Diploma course: http://www.futureworks.co.uk/diploma-game-development.html
Degree course: http://www.futureworks.co.uk/game-design-course.html
So today I went to Manchester media school, a quite a new school with heavy entertainment design background. And they provide a course:
Diploma, which is 2 times a week in the evenings.
Degree with somewhere around 5 times a week daytime.
I picked Diploma course, the reason was is:
The diploma course is only 2 times a week 3 hour sessions, but there is a catch, you have to attend the school more times because there will be groups working on a project to create a game and ship it to a publisher, there is room for mistakes(And that's the main cause of why it's useful) you will have a lot more work to do, you will have the whole team who depends on you and chain links to other people that I will depend on to finish their work as well.
The degree course is more hand held, and it doesn't deliver as much independant company experience, because you are being supervised by your mentor, and it comes with a lot of written work.
And it's mostly done just to have a degree to have that qualification.
(But at the end of the day, people in a company such as Sony to Activision won't give a damn about you having a degree)
So in the end I want to pick the Diploma course to be able to enter the world of entertainment faster and get a job starting from Sony, and go up.
The diploma mentor is also going to serve as the boss of the company, and will review our assesments, he has worked in an entertainment industry for 35 years, so I think he is legit, + he was the guy who was responsible for releasing a game called "Forsaken World" on Steam, great game, free.
What do you guys think? Should I go for it?
If you can live with not going through life as a Bachelor or Master, why not? Everyone has his own goals in life, you should pursue what YOU want, not what OTHERS want you to pursue.
I personally chose a degree over something else for the simple fact I had no clue what I was going to do later (I still don't, for that matter). With a degree I can easily go into other degrees on more specialized fields as I see fit, whereas with a diploma, you're diving into something you judge as "that you still see yourself doing 20 years from now" or when you already have a job and want to study part-time without the pressure of a full-time study.
If you CAN go to school every day and have nothing else to do during the days (excluding sleeping, gaming, etcetera), for me, personally, there would be no reason not to go with the degree.
EDIT:
Also note that the diploma learns you ALL aspects of the industry, including programming and advanced 3D mathematics. If that is not your thing - or you simply don't want to program -, do not attempt it at all and go with a degree, which seems to be all art and design.
See the thing is, I really want to dive into the industry as fast as possible, and the tutor says if I want to do that, screw the degree and go for the hardcore experience of knowing what's it like to be working with a team, the first start for me would be Sony, then working way up all the way to Blizzard.
Your first start probably won't be working for Sony. You will need to work all the way up to Sony first, and then make a small step to Blizzard. You got it all wrong lol
My suggestion is the degree. You may find in 5 years you hate it or that it bores you more than you thought it would. Like Lennard said, the degree is more of a jumping point - and that's what I prefer to have.
You seem to think that every company wants you after those 3-4 years. You're a rookie, you'll have to prove yourself and do job interviews as much as everyone else does.
A degree comes with internships and it happens to be quite common you'll get your first job at the company you do your final internship. Play it right and you can get a good internship and a proper first job, then work your way up from there.
Heck, I have been working my ass of for over 3 years (literally, I am a Cum Laude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cum_laude) student with only one 7, nothing less than that) and you know what the result is? I can apply for an internship at Guerrilla Games and according to those I spoke to they would hire me, too. So it has been well worth all the stress and late nights, because it's quite an achievement if that company can be your "first step into the big world".
The diploma course you want to take looks like it is for people who want to do it fast and easy, without being at school all the time. Have you ever worked in project-teams? Imagine how it would be like to work with 6 people who work a normal job during the job, think they can do a game-school 3 hours in the evening and get stuff done? Such a situation is stressful in a full-time study, let alone people you can only reach in the evenings.
Hence why I say: if you can go to school during the days, there would be no reason not to do a degree. I also want to remind you that your diploma goes heavy on programming (2 full blocks). Also, while everyone yells about degrees not mattering, only your skills, have you noticed pretty much every game job prefers people with a Bachelor or Master? Do you know how Blizzard filters CV's? They filter out anything that doesn't contain the word Bachelor or Master with the first 3 lines they can read. While it may sound dull, a Bachelor/Master, besides being a degree, tells a company you are a motivated person, as most people wouldn't care about such a title.
Again, you have to do what you think is right. We are in no position to tell you what to do. I just want to stress the pros of having a degree - the con ofcourse is a full-time study compared to 2 evenings - But I can honestly say you would feel more in your place at a full-time study with people (and possibly future friends) you're going to see daily, than with people you'll spend 6 hours a week with.
Thing is, I am definitely not using the Diploma course to slack off and just do 2 evenings a day and party out the rest 5 days, I plan to work my ass off to the point I will vommit, but the only thing that worries me is that the tutor at that place says Diploma is a fastest way to get a company job and you get a very good starting point of knowing what's it like to work with a team... maybe I will need to re-visit I guess...somehow.
Quote from: LennardF1989 on June 25, 2011, 09:05:06 PM
I personally chose a degree over something else for the simple fact I had no clue what I was going to do later (I still don't, for that matter). With a degree I can easily go into other degrees on more specialized fields as I see fit, whereas with a diploma, you're diving into something you judge as "that you still see yourself doing 20 years from now" or when you already have a job and want to study part-time without the pressure of a full-time study.
I agree with this. I'm deciding to get a bachelor in science and then go into a specialty later on...too difficult to make a decision at this point. Leave your options open for as long as you can unless you are 100% sure
Yeah, I still get another year.
By the way, the programming is only a small section, you get to choose your profession in the end and put hardcore work into it.
The good side is that the degree is paid by the goverment and you pay it all back if you have a good job by chunks depending what is your salary per year.
The bad thing is, it's kind of "Faggoty" to me, because I don't really like the sound of having my hand held all the time, it just does not gives that feeling of working for a company where you are on your own and you have to think on your own...
+ the goddamn thing requires a lot of written work :(
Quote from: DreadStunlock on June 25, 2011, 11:31:48 PM
The good side is that the degree is paid by the goverment and you pay it all back if you have a good job by chunks depending what is your salary per year.
I had a $7,500 loan for my first year because tuition is $14,000 alone, plus more for housing and food. But once I apply and get into a specialty, then it's smooth sailing until landing a 100k job to pay it off. Right now it feels terrible. But hopefully things turn out. ;)
Since you are still 16 there is plenty of time. Just do what you think is best for you. Take advice, but don't forget your own ideas too.
I still got a year in college, so I will see if I am up for it...but god help me I will work in an entertainment industry >.< BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH :)
As well as the diploma is 3400 per year, and I have a salary of 500 per month, so just need to save up and need to start hitting triple grades than what I get.
The most fun part: is that the industry is filled with caffeine-filled-nutjobs who develop the games we enjoy to play...>:)) AND I WANT TO DO THAT TOOOOOOOOO.
COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE! COFFEE!
People love caffeine in every industry, dread.
Quote from: Farley4Fan on June 26, 2011, 03:36:01 AM
People love caffeine in every industry, dread.
I never disagreed, I'm just pointing one of the few other reasons why it's really an entertaining thing for me to soon join.