I Failed At Getting Into My Desired School...Again...Anyone Else Experiencing That?

[sky14kemea]

I've quickly learned that all my aspired dreams are essentially unreachable and that the harsh reality of the world is going to kick me in the nuts until I accept that.

My dreams are pretty unrealistic though...

I don't think you should give up, however I think you should have a "back-up" plan. Something more realistic you can do in the meantime while working towards your main dream.

I wasted almost 4 years being picky about what job I wanted. All it did for me was make me penniless and looked down on by my family for not having a job (but thats a complaint for another thread =P)

Now I have a job that I in no way wanted at all. But it means I can hopefully save up the money to work towards one of my less unreasonable dreams. It's just going to take me a lot longer than I'd hoped.

tl;dr being an adult sucks. :C I hope you get your dream job quicker than me.

 

[Vault101]

Isnipd.

unlike a doctor, lawyer or veterinarian you don't need permission to make games, if its anything like art there are probably tons and tons of resources out there

I'm not saying that higher education is useless, the pros/cons of which vary wildly for each person and his/her needs/means but again there's nothing stopping you from going out and learning on your own

 

[djdomain]

Also looking at making games as a career here, but it started off with "where do I start?" whilst in college, found out about certain courses on the mainland (Tassie here), then went to "how am I supposed to afford moving over and attending?", so went to local uni instead, did computing degree, and battled unemployment and depression for a few years (those two may have been related), now that is solved the current problem is "when will I find the time?". I'm hoping by next year my employer will let me switch to part-time so I can dedicate at least one day to learning through tutes.

My desired role is game designer/programmer, I've written up about 30+ concepts so far of varying detail, and would like to get to the point where I could make a working grey-box model of them with basic art assets, so that I could demonstrate their feasibility to potential stakeholders. Instead of taking a game development course right away I think I'd be better off cultivating my skills until I feel confident enough where I'd look at incorporating other people into my projects, either by finding other hobbyists or taking a course in order to network with other students.

Best advice would be don't let whatever skills you have go unused, keep coding/modelling/whatever it is you're good at otherwise you'll be running hard to catch up. And don't quit your day job, even if you're good at what you do opportunities aren't going to be handed to you, so keep your means to support yourself whilst you keep trying, the only way to build your dreams is on solid foundation.

 

[Pseudonym]

That sucks. I don't think I've ever had to apply for something in the way you have so I've fortunately been spared this sort of shit.

Like other people have said though, life is short and filled with other options. What have you done in the past two years? What do you plan to do now? I don't know about the education system where you live but isn't there any option for you to do a related but different study. Maybe computer science, mathematics or something like that. Or if you are more into games as art than as technical products, you might want to study literature or something like that. Many universities allow you to take courses and/or do a minor in another field of study than your own so you could do some programming courses in that way. I wouldn't bet all you have on a single study at a single place. There are plenty of places where you can learn useful things.

I feel like you should know another thing. With a university degree or without, selfstudy is essential for most fields of study. Higher education is incredibly helpful but it is neither neccesary nor sufficient to become good at something. I've studied philosophy and all of the people there read philosophy on their own that's in their interest but too specialized to be found in most classes. A friend of mine who studies game programming tells me that doing projects on the side is highly recommended if not required if you want to find a job after your study. A lot of people at his study already knew how to do some programming before they came to university. On the other hand, I know people with a background in geophysics who are now business consultants.

Whatever you do, do not spend years of your life sitting around waiting for other people to teach you how to do things. At some point in your life, if you want to do a remotely creative and interesting job, you need to have developed your own specialties so you can be useful in a way that other people are not. You can't have learned all of that just from teachers at a university course. I hope I didn't come off as too preachy here but that is what I'd recommend.

 

[Necron_warrior]

When it comes to courses about specific parts of game design, while they do teach basics and are on the whole quite interesting (plus, access to devkits, yummy ) what those uni courses REALLY allow you to do the most is network like cRAZY with people who specialise in other parts of a game.

In the meantime your best bet is trying to decide what speciality you find the most interesting (E.g. a friend of mine is /really/ into shaders) instead of wanting to do EVERYTHING. (The amount of people whom I've seen struggle cause they want to have input in every single part of a game, or just be an "IDEAS GUY" (Which, sadly doesn't exist in the sense most people think it does))

I mean, the part of having input in a bunch of parts in a game works for small groups, but it can make things crawl to a snails pace too

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Happened to me once. Go on to Plan B man, no use headbutting a brick wall.

 

[RaikuFA]

Good thing I'm too stupid to go to college. Got rejected too many times in HS don't need it anymore.

Have you tried online classes/community college if you're that desperate?

 

[Aerosteam]

Wait...people still want to actually be in game design?

Why? I get that it's a hobby you greatly enjoy (gaming that is). But gaming and game design are two very different things.

Because we want to make video games?

Not to mention it's highly unlikely you'll ever be able to actually create the game you yourself wish to make.

Nice of you to show confidence. :|

 

[Fat Hippo]

Wait...people still want to actually be in game design?

Why? I get that it's a hobby you greatly enjoy (gaming that is). But gaming and game design are two very different things.

Because we want to make video games?

Not to mention it's highly unlikely you'll ever be able to actually create the game you yourself wish to make.

Nice of you to show confidence. :|

I'm not wrong. It's a reality it seems a lot of people need to actually consider and accept before wasting however many years in college/university on it.

It sucks, but every dream is not attainable. Shitty cheesy phrases like "just follow your dreams, nothing can hold you back" are very dangerous ones to teach people. Not everyone is special, not every dream will come true. It's just how life is.

Well damn, you can say that of any artistic pursuit. Most people doing so will never know incredible success or fame, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try, as long as they accept that fact and enjoy the journey.

I can't speak of that from personal experience, since I don't have much artistic talent and am getting a regular old university degree, but if somebody has a desire to create a piece of work in the medium they love, I don't think that should be looked down upon. Otherwise, a lot of great literature, music and art that has contributed to our culture would never have been created.

That said, having a fall-back plan is never a bad thing. In that sense, making games isn't so bad, since having some knowledge of coding and general technical aspects is a valuable skill.

 

[Aerosteam]

Snip

I've never met anyone who said they needed to graduate a game making course to start, but no doubt you'll learn a few things from it. Of course you won't learn everything from it, but you also won't learn everything straight from your head either.

And the "dream game" everyone has on their heads being unobtainable - well yeah, that's why it's called a DREAM game. You can still develop the games you want and have it be in the realms of reality, you just need to be sensible about whatcha wanna make.

 

[Fyrana]

I might have said this before, but I dream of becoming a game designer. But sometimes, I wonder if I should just let that be a dream. I've applied for a school that educates aspiring game developers (Be it programmers, graphic designers or just game designers) three times now, and I've stumbled on the finish line every single time. I make it to the interviews every time which isn't easy, sure, but it just feels hopeless to be so close, but still so far away.

First year, I was first reserve. Last year, I was third reserve. And this year, I was ninth. They may just as well send me a fucking rejection letter at this point. And feeling like you perform worse and worse for each year...It's crushing, but I wonder if I should just give up. Not that I think I'll amount to much anywhere else, as I'm not really all that good at anything...

So...Saying that I'm down in the dumps right now is the understatement of the century; I'm absolutely devastated. I just wonder if anybody else is/has been in the same situation. Any advice? Any stories to share? And sharing stuff that'll distract me would be appreciated.

Did you ever hear the saying "If it is important to you, you will find a way to do it. If it isn't, you find excuses"? You do not need to be in school to learn how to do game design. The majority of the major minds of game development didn't do it. They had a passion and set out to make their ideas a reality.

As a side note, if you DO go to school for game design - Get a second major. Physics, Computer Science, anything. Game Design is a terrible field at the moment and unless you want to be without a job for years, might as well as a backup ready to go.

 

[Burgers2013]

It sucks, but every dream is not attainable. Shitty cheesy phrases like "just follow your dreams, nothing can hold you back" are very dangerous ones to teach people. Not everyone is special, not every dream will come true. It's just how life is.

I don't think we should be telling students to aim low. You're right though; that is bad advice because that's where the advice stops (at least in my high school it was: follow your dreams, go to college, the end). That just sets people up for failure. Yes, you can and should encourage young adults to dream big, but counselors should follow it up with more detailed questions/information:

How do you become a video game designer?

What kind of education do you need?

Do you need to go to a university, community college, training program, or no institution at all?

How much time will it take?

What other kinds of skills/things for your portfolio do you need?

Do we know any parents/alumni with connections in video game development?

Based on your current grades/activities/financial situation, how can you pay for what you need?

Are there internships/co-op programs in the video games industry to apply for?

Answering the above questions is a lot of work, but I think that's a large part of a counselor's job (or at least it should be).

We just need to teach people to be pragmatic about attaining their goals. If that means revising the goal somewhere down the line, that's fine. I wouldn't tell kids that age not to have lofty goals, but high school graduates get sort of abandoned without any skills of how to get a job and/or look for career opportunities, much less how to further develop/equip themselves for the career path they want.

That's not to say all graduates don't know what they're doing, but there aren't a lot of helpful counselors in high school when you're looking to go into an unusual industry (at least from my experience in high school and the number of totally lost Freshman college students). If you're going to be doctor or an engineer, your path is pretty straight-forward. For something like video game development, the path is very unclear.

For the OP: I would try to take a step back, figure out where you are developmentally for this field, and find a path forward. Maybe that means to reapply to that and/or other schools; maybe it means teaching yourself; maybe both; maybe it means getting a job in a related field for a while. If you can find some people in industry to talk to, that would help a lot. I think the EC episode was really helpful.

I know everyone says it but, try not to be discouraged by this kind of set back. Maybe it'll save you a load of time and money down the road. It's also not a bad idea to have a back-up plan. If you wanted to code for video games, maybe do something related that has a larger job demand like computer engineering (example from ignorance here; I don't know that those two things are all that closely related). That way, you can be working on developing your portfolio for video games on the side while not letting your coding skills get stale. That sort of thing. Keep trying though; you're already ahead of some others. A lot of people are too scared of rejection to even apply to that sort of place. You have interview experience.

 

[Rosiv]

@Twintix Shamus Young, someone of well renown on these forms posted articles dealing with this very topic.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/experienced-points/13576-Reasons-to-NOT-Choose-Game-Development-as-a-Profession

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/experienced-points/13605-Reasons-To-Join-The-Tech-Side-of-Video-Games

They are not as negative as they seem, and I feel they are a worthy read.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Honestly, yeah ... I've gotten a handful of degrees, I've had a go at running a business ... And after all of that shit, I find this to be the truest thing in the world.


And fortunately enough I'm only 30 years old. I've caught on ... I've learnt the game, and the trick is to NEVER DREAM. Never -- don't listen to all those arsewipes at university, or that career day info, NONE OF THAT. Don't just merely picture ONE THING that you can do.

Make a list ... and view all of them as equal. Don't limit what you can be by trying to fashion some idea as to some destined wish. That's the problem. People wish ... what you should do is not have any wishes or dreams, but ride the toilet bowl that is life until you're utterly flushed and disappear past the S-bend. Because that's the best you're going to get.

If you make plans, you will fuck them up. Leave it to chance and whimsy. Then OWN that chance and whimsy. You'll feel more in control of your life if you begin to realise you have no real control over your life. I mean, look at aspiring doctors ... about three quarters of them drop out by their final three years of education. And of a quarter of them, most of them aren't happy. They're just wealthy. And probably only 20 years after everybody else has achieved a basic livelihood.

(Edit) If you want actual advice; think to yourself long and hard about a simple equation. "What jobs can I work in, where I can make enough to eventually not have to work, and where I can outlast the day without feeling as if I want to kill myself?" Because that is the reality for 99% of people. The thing is there's always entrepreneurship. And often times, if you're lucky, you can learn something in between that you might want to evolve into after you sell your business. And if you're really lucky, the turnover and profits from your business and selling it will allow you to persist awhile so that you can study something else, or move on.

Education isn't just a means to an end ... there's psychological and social benefits to learning. You make contacts with other people, you exercise the brain, you learn to view the world in different ways. If you treat your education as if there is an end goal, you WILL GET STUCK THERE. And the dream is never as pretty in reality as you think it is.

Let's take my doctor example. You'll be that young(ish) GP in an office ... proud of the little room you've bought through your suffering, and then realize your first three patients of the day is arseholes like me needing help to flush out an earwax plug. Whining about the pain because I was such a fucking idiot to leave it for a week without seeking medical attention when the problem initially presented itself. Reality is never as pretty as the image you've constructed in your brain.

That's the life you've bought yourself. And the thing is, all of us are in a similar boat. Precariously trying not to sink.

I was young, and saw teaching as the SOLE THING I wanted to do, I did it ... and it was awful. The idea of an existence without regrets is childish. Look, you will ALWAYS have regrets.... but it is of ultimate merit to be able to despair. Treat regret and pain as the truest path to transformation. To be more, to be different, to be something new. If you have zero regrets there is zero growth.

Rather than seeing yourself being knocked back from studying what you want to study, see it as an opportunity to avoid something likely awful. Study something else in the meantime ... open a business ... do something else and find out how truly awful that is, but then you'll least have been employed or making money in the mean time ... and then go into looking to study game design AGAIN. And then realise how awful that is, and move on.

Who knows? You might find another job that you didn't think you'd enjoy? There's a slim possibility. VERY SLIM ... but the chances of finding it are infinitely greater than just assuming game design will make you content.