Uni - Second Year- Dilema....

jcb33

jcb33

jcb33

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Dear all, hello!

Just hit a bit of a dilema, im starting my second year in uni, and my course so far has been a little programing, and basic computing, now its moving onto more games orientated stuff.

My course is Games Computing.

I have learnt basic Java (with lots of help from you lot, thanks!) and while a little programing was a good challenge, which I have enjoyed, it is also very very boreing!

We were told our group project for this year would be a Half Life 2 mod, but they have changed this, so that "Games Production" students have it, and our project is to "Program" a game in "C#" for either the PC or 360.

On top of this we have graphics programing, which involved learning C+.

So they expect us to learn C+ and C# in one year, and that will meen that a large chunck of my course is pure programing, while I was happy to do the graphics programing, im not sure I can stick the mind boglingness of learning 2 new languages, and having to do 2 different courseworks involving programing.

So in essence, im not sure if I should stick on my course, with it having more worth, or change to the "Games Production" course, im also not sure what problems may arrise from changing course one year into my degree? How will it effect loans etc?

Thanks for any advice... even if this is just ramble!
Jcb33!
 
I would have thought it would depend upon whether they will let you start games production from the second year or make you start from scratch. Wrt funding I think you should be fine, as I think they let you change course after 1 year at most without penaty, but check with them to be sure.
 
Well its basicaly the same course in year one, the only difference is they did JS, rather than Java, and Audio Principles rather than Operating Systems
 
I changed my course from Software Engineering to Business Studies this year (start tomorrow).

But I just grew to hate programming, I didn't mind it at the start but then it got into more detail and I just started to hate it and so I wasn't keeping up with it and then became crap at programming as you've always got to practice with it and keep ahead.

If it's early enough on in the year you maybe be able to just swap over your course if they're fairly similar. Also for the loan question i'm wondering the same thing.
 
All the C variants are so similar you can consider them as one language with a few simple extensions.

I had to learn java, C and haskell in my first year and once you got the basics behind programming learning new languages is incredibly easy.
 
Stick with your current course. It sounds better than the other one... making a half-life 2 mod won't compare to actually getting down to the nitty-gritty and writing your own game completely!
 
Stick with it. If you can handle Java you should be able to handle c. Once you understand the basics of programming in one language, you can move it to other languages. Its all syntax baby! :)
 
Kreeeee said:
All the C variants are so similar you can consider them as one language with a few simple extensions.

I had to learn java, C and haskell in my first year and once you got the basics behind programming learning new languages is incredibly easy.
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Exactly, C, C++, c#, Java, etc are all so similar that there should be no problem learning the basics of all of them in a year.

Computer games require lots of programming. If that is not for you then you should cvhange course. This quite easy.
 
Its not that im sturgling with programing so much, as it is so boreing, I sit down and just program for days, and because im a bit OCD when it comes to courework I have thousands of "How can i break this" "How can I fix that" etc etc so I just take so long I want to shoot myself...

I do not want to program as a job basicaly, I want to be more creative...

Also just checked about the loan, and as long as your not repeating anything you are ok!
 
D.P. said:
Exactly, C, C++, c#, Java, etc are all so similar that there should be no problem learning the basics of all of them in a year.

Computer games require lots of programming. If that is not for you then you should cvhange course. This quite easy.
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Yep, there will be a lot of programming, mind you though, if you think about what AI you are going to be adding in your game it should be fairly straight forward. It just will take some time putting all the physics into code and how they interact with each other.

Be prepaired for lots of science type thought and knocking up your own enviroment equations.
 
jcb33 said:
Its not that im sturgling with programing so much, as it is so boreing, I sit down and just program for days, and because im a bit OCD when it comes to courework I have thousands of "How can i break this" "How can I fix that" etc etc so I just take so long I want to shoot myself...

I do not want to program as a job basicaly, I want to be more creative...

Also just checked about the loan, and as long as your not repeating anything you are ok!
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They cover you for your original course length + 1 year loans wise.

Programming IS about creativity. If it bores you then you're not being creative enough.

At Bristol the end goal is to know enough about programming to never be a code monkey. You don't go to uni so you can do basic coding all your life!
 
Kreeeee said:
They cover you for your original course length + 1 year loans wise.

Programming IS about creativity. If it bores you then you're not being creative enough.

At Bristol the end goal is to know enough about programming to never be a code monkey. You don't go to uni so you can do basic coding all your life!
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Systems analist :D
 
I would say that I am being as creative with programing as my knowledge in it allows, and so far the ability to be creative is very repetative, while you can create some cool things, the ways in which you do it tend to be very similar!
 
jcb33 said:
I would say that I am being as creative with programing as my knowledge in it allows, and so far the ability to be creative is very repetative, while you can create some cool things, the ways in which you do it tend to be very similar!
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Maybe you are just not interested in programming. It could be a simple as that. Maybe you like to design things, but not engineer them (if that is possible :?: )
 
leaskovski said:
Maybe you are just not interested in programming. It could be a simple as that. Maybe you like to design things, but not engineer them (if that is possible :?: )
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hehe sounds like I should be an Architect from that description! I guess programming is a little boreing to me, I did enjoy the chalenge of it last year, but the thought of doing it for another 2 years does my nut in...
 
I know nothing about programming or any of the languages mentioned, but surely it's going to be more worthwhile in the long run learning how to use C and C+ (or whatever) rather than write Half Life 2 mod? It'll look better on your CV if you can actually use an well known piece of computing software that's used much more widely than anything to do with making a HL2 mod.
 
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