What Qualifications do you need for making computer games?

Question

I want to do media and make animations and computer games or design websites but I don't know what I will need to do to get there.
I'm currently in school and I want to know that I'm doing the right things for the job I need.
What qualifications will I need to be able to do these things for a job?

If you could answer this question that would be a great help. Thanks! :-)

Answer 1

A degree in physics and/or applied mathematics partnered with computer science seems to be the current basic requirements for making computer games. CGI artwork is important in games and imagery is developed separately from the underlying game engine so computer science with arts and design would be a good start.



Websites need a different skillset and arts and design coupled with computer science and some sort of marketing qualification is good there.



Read up on stuff like Apache, Java, PHP, Ruby (on Rails), CMS, Python, SSI, HTML5, XHTML, XML for the web stuff. For the video game stuff have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_computer_graphics_software and read through the websites for the commercial packages to get a feel for the complexity of the subject. You could also get hold of a copy of Blender (free open source) and see if you can pick up on some of the concepts. "Sintel" the Durian Project is a short movie produced entirely in Blender (although with some *huge* resources behind it - Google Blender Render) and shows off some of the same concepts that appear in vidoe games.

Answer 2

The computer science techies can tell you about the technical / programming side of things, but keep in mind that by the time you graduate from university the technical terrain might look rather different - since things change so rapidly and even industry insiders don't really know where the tech is going.



But what about finding a space to learn about how to meld story, characters and setting? Find out which of your favourite PC games come with good level editors / construction kits, and join the modding communities around these. If you can make awesome new free levels or mods for your games, and then tell university admissions officers "my levels / mods had more than 500,000 downloads!", that _might_ give you an edge over others when it comes to getting a place on a highly competitive degree course or internship. They will favour the people who _do it_ and know it, rather than those who just know it in theory and exam-room learning. People who can open up a portfolio of their amateur work and say: "that's a screenshot of the coolest game mod of 2012 - and I made it".



I know _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ is out in November, quite possibly the biggest PC game of the year, and like previous Elder Scrolls games it comes with a fully-fledged free Construction Kit addon package for modding anything you want in the game. You might join the _Elder Scrolls: Oblivion_ modding community now, and start learning the basics and the existing Construction Kit, in anticipation of being part of the immense outpouring of fan-generated mod content that'll be happening for the game over Christmas 2011.



The same advice goes for animations and websites. Just download software (Muvizu is free for 3D animations, and SiteGrinder lets you use Photoshop for complete web design) and start making stuff. Then get a free WordPress.com blog and tell people about it and show them pictures of what you're making.

Answer 3

I want to do media and make animations and computer games or design websites but I don't know what I will need to do to get there.

ok, academically for;

media - good artistic course / creative writing



make animations - artistic course / creative writing (if you are using readymade software) + maths (if you want to go make your own software)



computer games - if souly computer games, then become a software engineer, you can do this by first becoming a computer scientist and specialising in software development. You would need to be good at maths and project management if you want to design game engines / programming, and good at art and be generally creative if you want to do things like character and level design



design websites - computer science degree (but not essential), good understanding of heuristics, user acceptance, different types of testing, web languages and networking principles.



tl;dr - Since you are currently in school look towards computer science and specialise once you have a grounding in the field.



Good Luck

Answer 4

You just need programming skills. There are lots of sites which let you use graphics for free, so you don't even need experience in making images/animations.

You should learn a programming language but it is hard to say which one; I would recommend C++ but some very good games have been made in Java.



For website development, you will almost certainly need to learn HTML (JavaScript is recommended too) but visual basic can make very powerful websites with smaller ammounts of code.



You don't necessarily need to get a job in game/website creation; you can do it from your home as a hobby, then sell it/put ads on it when it's complete

Answer 5

get to the qualifications later. the question u need 2 be asking is what am i supposed 2 do or what am i supposed 2 be to qualifyy for such a challenging yet lifechanging matter.



first off u need patience. i dont have patience ill have to admit but patience is very impoortant and u will neeed to bbe smart with pcs.



i dont know what qualifications are needed but my point is dont take this so easily.

hope this helps

Answer 6

"Game Design" means project management: the designer analyses the requirements, divide the project into tasks that he/she gives to various specialists: artists, 2D artists, 3D artists, and coders. Your girls need to be proficient in at least one of these fields to have a chance to become part of a team. To be the team leader, they need to have an excellent grasp of ALL these techniques, the intricacies of computer networks and multiusers systems. Not an easy target. If they are good at "drawing" (the artist's side), download something like Blender (free) and learn how to design in 3D. Find 3D games on the net, find their designers and contact them!

Answer 7

A computer science degree.