Double Majors For Game Design

Should I double major in game development and computer science?

Hey r/gamedev! I'm about to start my freshman year as a game development major at DePaul, but I've noticed that Game Development and Computer Science share some core requirements and Double Majoring might be doable. Would I gain a better understanding of game development overall if I double major in GD and CS?

level 1

· 8y Young Horses Games

I graduated from DePaul with a major in game dev, programming concentration and think it would be worthwhile to do a double major if you can. You can certainly learn enough with just the game dev degree to be hirable, but learning general CS has some approaches to computer science that aren't quite the same as found in most game dev programming classes. Having different viewpoints will help you be more well-rounded.

level 2

You have the same concentration as me! Did you like the program? How was the job market after you graduated?

level 1

Yes. More general knowledge is always going to be better, and a CS degree is going to be more flexible for job hunting. The broader your knowledge base appears on your résumé, especially in technical fields, the more options you'll have.

level 1

This depends on how much work you want to do and how well you want to be able to develop games. To properly develop games you will need to master as many mathematics and programming/engineering techniques as you can. The more math you know the more you can describe the things you want to implement in code, and the more code you know the more you will be able to add to a game development project.

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Comment deleted by user · 8y

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· 8y · edited 8y

Thanks for the tip. I do intend to really work on my portfolio while I'm in school. DePaul's game design program is supposed to be really good for building a nice portfolio.

By the way, I know interviews are still a ways down the road for me, but do you have any tips for how I could stand out when I go to an interview?

level 1

Late comment from me. In retrospect, after my CS graduation many years ago, I would say a big yes. Do it. If you where into math, as I was at that time, then definitely do it! I would not worry about the job market. If you love programming, this is a fantastic combination and will give you tons of paths to choose from later on in life.

level 1

· 8y @Alwaysgeeky

I don't come from the American side of the world so the whole concept of majoring and the schooling system in America is strange to me. However I did a Computer Science BSc and later an MSc in games development and I would highly recommend CS as a core background. You will learn an immeasurable amount of experience about lots of core concepts that are required to be a good programmer (and later a games developer) if you do a CS degrees. Depending on the subject matter of your CS course you should learn about the following core computer subjects: