Computing Science at University

[Silver Scribbler]

I did use the search bar for a quick check to make sure this hadn't been asked before, and the closest I saw was a thread about games design at college, so here goes.

I've been thinking about degrees to do at university, and so far the only thing that has seemed interesting to me, and even related to the games industry, is Computing Science. I was hoping someone who is currently doing or has completed a computing science degree at university could give me some info as to what it's like. Is the course interesting and challenging? Do you get to do any actual game-related software development? What programming languages did you have to learn/use? That kind of thing.

As I'm in Scotland, any info from people in the UK would be especially helpful, but any information at all would be great!

 

[Amnestic]

I don't have any direct information for you, but my brother just finished a Computing Science-style degree at Sheffield University (not Sheffield Hallam) and has set up his own web development company with a guy from his class.

I'm 85% certain he did work with game-related software, though I couldn't tell you what it was. He found it interesting and fairly challenging, though he's quite gifted to begin with so not all that much.

No idea what programming languages he was taught. It was all gibberish whenever I looked at his screen.

Edit: If you want to take game-related things with Computing Science, I'm sure there will be optional modules you can take attached to your main degree for that.

 

[theStrachan]

What university in Scotland are you thinking of?

At Strath in first year you will do Java, bit of Php, bit of Pearl (Tiny bit), you may use Haskell

http://www.strath.ac.uk/cis/localteaching/ - that pretty much would tell you all you need to know, Would recomend the Uni and the Course, not a lot of gaming content, but if thats def your thing I would look at Caledonian Uni, they have a course dedecated to it.

both are In Glasgow

 

[Silver Scribbler]

What university in Scotland are you thinking of?

At Strath in first year you will do Java, bit of Php, bit of Pearl (Tiny bit), you may use Haskell

Glasgow hopefully or Edinburgh, do you get to choose what you create with those languages or are you given set tasks?

 

[jasoncyrus]

I did use the search bar for a quick check to make sure this hadn't been asked before, and the closest I saw was a thread about games design at college, so here goes.

I've been thinking about degrees to do at university, and so far the only thing that has seemed interesting to me, and even related to the games industry, is Computing Science. I was hoping someone who is currently doing or has completed a computing science degree at university could give me some info as to what it's like. Is the course interesting and challenging? Do you get to do any actual game-related software development? What programming languages did you have to learn/use? That kind of thing.

As I'm in Scotland, any info from people in the UK would be especially helpful, but any information at all would be great!

For the gaming industry Abertay University is the number one choice. It's the best school for gaming technologies and techniques in the country and one of the top schools in the world. Along with a lot of gaming companies being situated in dundee, rockstar, realtime worlds and ruffian games, off the top of my head.

 

[effilctar]

I did use the search bar for a quick check to make sure this hadn't been asked before, and the closest I saw was a thread about games design at college, so here goes.

I've been thinking about degrees to do at university, and so far the only thing that has seemed interesting to me, and even related to the games industry, is Computing Science. I was hoping someone who is currently doing or has completed a computing science degree at university could give me some info as to what it's like. Is the course interesting and challenging? Do you get to do any actual game-related software development? What programming languages did you have to learn/use? That kind of thing.

As I'm in Scotland, any info from people in the UK would be especially helpful, but any information at all would be great!

I dont have information for you right now but I can ask my uncle who did a computing science degree

 

[esperandote]

Hi i studied Computer Systems Engineering and it was very rewarding and it has de advantage that you only need a computer to star your own company whilst other carrers need companies to hire them.

i work for a company developing software, nothing fancy, and i also work for myself in my spare time, i want to become a complete business man later and have my own employees.

I learned saw a little bit of Turbo C, Visual Basic 6.0 and Java in school buth now im currently working with Visual Basic .Net and MySql.

I didnt learn any game development related software but i did mad little unfinished games as i could imagine.

if you like programming i say go for it, it is a very interesting carrer.

im in mexico btw.

 

[Danzaivar]

I'm at the University of Hull doing Computer Software Development.

The way it works here is they have the Computer Science department, which covers all of the Computing courses. There are three 'branches'.

Computer Science - Basic course, well rounded, in year 3 you basically pick whatever modules you want. Some graphics, some theory, some programming.

Computer Software Development - More oriented to programming and network based systems, has a lot more Software Engineering stuff.

Games Development - Tailored for people who want to work in the games industry. You learn all about OpenGL and DirectX, XNA(Xbox 360 uses this), also sound formats and graphics in 2D and 3D. The trade off is you learn less programming methodology.

They're all identical courses in the first year (module wise), which means if you decide you were on Computer Science and want to get more technical you can go on to Software Development, on the other hand if you decide the Games industry is for you, you can switch to Games Development and vice versa.

3 year course makes you a Bachelor of Science (BSc) but curiously if you do the four year course you become a Master of Engineering (MEng).

I'd recommend you start off on a generic Computer Science course at a uni with a games course, then if you decide that the games stuff is definitely for you (Warning: VERY maths heavy for graphics), swap to the Games Development courses.

--

Programming languages.

In Hull, you learn C# in the first year, in the second year you learn C++ (Science and Games learn pascal in year 2 as well) and how to READ assembler, in the third year (Software Development only, Science can choose the module but Games Development can't) you learn to write assembler.

C# and C++ are great, they're object oriented and a lot of the stuff in them is very similar to other languages. If you can do these two then you can pick up any other language pretty damn quick. With the Hull course at least you learn 'how' programming languages work and the principles behind them, rather than focusing on the language itself. Really helps with picking up new ones.

Also, Java and C# are basically the same, the only differences are semantic (C# calls a namespace what Java calls a package, etc).

--

By the way, when you say you want to do games, do you mean as in make game engines (The code), or make characters and maps, skins and sounds (I.e. the content)? Games Development is game engines and systems, game content and that kind of thing is usually in separate courses like 3d Modelling and stuff.

 

[theStrachan]

Glasgow hopefully or Edinburgh, do you get to choose what you create with those languages or are you given set tasks?

You Get set tasks, that seem very dry when you start, depending on your skill level, but every task builds up and at the end of the year you do a project, varys from year to year what the project is, but if Comp Sci is your thing its v.fun

also the social aspect of it (I mean Hanging around in the Livi twoer, not the union) is awsome, if you end up in strath look into joining Geek Soc, its usually full of the best people on the course if your really into anything related to your course

also CES is cool if you like Electronics

 

[DragonsAteMyMarbles]

I don't have any direct information for you, but my brother just finished a Computing Science-style degree at Sheffield University (not Sheffield Hallam) and has set up his own web development company with a guy from his class.

I love how everyone from Sheffield Uni (myself included) always feels compelled to add "not Hallam" when they say where they're studying. Despite what I've heard, Hallam can't be THAT bad... can it?

OT: I've no first-hand experience with computing science, but the majority of people I've talked to seem to enjoy it. And since computers are everywhere nowadays (as well as computer programs for more or less anything) chances are you'll get a decent job at the end of it all.

 

[Silver Scribbler]

For the gaming industry Abertay University is the number one choice. It's the best school for gaming technologies and techniques in the country and one of the top schools in the world. Along with a lot of gaming companies being situated in dundee, rockstar, realtime worlds and ruffian games, off the top of my head.

Oh I hadn't even thought of Abertay Uni, did you go there yourself or know anyone that did? It does look like a better course games design-wise, and has higher entry requirements than the glasgow and edinburgh computing science degrees (not a problem though).

I dont have information for you right now but I can ask my uncle who did a computing science degree

That would be great thanks.

 

[Silver Scribbler]

By the way, when you say you want to do games, do you mean as in make game engines (The code), or make characters and maps, skins and sounds (I.e. the content)? Games Development is game engines and systems, game content and that kind of thing is usually in separate courses like 3d Modelling and stuff.

Thanks for the loads of great info by the way, and I am not really sure about your question, I don't have enough (or any really) experience in the industry to make an informed decision on that. Hopefully the first year or two of a degree would help me decide in time to switch or choose between the two.

 

[Danzaivar]

By the way, when you say you want to do games, do you mean as in make game engines (The code), or make characters and maps, skins and sounds (I.e. the content)? Games Development is game engines and systems, game content and that kind of thing is usually in separate courses like 3d Modelling and stuff.

Thanks for the loads of great info by the way, and I am not really sure about your question, I don't have enough (or any really) experience in the industry to make an informed decision on that. Hopefully the first year or two of a degree would help me decide in time to switch or choose between the two.

If you went in for the Computing part and decided on modelling, switching would mean resitting your first year and spending an extra 8 grand in loans. [EDIT: Just remembered you're Scottish so I guess the loans aren't as big a deal, only an extra 5 grand in loans instead!]

When you say you want to make games, are you thinking writing scripts, making characters, putting down maps and generally making the game world? Or are you thinking light effects, implementing physics systems, rendering vectors and the like?

Most people when they want to make a game mean they want to make the content for a game rather than the engine. Just saying so you don't "waste" a year doing the wrong thing.

Coding - http://www.ziggyware.com/readarticle.php?article_id=262 [EDIT: Right link now]

Modelling - http://download.gna.org/cal3d/documentation/modeling/tutorial.html

Read through them tutorials, see which one is more along the lines of what you want to be making. If the cel-shading engine is more-so, go with Games Development/Computing. If it's making characters and the like, you want a 3D modelling course.

 

[pneuma08]

I've got three semesters of a degree in Computer Science from U of I Urbana. I find the classes to be both very interesting and very challenging, although the degree itself is highly theoretical. Now, you do get an understanding of programming languages, but they are all treated as a means to an end to teach you the important information, such as data structures, typing, shells, registers, etc. You will learn a lot about what computers are, how they work, what they can and cannot do, and the best ways to use them.

If you're looking to get into game development, there are several options. You can program just the generic code (try dabbling in C and learning object-oriented programming), you can program graphics (in which case I would beef up on your linear algebra), or work on network code (in which case you should explore networks and how they communicate).

 

[Good morning blues]

There are also game design degrees, but they are basically fancy pieces of paper - if you want to program video games, you need to learn to program, which means that you need to take comp sci (or be able to demonstrate that you have all the pertinent skills). If you don't think you'll enjoy programming non-game software, you won't enjoy doing game software, either.

 

[jasoncyrus]

For the gaming industry Abertay University is the number one choice. It's the best school for gaming technologies and techniques in the country and one of the top schools in the world. Along with a lot of gaming companies being situated in dundee, rockstar, realtime worlds and ruffian games, off the top of my head.

Oh I hadn't even thought of Abertay Uni, did you go there yourself or know anyone that did? It does look like a better course games design-wise, and has higher entry requirements than the glasgow and edinburgh computing science degrees (not a problem though).

Both myself and one of my brothers went to abertay. My brother recieved a BSc Web Design. I recieved a BSc (Hons) Multimedia Development. So I've got all round experience working with flash etc etc. It's going to come in especially handy when i open up my photography business.

If you are lookoing for pure programming later on for networks etc, they do various networking courses and also a world first "Ethical Hacking" course.