Need advice on my future?

Question

I'm sort of stuck right now, I just finished year 4 of high school (I don't know what the equivalent of that is for anybody outside of Scotland, but I can tell you I'm 15 and in the youngest category of my year group)

I've never liked high school, so I don't want to go back. I've been accepted at Glasgow Metropolitan College, which is a good collage and I was lucky to be accepted, even more so because I was on the waiting list for people who dropped out of the course. So I know how lucky I am to have the opportunity, but I'm not sure I want to go.

Ever since I was a little kid I always wanted to be a computer games designer, or involved in that sort of stuff and I never mentioned it to the careers adviser because I thought it made me felt awkward, I felt it was every boys fantasy to be that and saying it would make me sound immature, but I'm starting to realize that a lot of people actually do that as their job, and I want to be one of them. I said I liked writing and computers so I've been put on this course: "Communication with Media and Highers" I'm just not sure what to do. I don't want to waste a year of my life, and I especially don't want to waste 30 years of my life doing a job I don't enjoy. I don't feel I have anybody to talk to about this, I need advice please.

Answer 1

I can talk your ear off about how to go about becoming a game designer in the US, but my knowledge on schools and the game industry in Scotland is pretty limited.  (15 years old and heading to college??  Either you’re a genius, or the college system works differently in Scotland than in the US. ;) )

No one is really going to be able to tell you if you’ll like working as a game designer or not.  You’ll have to try it out and see.  The US at least, it’s typically very difficult and very competitive to land a job as a game designer.  The hours can be long and stressful,  you have to be creative on demand, and you have to always be at the top of your game, otherwise someone else will come in and snipe the job from you.  But it’s a very fun job, working with amazing and talented people in a very casual atmosphere, and at the end of the day you get to make games!  But it certainly isn’t for everyone – lots of people get into the game industry only to decide that they don’t want to put up with the downsides, and leave for more “sane” jobs.

In a general sense, to be a game designer you need to have strong skills in three areas:  writing, math, and understanding what makes a game fun.  Creative writing skills can be very helpful, but beyond that you need to know how to communicate your ideas in text, as most of game design involves writing documents for the game programmers to follow.  Essay writing and tech writing can be as helpful as creative writing classes.

Game designers also come up with every stat in the game, whether that’s the top speed of a car or the damage bonus on a magic sword, so being proficient with math up through Trigonometry is necessary – I usually recommend that students take classes up through Calculus, so that they are very comfortable with Trig.  Courses in Statistics are also very helpful for game design.

The third skill is understanding what makes a game fun, and unfortunately that’s really not a skill that’s taught well anywhere in the world just yet, in my experience.  Either you have the eye for  it or you don’t, and if you don’t your career as a game designer will be pretty short.  You can develop this on your own by playing every game you can get your hands on, and taking notes on what you liked, what you didn’t like, and what you would change if it were up to you.  Be as specific and detail-oriented as possible.  The difference between a fun system and an unbalanced, un-fun system can be as small as changing damage from 35 to 32, for instance.

In the US at least, you need a college degree before you can start applying for jobs within the game industry.  So while I don’t know if the college in Glasgow will prepare you well or not, dropping out of school entirely at this point would definitely cut off your chances of becoming a game designer.

As far as Scotland specific issues, you’re best off getting in contact with game developers and other students interested in the game industry in Scotland.  The International Game Developers Association has a message board here: http://www.igda.org/Forums/forumdisplay.... for Scotland.  And there's a map here: http://gamedevmap.com/ that lists every game studio by city.  Many local IGDA groups host monthly meet ups for developers and students, so see if you can connect up with a local group that can help you figure out the best schooling options in Scotland.  The IGDA also has a student message board here: http://www.igda.org/Forums/forumdisplay.... but it tends to be pretty busy with students trying to break in, without a lot of direction from people who are in the industry already, so I don't know how much of a help it would be.

Good luck, and I hope that helped!

Answer 2

Is it possible to go back to high school and take your Highers. If you can, it will be worth it because then you will be able to get into a university like Glasgow or somewhere.

Hope this helps.