Computer Science Major Help

[Red Fighter 1073]

Hey, so I'm currently an undeclared freshman in college, but I'm like 90% sure that I want to be a Comp Sci major and hopefully either Game Design, Animation, or Security. This is just going to end up as a jumble of different thoughts so just bear with me and hopefully you can give me some advice on what to do with the major because I'm contemplating a lot of different things.

Right now, I'm just taking intro to Java courses and Calculus I next semester, and most likely transferring to a new school if my GPA is high enough. One of the schools I plan to apply to has a dual major in Comp Sci and either Game Design or Animation. This seems like a really great option, but I was strongly considering double majoring in Management Information Systems. Would that double major make a significant enough impact on my resume to better secure me a job (even though it might not be in my top 3 ideas of jobs I want to get in to.)

On that subject though, I only have 3 ideas even though I know there are so many other types of Comp Sci jobs out there. Does anyone else have any other input as to what other careers might be interesting to take a look at?

Also, the school I go to primarily teaches everything in Java, but I also want to learn C++. Would it look better if I were to transfer to a school that actually taught C++ or just try and learn it by myself?

Thanks for all the help!

[bluestarultor]

Well, game design is incredibly competitive. Everyone wants to go into it. I'd suggest a business-oriented path for an easier time finding employment.

Also, C++ is a great thing to have on a resume, especially if you're doing games. Best bet is to get a formal education in it, though. It looks better on a resume.

If you really want to get into game design, you have to commit to it. I'd personally love to get into the field professionally in some ways, but on the other hand, I know I'm not as aggressive as I'd need to be to ensure I got employed (which is very) and it would also mean I'd have to give up on all my pet projects. I really don't think they'd like me doing games on the side when games are my day job. /selfabsorbedtangent

Computer science is a wonderful field, though. Talk to an advisor about your options. That's probably the best bet.

[01d55]

Your school is terrible, get into a C/C++ school stat. Preferably one that uses a POSIX operating system as a teaching environment.

[CelesJessa]

Hey, so I'm currently an undeclared freshman in college, but I'm like 90% sure that I want to be a Comp Sci major and hopefully either Game Design, Animation, or Security.


I'm not sure what it's like everywhere, but at least at my school, animation is in the art department, which requires at least one portfolio review to be allowed to even start (actually there's two for my school, one to get into the art department and one to get into the animation program.) so you better like drawing, but it might be different elsewhere!

But animation in general is less a programming kind of thing and more of a "using complex tools to make something pretty" kind of thing. (unless you want to be a person who programs those... uh.... programs.)

[bluestarultor]

Your school is terrible, get into a C/C++ school stat. Preferably one that uses a POSIX operating system as a teaching environment.

Well, it's not really his fault. My current school is also Java-heavy. Java is being incorporated more and more into business applications and even games. C++ still rules the game market and probably will for some time due to Java's continued lack of unsigned types, but C++ has a high learning curve and is dominating the market less and less as newer languages see more use.


One last thing on game development: you may want to learn C#, too. C# is great for RAD and may net you a job in the games industry as a dev tool writer. I know EA employs it for that purpose and it's a good way to get your foot in the door and gain experience while you wait for them to give you more intensive duties.



Edit:

I'm not sure what it's like everywhere, but at least at my school, animation is in the art department, which requires at least one portfolio review to be allowed to even start (actually there's two for my school, one to get into the art department and one to get into the animation program.) so you better like drawing, but it might be different elsewhere!

But animation in general is less a programming kind of thing and more of a "using complex tools to make something pretty" kind of thing. (unless you want to be a person who programs those... uh.... programs.)

3D animation is in the CS department here. Or at least it's part of the program. I'm not surprised it's not the same everywhere, though.

Now, by "animation," are you talking just making the models and stuff or focusing on how to make them move? Because if his CS program is like mine, the focus is on making models move, IIRC.

[krogothwolf]

Your school is terrible, get into a C/C++ school stat. Preferably one that uses a POSIX operating system as a teaching environment.

POSIX's CAN GO ROT IN HELL!!!!!!

I kid I kid. POSIX is actually pretty good when learning C/C++(I just had a really shitty teacher)

[CelesJessa]

3D animation is in the CS department here. Or at least it's part of the program. I'm not surprised it's not the same everywhere, though.

Now, by "animation," are you talking just making the models and stuff or focusing on how to make them move? Because if his CS program is like mine, the focus is on making models move, IIRC.

I'm talking about all of it, personally, since that's what my animation program teaches.


Now that I think about it, according to my animation professor, animation in gaming is going to be changing dramatically in the near future, to the point where how you learn how to move characters now is going to be obsolete, because of crazy muscle-systems they'll be building in characters so that everything is done with procedurals or something. So that might be something you'll want to keep in mind if you want to go into that.

[bluestarultor]

I'm talking about all of it, personally, since that's what my animation program teaches.


Now that I think about it, according to my animation professor, animation in gaming is going to be changing dramatically in the near future, to the point where how you learn how to move characters now is going to be obsolete, because of crazy muscle-systems they'll be building in characters so that everything is done with procedurals or something. So that might be something you'll want to keep in mind if you want to go into that.

I'm sure a lot of it will be some sort of kinematics system. As it is right now, my program does everything based on matrices filled with formulae. Have you done any stuff with 3x3 matrices, or are you doing some sort of click-and-drag?

I'd honestly really prefer the option to work either way. I did some numeric stuff in Alice and it interacted in funny ways. Then again, it's Alice. The rounding errors alone probably threw it all off. I needed more than two decimal places. On the other hand, I wouldn't trust myself in 3D space just with a mouse.

[CelesJessa]

I'm sure a lot of it will be some sort of kinematics system. As it is right now, my program does everything based on matrices filled with formulae. Have you done any stuff with 3x3 matrices, or are you doing some sort of click-and-drag?

I'd honestly really prefer the option to work either way. I did some numeric stuff in Alice and it interacted in funny ways. Then again, it's Alice. The rounding errors alone probably threw it all off. I needed more than two decimal places. On the other hand, I wouldn't trust myself in 3D space just with a mouse.

I'm... not 100% sure what you mean by a kinematics system, since FK and IK systems (Foreward Kinematics and Inverse Kinematics) are already used in the kind of animation that supposedly is going to become obsolete.

I use autodesk Maya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Maya) predominantly, which does... lots of things. /isn't exactly sure how to answer your question

[Red Fighter 1073]

So thanks for the responses. As far as Animation goes, I honestly don't know very much about the Comp Sci track actually. I just noticed that it was offered in some degree at two of the schools I'm applying to (Northeastern (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/undergraduate/programdetails/index.html#otherduals) and BU (http://www.cs.bu.edu/new-CS-web/education/concentrations/Graphics.shtml), Drexel being the third) and I thought it might be interesting to look further into.

But yeah regardless of what I end up doing, I still really want to try and learn C++. BU teaches in Java, Northeastern I don't know, and Drexel teaches in C++, so even though I would love to go to Drexel, it still kinda sucks that my two Comp Sci Java classes won't matter as far as that college goes.

[bluestarultor]

I'm... not 100% sure what you mean by a kinematics system, since FK and IK systems (Foreward Kinematics and Inverse Kinematics) are already used in the kind of animation that supposedly is going to become obsolete.

I use autodesk Maya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Maya) predominantly, which does... lots of things. /isn't exactly sure how to answer your question

I was thinking more in terms of soft body systems being combined with bone movement. I dunno, that's not a part of my current education.

[Gregness]

...

But yeah regardless of what I end up doing, I still really want to try and learn C++. BU teaches in Java, Northeastern I don't know, and Drexel teaches in C++, so even though I would love to go to Drexel, it still kinda sucks that my two Comp Sci Java classes won't matter as far as that college goes.

If your computer science classes have been any good at all, they won't be as useless as you think. I know (at least in the classes I've had) we used C++ to write our code, but the emphasis was always more on broad strokes topics like proper loop logic and correctly writing recursive functions. This kind of thing isn't limited to the language you learn them on. Once you get the Syntax of C++ down, you'll find that the principles still apply.