CS degree waste of time?

[jballew7]

So I'll be cut and dry with this.
I'm 24 and finally going to college. I want to make a career in game development. My real passion is the art side, ex.. modeler, animator, designer, etc.. however my local university has no specific degree related to this. But they do have computer science. I do have a liking for coding and I think it'd have a good fall back just in case. But, am I wasting my time? Would a game studio even consider me for a graphic artist position with a cs degree? I have an extensive art portfolio to show to them, just wouldn't have a degree in it.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

It's probably good to have CS background knowledge for video game and such professional graphics design, but I would only assume there are more specific fields for graphics design. If graphics design is what you want to do, it's probably best to try to get a degree in that. I'm no expert in degrees BTW, just stating what I think

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

I am no expert. But a coding background would be very useful. With the abundance of game engines available now, it would only take a limited amount coding knowledge to make a game code side. Combine that with your artistic ability you could potentially be a one man game making machine. Otherwise you'll have to team up with a coder which will make it a little harder to get projects done. I don't know if I'd go so far as getting a CS degree, I imagine a minor in code would do the trick.

On the flip side I don't know what's more valuable, a degree is CS or a degree in art. No lie I once worked at a big retail chain. My co-worker had a art degree and the only work he found was making porno box covers...

 

[BrandonYoung]

I'm not trying to detour you from doing what you enjoy, but the game market is a difficult industry to get into. There seems to be sufficient demand for graphic artists however, and if you are skilled, you shouldn't have much difficulty moving into a digital game art position at some point in your career.

Concerning a CS degree, I recently acquired a BS in CS in Eastern Washington. We have a game design minor which includes classes such as 3D animation and modeling (there are 5 or 6 of these classes currently). 3D rendering, and a slew of others like ART/drawing classes. I took quite a few of these classes, but didn't have time/room/funding for the full 3D modeling/animation suite (wish I would have, they were quite fun).

There are schools that are specific to game art/design. If this is what you want to do with your life, I would encourage you to seek one of these schools out, and compare the classes they offer with what your local university offers, and you will see what I mean. If you choose the CS route, a good portion of your time will be spent on generals like English, Science, Math, all the things that make you well rounded. A tech/game school will do none of these, and most if not all classes you attend will be specific to your interest.

Some would suggest a four year degree where you could pursue art, and take any digital art classes possible.

Checkout digipen I hear they are top notch, and similar to a four year institute from what I can tell:
https://www.digipen.edu/

Fullsail I haven't personally heard many good things about but its an option.

Long story short, No a CS degree won't be a waste of time, if you like having a background option available that is much wider than game art. If you don't want to learn programming in a multitude of languages, study algorithms, lots of math, data structures, design patterns, operating systems, etc... Don't go into CS.

If art is your thing, go art, try to focus on digital art, pick a school that best provides these type of classes, while you're there, perhaps pick up a few of the intro to programming classes to see if it is right for you. My university allowed art majors to take the 3D modeling classes without hassle or CS style pre-reqs.