| User | Post |
paradox
Posts: 698/703 |
Thats is exactly what my older brother has said to me. Strange. |
neotransotaku
Posts: 3885/4016 |
You don't need a manual for that--you just need to ask for advice (like here in General Chat  . All advice comes down to common sense. But the three things I'd recommend that you should do are the following:
1) Use the resources in your classes -- all classes provide means to help you; it is up to you to use these resources. There are resources from the professor, the teaching assistance for the course, tutors at the on-campus tutoring center, etc. Help is always there when you need it. You just need to swallow your pride and ask.
2) Make friends -- no one gets through college alone. Your friends are a valuable source for information on what classes to take, who you should avoid, etc. The friends you make in college are often the friends you will hold for life.
3) Relax and pace yourself -- you can play as much as you want as long as you provide yourself with enough time to get the things that matter done. Procrastination will burn you at some point, particularly in the engineering areas such as Computer Science. There are classes you don't want to take but don't take all those because you will hate it. Make sure you have ample breaks in the day (4.5 hours of straight lecture is not fun) as well as you aren't overloading yourself with 1.5 semesters worth of work for 1 semester (like I am doing this semester). If you must overload yourself, then make sure you have breather classes in between (i.e. like a class you want to take -- for me I have Japanese language between two lectures in the midday and a break at early in the afternoon before I go to lab.
So yeah, college is a fun and memorable experience--using the resources you have, making friends, and pacing yourself will give you a good experience in college |
paradox
Posts: 688/703 |
A bit off topic, But does anyone here know where I can find a decent online Manual so I can get a good start in college? |
Dish
Posts: 574/596 |
Which was exactly my point.
The class is more or less worthless aside from making you look good on paper. So if you're not planning to make a career out of programming -- the course is not worth the money.
If you ARE looking to make some money off of programming -- then yes... take the course. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 7008/8210 |
Sure, self-taught is good, but unfortunately the world sucks. Let's say guy A wrote an entire OS and never took a class, while guy B knows the basics and has a degree. Unless it's one hell of an OS, chances are guy B gets the job.  |
Dish
Posts: 573/596 |
From my experience... good design is best learned from tripping over your own mistakes. In fact that's really the only way you're going to learn. Classes can teach you basic rules and stuff... but most of it you'll just have to figure out from coding a bunch of different programs. Just like with programming -- classes can teach you the rules, but the only way you're gonna learn is by sitting down and writing something... over and over and over until you get it.
Because of this, I'd say being self-taught is more cost-effective, and actually just better all around. In fact, I consider most of the big freeware/self-taught software designers (like all the various emu authors... like the ZSNES team, MAME team for instance) to be far more abled and skilled programmers than any commercial/professional programmer. And I wouldn't be at all suprised if those people never spent a day in any sort of programming course.
If you are LOOKING to become a professional programmer... then by all means.. take the course -- since actual ability is seconded by your "education level" -- or how good you look on paper (well it's actually more like 4th --- behind education, who you know in the business, and how well you can sell yourself in an interview).
If you're just going to be a hobbyist -- then I wouldn't bother. It'd be a waste of cash.
My 2 cents anyway. |
paradox
Posts: 687/703 |
2 Year sorry, Name is camden county college website is www.camdencc.edu I believe. |
neotransotaku
Posts: 3881/4016 |
i was going to say there were no 4-year universities with such classes but I know an exception would come up
so, what's the name of the school? |
paradox
Posts: 686/703 |
Well, a 4 year college near me has a course in Game design, And was rated the best on the east coast with their equipment. So I already know where I want to go. |
neotransotaku
Posts: 3878/4016 |
Many 4-year universities don't have game design classes; the closest thing they have is a class on "Software Engineering," even then, that class only teaches you the approaches in releasing some type of software...
There are a few game colleges around the country--if you check out the gamefaq message board on Game Design and Programming (or something like that), there is bound to be a person who has asked what are some game colleges around the country. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 6997/8210 |
A good online tutorial shouldn't be confusing, if you look around you're bound to find one that really helps. But a class would do you a hell of a lot better, and then you have something you can put on a resumé.  |
paradox
Posts: 683/703 |
Well, I've been wanting to be a game designer since I was 6. That was 12 years ago. I'm curious to know if it would be better to take a college class for Game design. Would I need any other classes along with that? Or am I better off with online tutorials (which I find confusing) |
