Studying Computer Science if I have an interest in game development

dgallagher_73 · 23-02-2021 03:32PM #1

Hi there,

I'm in my late twenties and I was thinking about going back to college to study Computer Science as a mature student as I have developed a great interest in game development, the Unity game engine and the C# programming language.

However my impression is that Computer Science degrees in Ireland don't usually offer much if any modules on game development during the four years?

I may be wrong but it seems that Java is the most common programming language that is focused upon through out the degree? I know that Java is related to C and C++ languages so there is some sort of a similarity between it and the programming language that is used in the Unity Game Engine.

I'm not even sure why Java is such a popular language as I can't think of any applications that I use that were built with it. Windows, Photoshop, Google Chrome were all built using C++ I think. I remember reading somewhere that the old torrenting program Limewire was built using Java.

I'm wondering if anyone could offer me advice on whether I would find it beneficial to do the four year degree based on what I've stated above? I was thinking of doing a CS degree in either UCC or somewhere in Dublin.

Thanks!

JoyPad · 23-02-2021 04:36PM

Beyond a particular choice of programming language, a college degree would teach a whole lot of things in the Computer Science domain: algorithms, data structures, architecture, distributed systems, operating systems, functional programming.

In fact, the choice of programming language could likely vary, depending on the faculty.

You don't take a college degree to learn Java (or any other programming language). When you're done, you should have the knowledge to learn any programming language with relative ease, as you translate the concepts and the algorithms into the language you need.

BTW, while most Windows applications are likely built with C++, the majority of the Internet is built with Java. The clouds at Google and Amazon are built with Java, for example. Maven Repository contains almost 20 million packages: re-usable pieces of code that you can easily grab and use when building a Java application.

At the end of the day, languages are like tools. You should not aim to become a "Java developer" or "C# developer" or "NodeJS developer". You should be a "Software Developer", and languages will be like tools on your toolbelt.

dgallagher_73 · 23-02-2021 04:51PM

JoyPad wrote: »

Beyond a particular choice of programming language, a college degree would teach a whole lot of things in the Computer Science domain: algorithms, data structures, architecture, distributed systems, operating systems, functional programming.

In fact, the choice of programming language could likely vary, depending on the faculty.

You don't take a college degree to learn Java (or any other programming language). When you're done, you should have the knowledge to learn any programming language with relative ease, as you translate the concepts and the algorithms into the language you need.

BTW, while most Windows applications are likely built with C++, the majority of the Internet is built with Java. The clouds at Google and Amazon are built with Java, for example. Maven Repository contains almost 20 million packages: re-usable pieces of code that you can easily grab and use when building a Java application.

At the end of the day, languages are like tools. You should not aim to become a "Java developer" or "C# developer" or "NodeJS developer". You should be a "Software Developer", and languages will be like tools on your toolbelt.

Thanks for the helpful response.

You say that "the majority of the Internet is built with Java. The clouds at Google and Amazon are built with Java".

My basic understanding is that websites are built using HTML, CSS, PHP , Javascript or JQuery etc. Other than the examples you mentioned regarding the clouds of Amazon and Google being built with Java what are other websites etc that use Java?

Can you specify what you mean by clouds in this context also? The only thing I know about clouds is cloud storage etc like Google Drive or OneDrive.

JoyPad · 23-02-2021 05:39PM

Have a look at AWS. Click on Products and scroll down. Hover over every topic and look at the sub-topics in the second column.
There are a whole lot more things there than storage.

Google is the same.

SilverSideUp · 23-02-2021 08:39PM

I did a Masters in Comp. Sci. as a mature student. I had done some programming myself but I wanted to see what was the state of the art and what I was missing when writing my own programs. The course was a taught Masters and lasted 16 months. I have to say, I was disappointed, for two reasons.

The first was that the material wasn't taught at all. You were given lots of assignments with tight deadlines. In this, Papa Musk is right. College really just gives you a badge of merit which says that you can complete the tasks set for the course, maybe even with distinction.

The second reason is that much of the stuff they 'teach' is foundational stuff that you can easily teach yourself on the internet e.g. web development, intro. to java, intro. to python, relational databases. You don't need a college degree to learn that stuff.

Really useful skills like Node.js, iOT, C, Cloud computing, were not offered. In addition, there was a heavy weighting towards data analysis, machine learning, etc. which is very sexy at the moment. Don't like data analysis? Tough.

I reccomend you do your own projects. Build up your Github repos. Get experience programming for others if you can. Start your own business if you can. Or do it with a friend. Develop your tech interests. You'll get little time to do this on a degree course. Be careful if you do a 4 year Comp. Sci. degree as a mature student, because things move fast in the tech world.

https://youtu.be/uLbi6jGsVEk

dotsman · 23-02-2021 08:54PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

My basic understanding is that websites are built using HTML, CSS, PHP , Javascript or JQuery etc.

Simple, basic websites are. Web Systems are typically built with Java (sometimes .NET). The HTML/CSS/JavaScript etc is simply the web presentation tier.

But that is only the beginning. Have a smart phone? - a significant part of that will be written in Java. Moving to IoT? Java is a huge player in that world. You will find Java in everything from (smart) cars to Bluray players. In fact, here's a few mindblowing figures for you:

15 billion devices run Java
There are 38 billion active JVMs
There are 21 billion cloud-connected JVMS

And those figures are a few years old.

But it's most common implementation is where you won't see it. The back-end of business systems.

It's why you will see so many software engineering jobs (since the late 90's, and likely for the next few decades) requiring Java.

Finally, a lot of newer, smaller languages/frameworks/tools are typically just extensions of, or inspired by Java.

And all that is why universities tend to concentrate on it when teaching students about programming.

dgallagher_73 · 23-02-2021 10:46PM

SilverSideUp wrote: »

I did a Masters in Comp. Sci. as a mature student. I had done some programming myself but I wanted to see what was the state of the art and what I was missing when writing my own programs. The course was a taught Masters and lasted 16 months. I have to say, I was disappointed, for two reasons.

The first was that the material wasn't taught at all. You were given lots of assignments with tight deadlines. In this, Papa Musk is right. College really just gives you a badge of merit which says that you can complete the tasks set for the course, maybe even with distinction.

The second reason is that much of the stuff they 'teach' is foundational stuff that you can easily teach yourself on the internet e.g. web development, intro. to java, intro. to python, relational databases. You don't need a college degree to learn that stuff.

Really useful skills like Node.js, iOT, C, Cloud computing, were not offered. In addition, there was a heavy weighting towards data analysis, machine learning, etc. which is very sexy at the moment. Don't like data analysis? Tough.

I reccomend you do your own projects. Build up your Github repos. Get experience programming for others if you can. Start your own business if you can. Or do it with a friend. Develop your tech interests. You'll get little time to do this on a degree course. Be careful if you do a 4 year Comp. Sci. degree as a mature student, because things move fast in the tech world.

https://youtu.be/uLbi6jGsVEk

Data analysis sounds really boring. I guess machine learning sounds reasonably interesting?
May I ask what undergraduate degree you did before pursuing the masters in Computer Science? Was it related to computers in any way?

I understand what you mean about how Elon Musk almost looks down on college degrees and prioritizes how good someone is at a particular skill but isn't the reality that regardless of how good you are at autodidatically teaching yourself these things on your own in order to get a job in the industry a degree(and probably a masters these days) is a prerequisite?

Although I understand how important it is to do your own projects in your spare time I doubt you can apply for a software development job in a company based soley on how impressive the projects on your Github account is without a degree?

dgallagher_73 · 23-02-2021 10:57PM

dotsman wrote: »

Simple, basic websites are. Web Systems are typically built with Java (sometimes .NET). The HTML/CSS/JavaScript etc is simply the web presentation tier.

But that is only the beginning. Have a smart phone? - a significant part of that will be written in Java. Moving to IoT? Java is a huge player in that world. You will find Java in everything from (smart) cars to Bluray players. In fact, here's a few mindblowing figures for you:
15 billion devices run Java

There are 38 billion active JVMs

There are 21 billion cloud-connected JVMS

And those figures are a few years old.

But it's most common implementation is where you won't see it. The back-end of business systems.

It's why you will see so many software engineering jobs (since the late 90's, and likely for the next few decades) requiring Java.

Finally, a lot of newer, smaller languages/frameworks/tools are typically just extensions of, or inspired by Java.

And all that is why universities tend to concentrate on it when teaching students about programming.

Okay I have better understanding why universities focus on teaching Java.

Can you give me an example of a web system? I looked it up online and it doesn't really give me a simple answer? Is Gmail an example of a web based system?
Can you give me an real world example of a back-end business sytem that would use Java? Would Revenue.ie be an example?

Is the main reason why Java is used so prominently over C++ because it can more easily run on different platforms? Is that the whole point of the language?

Royale with Cheese · 23-02-2021 11:32PM

I wouldn't focus so much on what language they use to teach you, the core concepts of pretty much all object oriented programming languages are the same. I used java for nearly all my modules in university, after I graduated I took a generic grad role with a tech consultancy and they put me straight onto a .net project. I've now been a .Net developer for ten years.

What makes someone an experienced developer in a certain platform (.net in my case) is experience and knowledge of the frameworks, design patterns and tools that go along with creating, deploying and running an application from end to end. You'll touch on pretty much none of those in university unless the courses have seriously improved since I did mine.

SilverSideUp · 23-02-2021 11:41PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Data analysis sounds really boring. I guess machine learning sounds reasonably interesting?
May I ask what undergraduate degree you did before pursuing the masters in Computer Science? Was it related to computers in any way?

I understand what you mean about how Elon Musk almost looks down on college degrees and prioritizes how good someone is at a particular skill but isn't the reality that regardless of how good you are at autodidatically teaching yourself these things on your own in order to get a job in the industry a degree(and probably a masters these days) is a prerequisite?

Although I understand how important it is to do your own projects in your spare time I doubt you can apply for a software development job in a company based soley on how impressive the projects on your Github account is without a degree?

My undergraduate degree was completely unrelated to computers. Microsoft Word was, and still is, considered cutting edge in the industry I came from.

If your goal is to get a job then of course a degree is going to help you for those positions that require a Comp. Science degree. It'll get you past HR. But your question was, should you do a Comp. Science degree?

My answer is that you can also make your way in the industry if you can show and communicate to others an aptitude and passion for software development and demonstrate it in your work portfolio.

Tech is not like medicine, law or veterinary where you are regulated and have to see practice. The field is wide open, completely un-regulated, and all the resources you need are waiting for you on the web.

dotsman · 23-02-2021 11:47PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Okay I have better understanding why universities focus on teaching Java.

Can you give me an example of a web system? I looked it up online and it doesn't really give me a simple answer? Is Gmail an example of a web based system?
Can you give me an real world example of a back-end business sytem that would use Java? Would Revenue.ie be an example?

Is the main reason why Java is used so prominently over C++ because it can more easily run on different platforms? Is that the whole point of the language?

Not very familiar with the internals of revenue.ie, but I would imagine that revenue.ie in itself is simply a website (managed by a CMS), while the MyAccount/ROS etc would be web systems. All the systems that Revenue staff themselves use would be web systems. For any company - their payroll/accounting/HR etc systems are all, well, Systems!

It's not so much that their is a back-end system, but a back-end tier (or multiple tiers) that do all the business logic/process/data manipulation etc. The front-end tier is simply the presentation.

There are many reasons to use Java over C++ and vice versa. The biggest reason is always down to the tools that people are familiar with. C++ is from the 1970's so many types of applications that have been around since then continue to use use C++ (standalone applications, OS applications and games for example). Java was introduced in the 90's and exploded around the start of the millennium and many new system types introduced since then (web systems/mobile/IoT etc) typically use Java.

It's a lot more complex than this. To understand all this is just one of the many reasons to study CS (or related degree) in college

SilverSideUp · 23-02-2021 11:57PM

dotsman wrote: »

Not very familiar with the internals of revenue.ie, but I would imagine that revenue.ie in itself is simply a website (managed by a CMS), while the MyAccount/ROS etc would be web systems. All the systems that Revenue staff themselves use would be web systems. For any company - their payroll/accounting/HR etc systems are all, well, Systems!

It's not so much that their is a back-end system, but a back-end tier (or multiple tiers) that do all the business logic/process/data manipulation etc. The front-end tier is simply the presentation.

There are many reasons to use Java over C++ and vice versa. The biggest reason is always down to the tools that people are familiar with. C++ is from the 1970's so many types of applications that have been around since then continue to use use C++ (standalone applications, OS applications and games for example). Java was introduced in the 90's and exploded around the start of the millennium and many new system types introduced since then (web systems/mobile/IoT etc) typically use Java.

It's a lot more complex than this. To understand all this is just one of the many reasons to study CS (or related degree) in college

C++ began in 1985

dotsman · 24-02-2021 01:39AM

SilverSideUp wrote: »

C++ began in 1985

Well, to be pedantic, it "began" in the late '70s as "C with classes" (a fork of C which had been created at the start of the '70's and become very popular), went through several iterations and become known as C++ in 1982 and the first book on it was finally published in '85 (i.e. triggering widespread adoption). Fun fact

CodeApples · 24-02-2021 09:57AM

All valid points so far. I went back and did BSc in CS after a lifetime of commercial web and software development. I have to say I wish i had done it sooner. You do get out what you put in and it is more of a badge of merit than the best use of your educational time. Back story: I was spending 20 hrs a week if not more doing Coursera, Udemy, Pluralsight courses that all gave me knowledge but not paperwork of value to go with it. So i figured, do the time in an institution and get the letters. I'm still working through it, now on my masters though that has moved into leadership and innovation.

Anyway CS degree is vey worthwhile in my opinion. I interviewed a guy once who had just finished his CS degree and his main project was a Unity driving game that used ML to learn to drive the car around the track. He showed us a video of it, sped up, as the car learned from crashing to near perfect navigation of the track. Now if you understand machine learning, you know that is actually quite rudimentary but putting it all together I thought was very impressive. Did he go out and get a job developing games, probably not. Why, well for a start he was interviewing for a back-end java role straight out of college and all he wanted to do was develop games. So i guess its not all roses on the job front.

So now the tricky part and possibly not what you want to hear. Becoming a game developer is a passion that must be pursued with some realistic expectations of how you are going to struggle. Sure you have some big game companies in Ireland, Riot Games is one that comes to mind, but go have a look on jobs sites and just think about what your end goal is. Because if you are happy to go the DIY route, there are some cracking courses you could do online that would obliterate anything you will learn in college for the same amount of time.

Final point. Some of the technologies others discussed like distributed systems design are absolutely relevant to gaming at scale, if you want to get into any of the big gaming companies with multiplayer online games. Lastly a quick google found this https://www.ul.ie/courses/bachelor-science-computer-games-development so other option is do a CS course with a gaming specialisation. Good luck and well done for making the leap back into education!!

Mr. CooL ICE · 24-02-2021 11:13AM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Can you give me an example of a web system? I looked it up online and it doesn't really give me a simple answer? Is Gmail an example of a web based system?
Can you give me an real world example of a back-end business sytem that would use Java? Would Revenue.ie be an example?

I'm not answering for the poster you quoted, but I'll give you my interpretation of what he means by 'web systems': a combination of client and server side systems, which could be categorised under frontend vs backend development.

To take something like boards as a simple example; HTML, CSS and javascript would be used to generate the pages you view in your browser and handle the basic interactions, such as clicking links or the "Submit Reply" button. Once you do something like open a thread to view posts, post a reply, or anything that involves getting/posting information from/to boards, then the boards server will handle that.

(I don't know the exact tech that boards uses so I'm going to make some assumptions about how it is built here)

Boards would not be built in using HTML/CSS/javascript*. Boards would be built using something like Java or C#. When a user, like yourself, clicks on a thread to view posts, you will be sending what is known as a "request" to the boards server. The boards server will interpret this request by retrieving the posts in the thread you asked to view from the server database, transform the post information into a response and send it back to your browser. When the browser retrieves this information, it will then go back to using HTML/CSS/javascript to create a view for you to be able to read this information.

tl;dr: frontend development includes showing information on screen and sending requests to a server asking for information and interpreting the response, whereas backend development interprets requests from a client, generating that information and sending it back to the client as a response.

I mainly work with C# working on web systems, as would be described above. I haven't spent any time on game tutorials in a long, long time. I can only assume that if I started now, my knowledge from working on web systems would have very little transfer over to game dev. It might, but I highly doubt it.

If game development is your primary interest and motivation to get into programming in general, then use a tool you like, like Unity, and stick with it. There are game dev courses out there, but a more general comp science course wouldn't help you with your aim IMO.

*node.js is the exception here

daymobrew · 24-02-2021 12:56PM

You could investigate two Game Development releated courses in Cork:
https://courses.cit.ie/index.cfm/page/module/moduleId/12996
https://www.stjohnscollege.ie/courses-2/information-technology/computer-game-design-development/
Both appear to be short committments compared to a degree course.

dgallagher_73 · 24-02-2021 02:21PM

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I wouldn't focus so much on what language they use to teach you, the core concepts of pretty much all object oriented programming languages are the same. I used java for nearly all my modules in university, after I graduated I took a generic grad role with a tech consultancy and they put me straight onto a .net project. I've now been a .Net developer for ten years.

What makes someone an experienced developer in a certain platform (.net in my case) is experience and knowledge of the frameworks, design patterns and tools that go along with creating, deploying and running an application from end to end. You'll touch on pretty much none of those in university unless the courses have seriously improved since I did mine.

Can I ask what does working in .net actually entail? What do you work on all day? Is it back-end stuff?

km991148 · 24-02-2021 02:30PM

I won't go into one specific technology over another and the merits (perceived or otherwise) of a degree as others are going there, but, as was barely touched upon- why games development specifically?

Do you currently build games as a hobby or is there something specifically interesting about the industry.

My impression about games industry is there are a lot of people wanting in and the salaries aren't as good as business programming. But that's just an impression. Either way depending on your reasons for wanting in, it may not be the career you think it is?

dgallagher_73 · 24-02-2021 02:30PM

SilverSideUp wrote: »

My undergraduate degree was completely unrelated to computers. Microsoft Word was, and still is, considered cutting edge in the industry I came from.

If your goal is to get a job then of course a degree is going to help you for those positions that require a Comp. Science degree. It'll get you past HR. But your question was, should you do a Comp. Science degree?

My answer is that you can also make your way in the industry if you can show and communicate to others an aptitude and passion for software development and demonstrate it in your work portfolio.

Tech is not like medicine, law or veterinary where you are regulated and have to see practice. The field is wide open, completely un-regulated, and all the resources you need are waiting for you on the web.

Out of curiosity may I ask what kind of undergraduate degree did you do before pursuing the masters in CS?

dgallagher_73 · 24-02-2021 02:40PM

km991148 wrote: »

I won't go into one specific technology over another and the merits (perceived or otherwise) of a degree as others are going there, but, as was barely touched upon- why games development specifically?

My impression about games industry is there are a lot of people wanting in and the salaries aren't as good as business programming. But that's just an impression. Either way depending on your reasons for wanting in, it may not be the career you think it is?

Yes I've been learning about building games over the last couple of years by following Youtube tutorials online etc. I've spent many hours teaching myself how make a 2D platformer game. I was inspired by the people who made Cuphead, Fez, Hollow Knight and made Celeste.

They all started out as small teams that used Unity as their game engine(except the people that made Celeste and Fez). I do hope to make my own game at some stage and I had hoped to start a game studio. I'm more interested in setting up my own studio to make games rather than work as an employee for a game studio or to work as a business programmer.

However the reality is that there are way more business programmer jobs than game jobs especially in Ireland. My overwhelming impression is that jobs in game development are precarious and not well paid. I really don't think there are many jobs in videogames in Ireland.

I thought that perhaps if I did the CS degree and worked as a back end developer or something for a while I could spend my free time on the game and possibly get to a point were I could set up my own studio to make modest indie games that would be profitable for a small team of people? I'm definitely not saying I could make as good of a game as Cuphead or anything. I'm not deluded. But I thought I could make decent games that people would buy nonetheless.

You see I'm getting older and older and it might be wise to go back and do a degree that is sort of related to video games but is sensible at the same time. That's why I thought doing CS would be a good thing to do at this stage of my life.

km991148 · 24-02-2021 02:43PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Yes I've been learning about building games over the last couple of years by following Youtube tutorials online etc. I've spent many hours teaching myself how make a 2D platformer game. I was inspired by the people who made Cuphead, Fez, Hollow Knight and made Celeste.

They all started out as small teams that used Unity as their game engine(except the people that made Celeste and Fez). I do hope to make my own game at some stage and I had hoped to start a game studio. I'm more interested in setting up my own studio to make games rather than work as an employee for a game studio or to work as a business programmer.

However the reality is that there are way more business programmer jobs than game jobs especially in Ireland. My overwhelming impression is that jobs in game development are precarious and not well paid. I really don't think there are many jobs in videogames in Ireland.

I thought that perhaps if I did the CS degree and worked as a back end developer or something for a while I could spend my free time on the game and possibly get to a point were I could set up my own studio to make modest indie games that would be profitable for a small team of people? You see I'm getting oldere and older and it might be wise to go back and do a degree that is sort of related to video games but is sensible at the same time. That's why I thought doing CS would be a good thing to do at this stage of my life.

Yeah if you are enjoying the games as a hobby, keep it as an enjoyment. Find something else to enjoy in business programming. Might be web Frameworks like react or angular, DB programming, services work, designing business layers that make sense. There are many, many different roles and technologies out there, good luck!

dgallagher_73 · 24-02-2021 02:56PM

km991148 wrote: »

Yeah if you are enjoying the games as a hobby, keep it as an enjoyment. Find something else to enjoy in business programming. Might be web Frameworks like react or angular, DB programming, services work, designing business layers that make sense. There are many, many different roles and technologies out there, good luck!

Can I ask what kind of work do you do that is related to Computer Science? How do you find it?

Royale with Cheese · 24-02-2021 03:00PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Can I ask what does working in .net actually entail? What do you work on all day? Is it back-end stuff?

I've spent ten years mainly working on generic web based applications for large companies, mostly internal systems but the odd customer facing site. The C# programming part is for the back end web server, this is the part that a Java developer would write in Java or a node.js developer would write in JavaScript.

I'd have largely avoided front end development earlier on in my career and called myself a backend developer but it's getting harder to get away with that these days, you're expected to develop full stack. There is a specific .net technology for creating the front end part of a web app but modern applications have moved away from that now really towards the big JavaScript front end frameworks. So you'd have a React/Angular or maybe Vue.js front end application written in JavaScript talking to a .Net web server.

CodeApples · 24-02-2021 03:18PM

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/us-video-gaming-giant-epic-games-endorses-ulster-university-courses-1085465.html

Sort of relevant maybe.

km991148 · 24-02-2021 03:26PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Can I ask what kind of work do you do that is related to Computer Science? How do you find it?

I've seen it all at this stage :-D

As a career choice it's good, with lots of diversity. Different technologies, different business domains, different areas of expertise (you might find you like something visual like front end work, or you like getting deep into scalability problems on the back end). These are generalisations as each area has overlap (there is always a number of good choices Vs many bad choices when building software).

Initially it's a case of building skills, learning the mechanics of your given stack, changing if you don't like it. Over time tho you should be looking to build up an engineering mindset. As you gain experience you will learn what solutions fit well with what (business and technical) problems and know when to use them.

Additionally you should also improve your project management skills (of which there are various methodologies). Similarly as time goes on you will (should!) get better at estimating and knowing what's best. Often the engineering mindset kicks in and it's more about finding compromises that allow you to deliver what meets requirements Vs budget Vs not building a steaming pile of crap.

dgallagher_73 · 24-02-2021 03:42PM

km991148 wrote: »

I've seen it all at this stage :-D

As a career choice it's good, with lots of diversity. Different technologies, different business domains, different areas of expertise (you might find you like something visual like front end work, or you like getting deep into scalability problems on the back end). These are generalisations as each area has overlap (there is always a number of good choices Vs many bad choices when building software).

Initially it's a case of building skills, learning the mechanics of your given stack, changing if you don't like it. Over time tho you should be looking to build up an engineering mindset. As you gain experience you will learn what solutions fit well with what (business and technical) problems and know when to use them.

Additionally you should also improve your project management skills (of which there are various methodologies). Similarly as time goes on you will (should!) get better at estimating and knowing what's best. Often the engineering mindset kicks in and it's more about finding compromises that allow you to deliver what meets requirements Vs budget Vs not building a steaming pile of crap.

Was it easy enough to find work after your finished your degree? Do you work very long hours? I know these days it's normal for people to work 8 to 6 but I wonder are there times where you're are working until midnight because of a deadline?

km991148 · 24-02-2021 03:48PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

Was it easy enough to find work after your finished your degree? Do you work very long hours? I know these days it's normal for people to work 8 to 6 but I wonder are there times where you're are working until midnight because of a deadline?

It's hard to say for you. Like, we are about to hit a recession, we don't know how bad it will be. Generally for me I've had no issues finding work.
Working hours vary a lot by company. Usually the smaller or younger the company, the more you end up working. But for every company with dreadful hours, there is another that promotes good work life balance.

dgallagher_73 · 24-02-2021 03:50PM

km991148 wrote: »

It's hard to say for you. Like, we are about to hit a recession, we don't know how bad it will be. Generally for me I've had no issues finding work.
Working hours vary a lot by company. Usually the smaller or younger the company, the more you end up working. But for every company with dreadful hours, there is another that promotes good work life balance.

I understand. It's just that if I want to work on my videogame project after I finish work I wonder how realistic it would be for me to do so? I might be too exhausted.

km991148 · 24-02-2021 03:58PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

I understand. It's just that if I want to work on my videogame project after I finish work I wonder how realistic it would be for me to do so? I might be too exhausted.

It's impossible to tell really, but if you find yourself in that position where you are too tired for hobbies then I would recommend anyone change jobs as that's a one way ticket to burn out and exhaustion.

Same if you end up spending too much time coding into the small hours and having to get up for work.

I guess it depends what you want? Are you happy treatment home development as a hobby and fur fun/mental stimulation/learning or do you have major plans to take over the gaming world?

By the time you graduate you might not even care! Or you might find you can't do without and will want to work full time in it, only you can know but I would say it's unlikely that you will be working ALL the time and every day you will be too tired.

More than likely you will get some long hours as deadlines approach etc

beauf · 24-02-2021 04:54PM

dgallagher_73 wrote: »

I understand. It's just that if I want to work on my videogame project after I finish work I wonder how realistic it would be for me to do so? I might be too exhausted.

Don't worry about things that haven't happened yet.

beauf · 24-02-2021 05:08PM

If think its very easy to get deflected into compromising your end goals because you have to take what is available now.
Its also entirely to turn a hobby you love into a job you hate. Its very rare that someone's job is a labour of love.

There is no right or wrong here. Everyone's path is different. Personally if I was do anything differently it would be to compromise and take "plan B" less often than I did.

Studying Computer Science if I have an interest in game development

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