked attempt to certify development courses. I’d love to know what intake numbers from such courses today.
That is probably because by that age most programmers are starting to feel burned out already. The industry is seen to be a young person’s. It’s just one of those realities. THis doesn’t mean you can’t make it but it will be harder.
Don’t get ahead of yourself.
Coding is slightly different. It’s about learning by doing. If you are really committed, a copy of Teach Yourself C++ is more than enough (Ask Brad Wardell if you don’t believe me.). You should even be able to get by with the IDE’s help. In the beginning anyway. If you want to learn programming, you have to get in the habit of actually writing stuff first and foremost. It’s the best way to stay motivated and keep yourself interested. It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t done it, but it is easy to get caught up in the textbooks and end up doing nothing.
I’m not involved in the game industry in any way (well except for buying the products) and have no idea if the advice given to you was good or bad.
However, it seemed to me that you weren’t really asking for advice - you were asking for validation of a decision you had already made. Opinions that supported that were taken as good advice and opinions against it were seen as people discouraging you for nefarious reasons.
And maybe you’re right - as I said, I have no idea on what the truth is in the matter. As an impartial observer however, you do come across as a little bit self absorbed.
Mind you, legendary threads are made by self-absorbed individuals so I’ll be watching with interest. :-)
A lot of kids seem to think they’ll be welcomed with open arms in the business world when graduating with a degree, regardless of the field. Is this a new thing? Is it part of an entitlement culture? It seems like more people are offended by the idea they need to work their way up in a company now; they all want immediate entry at a high-paying, high-quality job without doing the grunt work. Is this dot.com bubble fallout? I dunno.
I swear it seems like people who work, or want to work, in the game industry live in some sort of alternate reality bubble, where it’s somehow different than the real world. It’s not always just about the degree; success in most areas is due to some combination of talent, persistence, who you know, what you’re able to do on your own, and luck.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. How many people graduating have guaranteed work in their field of choice? There are almost always more applicants then available positions, so I’m not sure I’m seeing the issue.
I’m sure a lot of the skills are largely transferable to other fields, too. I may not be a game programmer myself, but I doubt that game programming is so completely unique and unlike any other kind of programming that you’d be completely lost in some other environment. It’s not like I specifically had to go to “Business App Developer School”.
It makes it harder to work for other people, but unless dementia has kicked in, its irrelevant. Older people tend to do more work rather than chatting and web surfing. Its true that a lot of companies prefer to employ ‘keen young kids’ because thsoe are the kind of workers who come in at weekends and sleep under their desks. Doesn’t mean they are productive though.
When you work for yourself, nobody cares a fuck how old you are. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve physically met Tim and Kieron, I could be 55 years old and bullshitting my age through doctored blog photos.
And for all they know, the guy they met was an actor employed by me.
But anyway, it shouldn’t matter a fuck how old you are,m and its sad that Brendan is right, and that it probably does :(
I think the “alternate reality bubble” that you propose applies much more so to people who want to work in the industry, than the ones who are experienced. Most people I know who have been around a few years understand the combination of factors that can result in success…
Massive error. Not only do I get access to pick the brains of some [i]very bright[i] profs (read: people who have actually been influential in the realm of CS) but I get access to equipment and software I would never have been able to do without going to university. A prime example of this is in relation to hardware (I’m currently sitting my finals for a degree in Computer Engineering). I could have just “gotten a book” and read about it at home, but I doubt I would have gotten as far or have learnt a fraction as much as I have done in the past 3 years. Additionally, I get to play with software that costs £100,000 a seat, and that’s for an education licence. Indsutry? £10,0,0,0,0000,000 or something stupid. Gogo Cadence!
Anyway, going to a University is radically different (at least in my experience) from going to High School. It’s less about reading book and more about growth.
As someone entering his 4th year at a university, I fully agree with this statement. The number of books I haven’t even cracked open that are sitting on my shelf is saddening, and I’m glad to say that I feel I’ve learned a good deal more and on more relevant subjects from going to classes, taking notes, and listening to someone who knows what he or she is talking about than I would have got from plowing through my textbooks. There’s also something to be said about the networking opportunities you get from attending university that you won’t get by learning through books and the internet, although that might not be as big of a factor if you’re in your 30s and have already established yourself.
