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  • Subject: Confused college freshman looking for direction.
Subject: Confused college freshman looking for direction.
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Hey everyone. Well, my first post here might as well be a doozy.

I'm a freshman in college that has no clue what I want to do. A few weeks ago I changed my major from Physics to English. Rather drastic and I made it for various reasons, but after it has settled in I don't feel completely comfortable with majoring in just English. I still feel like I have a debt to the sciences because of how I think (Constantly imagining new technologies and how to make them work, analyzing computer software, trying to figure out how machines work, how they function, etc.). Math has always been easy for me, but so has writing, hence my confusion. This brings me to where I am now. The only constant in my life has been video games and computers, but I've become jaded with them over the past few years. For a while I thought that I was completely finished; ready to sell all of my beloved consoles to whoever would buy the lot. The last game that I was anticipating was Halo 2. With its release there was a barage of behind-the-scenes and studio videos. It sparked my interest in gaming once more, but on the creation side as it did when I was a kid wanting to make the games I was playing. An industry where not only can I flex my creative and scientific muscle, but I can also be part of something great, something fun, and to love my job, even if it is very difficult at times.

This post is really directed at everyone at Bungie. I couldn't find any email addresses for anyone other than who's listed on the Contact Us page and thought this would be other way to try and get ahold of them. I'm looking for any suggestions to help me figure out where I really want to go and if games might be the thing. I'll answer any question you have and any advice, even if it's just about your job and/or what you did in school or outside of school to get where you are, is greatly appreciated. Anyone else on the forums is absolutely welcome to contribute. I'm lookiing for all the help I can get.

By the way, programming isn't a problem. I've done webdesign with PHP and MySQL, Pascal and C++ in high school (and plan on doing more with C++ in the future, just because I want to know more) so I have a good basis.

Oh yeah, and if you want to play on XBL, my tag is Crestfallen484.

Thanks again!

  • 11.11.2004 5:09 PM PDT

We’ve watched while the stars burned
Out, and creation played in reverse.
The Universe freezing in half-light.
Once I thought to escape.
To end a master, step out of the
Path of collapse. Escape would make us God.
Yet I cannot help but remember one enigma,
A hybrid, elusive destroyer.
This is the one mystery I have not solved.
The only element unaccounted for.

There are two colleges that are based on video game developement. They are Full Sail and Digipen (I think thats it's name), the Nintendo one. I don't know, maybe you could check out their sites or something for info.

  • 11.11.2004 10:43 PM PDT
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It sounds as if you have the skills. It's just too bad though, that if the BUNGIE people put up their e-mail addresses, they'd probably get a million flames and SPAM's a day. It really bites for us intelligent people who would ask informed questions, and those with basis and purpose at that.

[Edited on 11/12/2004 7:32:32 PM]

  • 11.12.2004 7:32 PM PDT
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*this comes from another game making wanna be*
Look at art institutes, major in software design, minor in somthing like animation or an art class. Also check out full sail. It looks like a nice school. Digipen Is really expensive and you need to stay off campus (even more expensive). As long as you have a good computer and art background in collage, you should have no problem getting a job somewhere making games. It's also good that you already have the background in C++. Did you get collage credit for it?

[Edited on 11/13/2004 10:40:45 AM]

  • 11.13.2004 10:39 AM PDT
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The advice has been good. Basically, build a background in everything, even if only a small one. Many game developers will look for people who understand every job out there, since they are better able to coordinate with other employees when making a product.

  • 11.13.2004 10:43 AM PDT
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No, I didn't get any college credit for it. All of my background in programming is self-taught. The teacher never helped and it was all from a book and other things I found online. I couldn't find any free libraries online to go where I wanted, but understanding it and utilizing all of the aspects of the language isn't difficult for me (Classes in C++ are foreign to me just because I couldn't find any good tutorials or information about them online, nor could my teacher help at all. Plus, some of the time the declarations compiler specific if the required libraries aren't available).

I plan on taking the C++ class(es) here at UF, as well as other art and computer oriented classes. I'm not completely confident in getting into game design yet, but it seems as if it might be one of the only industries where I can really get what I want. It just worries me though to see these other kids who are lightyears ahead of me as far as programming goes, and they're much younger. Sometimes I blame never having the teachers to really help. Oh well, we'll see what I can do about it now that I'm in college.

Wanting to keep their email addresses hidden is something that I completely understand. I don't blame anyone at Bungie for not wanting to get counless emails about "HALO 2 R0XX0Rs my S0XX0RZ!" or "Halo 2 sucks!" I'm for the former but to each his/her own. I'll definitely be looking into Full Sail, because there's a campus around my hometown. That, and a guy I met in one of my classes wants to do a mod for HL2. Hopefully I can get into that somehow and work with the programmers to see exactly what they do, ask them questions, etc.

So, where do you guys go to school, or want to go to school? And what classes do you plan on taking?

  • 11.13.2004 10:54 AM PDT
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Yeah. I took my high school exit exam. I'm going to a trade school now focusing on Video Game Development and Design. Should get my Bachelor's Degree by the time I'm 19.

  • 11.13.2004 10:19 PM PDT