I want to major in Independent Game Development , a major which doesn’t exist in the State of Alaska university system. However, you can major in Interdisciplinary Studies at UAA which is kind of a “build your own” major.
From what I’ve heard it’s not easy to get one of those approved, and I’m thinking I may run into roadblocks because when I’ve mentioned game development to people they’ve come back with, “You should major in Computer Science.” (Random people, not profs at this point.)
But Indie Game Development is much less math intensive than most CS degrees I’ve seen – unless you’re writing your own game engine. But writing an engine isn’t game development. With frameworks like Corona SDK and engines like Unity, solid programming skills are all you need for the technical aspect, not the nitty-gritty that CS geeks get into.
Plus, for an indie, there’s also design, writing, marketing, and business, so a CS degree doesn’t cut it.
My idea is to have a pie cut into thirds:
- Programming = 1/3
- Design & Writing = 1/3
- Marketing & Business = 1/3
That, I think, would give someone a good foundation upon which they could build an Indie Game Development business.
I know I have to get a department head to agree that none of the current majors are close enough to what I want to do, so I’ll be trying to figure out which of those three pie segments might give me the best shot.
I don’t start trying to get it approved until this winter, but I’d like to get all my ducks in a row before then. So if anybody has ideas on how to handle this, I’d appreciate it.
Jay
