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[InfiniteStateMachine]

I lived in Vancouver for 29 years. Actually I'm in Kyoto Japan now from a job I got through the UBC Japan CO-OP program which has a strong tie to the CS department.

The UBC CS degree is ok. I go to BCIT for CST (2 year programming program) and we have a ton of UBC grads taking CST at BCIT after they got their CS degree because they can't actually program. They are really good at the computer science aspect though. Typical BCIT students can make a program but have a terrible grasp on how a computer works.

So if you go to UBC for CS make sure you spend plenty of extra time programming so you don't get stuck in the world of theoretical.


Also I completely agree about the networking aspect. I got a lot of cool jobs and met cool people through the school.

As for the indie scene in Vancouver. I used to be pretty involved. Spent a lot of time at the initial full indie meetups but since then they have been infested with students in various game programs coming there to portfolio bomb the place. Also it's a little too business-y for me.

There's good people out there to work on projets with and have discussions but in my case I met none of them through game related functions.

[AeornFlippout]

My opinion as someone with a B.S degree in Comp. Sci:  if all that you get out of a university education is a piece of paper and maybe some "basic programming skills" and personal networking - then you're totally doing it wrong.

My education taught me things I would have never explored on my own. It made me a better communicator, a better programmer, a better planner, a better mathematician, a better writer,  and a better finisher, for starters. All of these things are critical for succeeding at games. It gave me opportunities to collaborate with world-class computer scientists, gave me opportunities to go to conferences and expand my horizons, and gave me lots of opportunities to work with other students on projects that would eventually further my career in games.

Once I got into the game industry (thanks in large part to this degree and the things it helped me produce) my knowledge and experience helped me excel at my job, often beyond people who had been in the industry for years. I can say now, 8 years after graduating that yes, it was definitely worth it, and I would do it again given the choice.

Keep in mind tree things though:
1. You'll get it out of it largely what you put into it.
2. Not every school is equal. Do your research, and find your way into a good one.
3. Despite all this - there will still be lots of holes in your knowledge if you do a traditional CS course. It's a good foundation, but it's going to be up to you to fill in the rest.

If anyone tells you that all you'll get out of a University CS education is a piece of paper and some "basic programming skills", you should  probably question whether they actually went through one of these programs, which one, and how much effort they put in. And then weigh their advice accordingly.

[J-Snake]

You don't learn how to program in computer science. In computer science they teach you how to build a computer out of rocks and other pointless shit. I'm entirely serious.

In a serious computer science course programming is considered a primitive task. What you learn is exploring the properties and concepts dealing with logical storing and shifting bits.

A school teaching you how to make computers out of rocks must be awesome, never heard of it.

[Blademasterbobo]

"logic storing and shifting bits"

 

[Superb Joe]

i shift my bits a lot these days which has contributed to my decline, as a poster

[J-Snake]

Your balls are made up of bits, if you know what I mean.

[baconman]

Your best teachers will be Technical and Totoreals subforums here, in all likelihood, as well as open-source projects.

[Muz]

Electrical engineering is probably as good as a CS degree.. you do actual serious shit programming like image processing, robotics, AI, operating systems, security (and how people break them). I've seen people in EE outdo CS programmers.

I'm getting that feeling too. I'm left wondering exactly what might be so different about electrical engineers over computer scientists, since my particular school doesn't really have much distinction between the two of 'em - at least on an "everything before senior year" level, where things finally get a bit different with courses centered around technology rather than mere theory. Everything before than point is more or less the same, as both departments offer courses on digital circuit design and such.

I've heard it said that the engineers are actually barred from taking a lot of computer science courses because they are considered the "easier" derivatives of the same courses they have to take. While I'm all for good discipline at one's craft, usually if a class can convey the same concepts in a less stressful way, that would strike me as the better deal on a time-management level. (Then again, this is coming from someone with a lot of nonschool projects to dedicate to.)

Yeah, I actually did programming electives because they were the easy choice. Learn quantum physics in 2 weeks or do virtual memory management in 3 weeks? Control a generator's speed or write a network simulator? Yeah, I'll take the programming stuff; it's easier and won't kill me.

There is a difference in that they don't teach you things like high level programming, OOP, databases, how to build your own compiler/programming language.

Engineering doesn't always involve building things either. In fact, it's actually worse than CS. An engineering lecturer can actually get away with not knowing how to do anything but theory... the whole "If you can't do, teach." If the uni doesn't teach implementation in CS, chances are it's not going to teach implementation in Engineering either.

That's why I say always go for the hardest university you could get into.

Media's actually good too. My sister did Mass Communications, now she's working with business development because it requires a personal discipline/work ethic that you don't get from more theoretical degrees. Mass Communications teaches you absolutely nothing, it's just a course in doing things.