I was ready to answer to you both (Karawasa and Vexal), but thought it would be more useful to quote an experienced guy in the video game industry, commenting about the various diplomas and schools available here in France... To sum up, he goes pretty much the same way as we all did, thinking one shouldn't specialize in a level or game design major. Just in case you can't find a job in the video games industry, you need to have another card in hand.
After reading carefully what he had to say, I have to admit both game and level design grades are not worth your time and money. The video game history is 30 years old, schools were here for 5 to 8 years only (at best). They won't teach you much more than what you can learn by yourself, though what they can teach you will help you in ANY company and can't be learned by only using popular games editing tools (Crytek engine, UDK, SC2 editor and such... just to name a few, on PC).
Be aware though, that a job cannot be well done by only reading books and browsing the internet. You can't become a doctor without practicing, you won't claim you can do their job because you diagnosed a bad cold to your grandmother. The same principle applies to any job, so you should remember that making maps and writing concepts for video games does not make you a potential level/game designer.
So my advice would pretty much follow what everyone said: Get a more generic grade and do level/game design on your spare time. You probably won't learn a few specific steps, but they are not worth your time and money, you'd better value experience and versatility (which is what the companies look for). And have another option ready in case this industry does not welcome you (which happens a lot!).
I never said game design wasn't important. I was just saying designing a level is a trade skill. It's not a science. Trade skills can be learned on the side.
Designing a level is a very specific subset of art. Going to college for it is like going to college for a degree in java or C. There's no such thing. You learn the theory behind the science in college. You learn the specific skills related to your actual job in an elective class or at the job itself.
i think overall it would probably be useless. maybe if you learn it as a side thing while in spare time is better. though it wont go on your resume really. you could create some nice stuff with your skills and during meetings or on resume or something different you can say you have created "this and that" or like this epic sc2 map thats super popular! but doubt it. :P
Here's my experience. I finished college with a Comp Sci degree at a time just before game development majors were becoming common (8 years ago). Overall I just love programming, but I love mapping so much that I a career in the game industry would really be a dream job. However, I never really pursued it, and I got a job just programming stuff for phones.
My job is mostly satisfying at a professional level, I get to program non-game related things and I make a lot of money doing it. I spend my evenings mapping in SC2 to get my game dev satisfaction. Some day I think it would be fun to have a job at a game company, but I know that there will be less job security, less money, and to be honest there are a LOT of terrible games being made right now and I'm not sure I want to work at a company to make grade C games. I really think that less than 10% of major releases are even worth my time to play for more than half an hour. Try walking into a Gamestop and look at the hundreds of crappy titles you've never even heard of before.
The one thing I truly miss from working at a normal company is the people. At a normal company you'll be surrounded by lots of boring people who are into boring stuff. A game company is filled with excited gamers who are all into the same stuff as you. You'll be surrounded by younger people and it will be easier to make friends with your coworkers. I have a friend who works as an hourly tester for a games company and it sounds like a ton of fun, even though he only gets paid $10 an hour and has minimal job security.
Maybe I'll just go on mapping and I'll never get to experience that dream job at a games company. Who knows, the same thing could happen to you if you go just for comp sci. Or maybe you'll do level design and make it big, or end up disappointed forever at a normal job. It's a hard life decision to make.
From my own personal experience, you'll have to be more than just a level designer; your best bet would learn programming or be such a badass graphics/animation master that you stand out above everybody else. I agree with SkrowFunk, though. It might not be worth getting involved with. But, if you are seriously interested in doing this kind of work, my company is hiring. You won't get paid anything for the first couple months to a year depending on how our titles do. Beacon Gaming. Our website's not all that great, but if you like a fairly relaxed and overall fun environment to work in, you'd like us. All of our meetings are online on Ventrilo and we may need a good level designer.
I do agree with Vexal in that Game/Level Design is a much too specific field to get a major in. Major in something more weighty, like computer engineering (I managed to learn half of the computer science stuff on my own, but you absolutely need college for computer engineering) and then just find a team of peers and make an indie game while you're in college and you'll have the perfect portfolio for getting hired in any game company.
College is about getting an education, not learning a trade.
I was ready to answer to you both (Karawasa and Vexal), but thought it would be more useful to quote an experienced guy in the video game industry, commenting about the various diplomas and schools available here in France... To sum up, he goes pretty much the same way as we all did, thinking one shouldn't specialize in a level or game design major. Just in case you can't find a job in the video games industry, you need to have another card in hand.
After reading carefully what he had to say, I have to admit both game and level design grades are not worth your time and money. The video game history is 30 years old, schools were here for 5 to 8 years only (at best). They won't teach you much more than what you can learn by yourself, though what they can teach you will help you in ANY company and can't be learned by only using popular games editing tools (Crytek engine, UDK, SC2 editor and such... just to name a few, on PC).
Be aware though, that a job cannot be well done by only reading books and browsing the internet. You can't become a doctor without practicing, you won't claim you can do their job because you diagnosed a bad cold to your grandmother. The same principle applies to any job, so you should remember that making maps and writing concepts for video games does not make you a potential level/game designer.
So my advice would pretty much follow what everyone said: Get a more generic grade and do level/game design on your spare time. You probably won't learn a few specific steps, but they are not worth your time and money, you'd better value experience and versatility (which is what the companies look for). And have another option ready in case this industry does not welcome you (which happens a lot!).
I never said game design wasn't important. I was just saying designing a level is a trade skill. It's not a science. Trade skills can be learned on the side.
Designing a level is a very specific subset of art. Going to college for it is like going to college for a degree in java or C. There's no such thing. You learn the theory behind the science in college. You learn the specific skills related to your actual job in an elective class or at the job itself.
i think overall it would probably be useless. maybe if you learn it as a side thing while in spare time is better. though it wont go on your resume really. you could create some nice stuff with your skills and during meetings or on resume or something different you can say you have created "this and that" or like this epic sc2 map thats super popular! but doubt it. :P
Here's my experience. I finished college with a Comp Sci degree at a time just before game development majors were becoming common (8 years ago). Overall I just love programming, but I love mapping so much that I a career in the game industry would really be a dream job. However, I never really pursued it, and I got a job just programming stuff for phones.
My job is mostly satisfying at a professional level, I get to program non-game related things and I make a lot of money doing it. I spend my evenings mapping in SC2 to get my game dev satisfaction. Some day I think it would be fun to have a job at a game company, but I know that there will be less job security, less money, and to be honest there are a LOT of terrible games being made right now and I'm not sure I want to work at a company to make grade C games. I really think that less than 10% of major releases are even worth my time to play for more than half an hour. Try walking into a Gamestop and look at the hundreds of crappy titles you've never even heard of before.
The one thing I truly miss from working at a normal company is the people. At a normal company you'll be surrounded by lots of boring people who are into boring stuff. A game company is filled with excited gamers who are all into the same stuff as you. You'll be surrounded by younger people and it will be easier to make friends with your coworkers. I have a friend who works as an hourly tester for a games company and it sounds like a ton of fun, even though he only gets paid $10 an hour and has minimal job security.
Maybe I'll just go on mapping and I'll never get to experience that dream job at a games company. Who knows, the same thing could happen to you if you go just for comp sci. Or maybe you'll do level design and make it big, or end up disappointed forever at a normal job. It's a hard life decision to make.
From my own personal experience, you'll have to be more than just a level designer; your best bet would learn programming or be such a badass graphics/animation master that you stand out above everybody else. I agree with SkrowFunk, though. It might not be worth getting involved with. But, if you are seriously interested in doing this kind of work, my company is hiring. You won't get paid anything for the first couple months to a year depending on how our titles do. Beacon Gaming. Our website's not all that great, but if you like a fairly relaxed and overall fun environment to work in, you'd like us. All of our meetings are online on Ventrilo and we may need a good level designer.
Brandon "Mayhem" D**ì get a MAJOUR in Computer science , and go from there .
that will open up options for WAY more jobs then simply going with game desing.
I want to major in computer science/engineering and minor in something like programming.
@Reaper872: Go
Programming is a subset of computer science.
@Vexal: Go
o ok, so need to take it anyway then.
I do agree with Vexal in that Game/Level Design is a much too specific field to get a major in. Major in something more weighty, like computer engineering (I managed to learn half of the computer science stuff on my own, but you absolutely need college for computer engineering) and then just find a team of peers and make an indie game while you're in college and you'll have the perfect portfolio for getting hired in any game company.
College is about getting an education, not learning a trade.