If you could study Game Design

[Wulf Ratbane]

Allow me to second the suggestion on Statistics/Probability.

Having to self-teach those... while certainly possible... sucks.

 

[Nifft]

- Statistics
- Physics
- Playwriting
- Improvisational Theater
- Oration
- Literature
- Psychology
- Linguistics

Cheers, -- N

 

[Sparafucile]

A good list . . . I would also add Macroeconomics.

As for Philosophy, I'd stick to the Continentals . . . but don't get too bogged down, one of the goals of good game design is having and keeping the interest of an audience.

 

[Korgoth]

My advice is simple... LOAD UP on Philosophy courses. I'm serious, brother.

Philosophy will not teach you how to write or how to design games. It will teach you how to THINK, linearly and non-linearly, and will aquaint you with constructive methodologies of creation and critical evaluation. In other words, Philosophy will not teach you how to do anything at all, it will simply empower you to do better at the things you already do, including, yes, game design/adventure writing/campaign creation.

Psychoanalysis (as distinguished from Psychiatry or Psychology) is also full of insights that are a Philosophic Medicine to the creator in all of us... I myself utilize the Jungian Archetypes of the Subconscious in my own stories to good effect (the Archetypes are in all stories and images anyway, but if you're familiar with them academically, then you can utilize them diliberately, instead of, well, subconsciously). The Neurotic and Psychotic Complexes also make a good base-line for demons and devils in a role-playing game, and many Psychoanalists, including Freud, Jung, and Von Franz, drew parallels between Neurosis/Psychosis and demonic possession.

Anthropology... I probably don't need to explain this one, but, briefly, if you are acquainted with how human societies develop, operate, and change over time, then any orc, goblin, dwarf, or elf societies that you create will be all the better for it. I recommend finding a copy of Wilhelm Wundt's "The Elements of Folk Psychology" as a standard reference here.

Any course on Religion, Mythology, or Theology is likely to offer much inspiration to any aspiring writer or artist, including the game designer.

Oh, and one last thing, brother... take up a serious academic study of the Qabalah. I can't say why, but it's among the best pieces of advice I can offer to anyone, anywhere, who wants to learn how to think, create, and dream. No bullsh*t.

I disagree with everything this poster has said.

In particular, if you want to learn how to think but not bother with any content, study Logic (predicate calculus, etc.). Of course, if you don't actually know anything, Logic is also pretty useless. Knowing Logic but no science is like having a bow but no arrows.

If you study Philosophy, study it because you want to undertake a scientific analysis of the structure and implications of the human faculty of reason. Start with "The Apology of Socrates" by Plato (but basically the views of Socrates himself, Plato's teacher), then read "The Republic" by Plato, then read "The Nicomachean Ethics" by Aristotle. After that, if you like Aristotle, read the first 5 chapters of his "Categories", then read the second book of his "Physics", then read his work entitled "On the Soul". At that point you'll be in good shape.

As for learning game design, my first advice is to learn something that actually pays money, or plan on going to graduate school and making a career of academia. Game Design is not an established career path and you're setting yourself up for a lot of heartache and Ramen noodles if you try to make it into something that it is not.

Courses that seem particularly relevant... well, I think it's nice to have a good grounding in mythology. So take at least one course on classical mythology. The amount of statistics you need to make a role playing game is so rudimentary that you don't need a whole course just for that. I'd also avoid anything about Freud, Jung or comparative religion because in general they're the exact opposite of education. If there's an economics course that teaches the basics of Game Theory (the mathematics of choice strategies, essentially) then that would probably be useful, but in general I'd expect that kind of course to be more advanced than would necessarily be worth it to someone who isn't majoring in math or economics. A solid grounding in Western history is always highly useful.

Make sure that you set it up so that you leave college with a solid body of knowledge and at least one useful skill. Even if you tailor your coursework to what you think constitutes "game design", realize that it is still an industry that is hard to get into because of the relatively small amount of extra money floating around. My serious suggestion is that you major in something that you know actually has a job attached to it, and "minor" in Game Design in hopes that you can get into that industry rather than your 'blue chip' major.

The last thing you want to do is leave college with a B.A. and the realization that what you really majored in was "Trivia for Cocktail Party Conversation". Because for that to actually be useful you have to be a trust funder or something.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

My advice is simple... LOAD UP on Philosophy courses. I'm serious, brother.

Philosophy will not teach you how to write or how to design games. It will teach you how to THINK, linearly and non-linearly, and will aquaint you with constructive methodologies of creation and critical evaluation. In other words, Philosophy will not teach you how to do anything at all, it will simply empower you to do better at the things you already do, including, yes, game design/adventure writing/campaign creation.

I would say the same about engineering courses, but I'm a bit biased there.

I'm not a game designer, but I would suggest some of the soft sciences such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology. This is a social activity, after all. I'd particularly suggest small group dynamics in sociology, which I found very useful

I'll second game theory and probability. Some software courses too to help you run simulations on mechanics. Artificial intelligence too, for the same reason (though it's not what you probably think it is)

In the business areas negotiation is a useful course, especially to understand leverage and power. Applied microeconomics (quite different that what you get from the econ department) is useful for understanding incentives. Leadership might also be useful depending on the course.

Besides all that I'd suggest a lot of studies of history and studies of other cultures. Knowing real cultures is very, very useful when making up you own for your game's fluff. It helps you add depth and make your game society more real.

 

[pawsplay]

The last thing you want to do is leave college with a B.A. and the realization that what you really majored in was "Trivia for Cocktail Party Conversation".

I disagree. It's something that is likely to pay dividends for a lifetime, as opposed to a practical/vocational degree in a field you may or may not end up working in. But do think about the whole day job thing.

Courses useful to a game designer:
Human Anatomy/Macrobiology
Psychology
Statistics
Ethics
Philosophy/Epistemology
History of Science Fiction
Anthropology or Sociology (both if possible)
Improvisational Theater

Things to do:
Fight SCA armored combat at least once, health permitting
Identify all the martial artists you know and get all the free beginner classes you can
Join a boffer LARP
Get to know the town you live in
Make something: a table, a functional knife, a computer, something

Books to read:
Art of War, Sun-Tzu
Book of Five Rings
The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner
Plato's Republic
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Aristotle's Poetics
Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury
Guns, Germs, and Steel
The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould
Larry Gonick's History of the Universe, I & II

 

[roguerouge]

I'm not a game designer, but I'd think that History of Media Arts would be a good idea for you. First, it gives you an introduction to genre theories, which are about the forms and functions storytelling types (e.g. noir, horror, mystery, speculative fiction, comedy, melodrama, experimental, and others.) Second, as a performing art, you'll need the background on where related performing styles come from, namely radio narrative, TV serial narrative, and video games. Third, it will help you understand the gaming industry based on how other entertainment industries have evolved. Finally, the content control debates and media effects theories are DEEPLY relevant to the gaming industry.

In addition, I teach exactly these courses at Emerson College in Boston, MA. If you'd like, I'd be willing to serve as a teacher, either over the summer in the two courses that I teach there, VM100 and VM101, or through an adjunct lecturer contract through your school. (I've taught online before and would be willing to do so through whatever online educational software your school happens to use.)

If you're looking to find out more about me, you can contact me through my school account, which is my first name_last name at sign emerson dot edu. Put ENworld student in your subject line.

You can find examples of my writing work here:

“Where’s the fun?”: The Comic Apocalypse in “The Wish”
http://www.slayageonline.com/essays/slayage23/Kociemba.htm

”Actually, it explains a lot”: Reading the Opening Title Sequences of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
http://www.slayageonline.com/essays/slayage22/Kociemba.htm

I've also written on "Battlestar Galactica" and "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!"

 

[Nifft]

A good list . . . I would also add Macroeconomics.

You're right. Economics is essential for a Modern or Future game setting. (For medieval stuff, whatever you make up will probably make more sense than the kind of stuff that actually went on...)

Cheers, -- N

 

[Mishihari Lord]

The last thing you want to do is leave college with a B.A. and the realization that what you really majored in was "Trivia for Cocktail Party Conversation".

I disagree. It's something that is likely to pay dividends for a lifetime, as opposed to a practical/vocational degree in a field you may or may not end up working in. But do think about the whole day job thing.

I disagree with your disagreeing. Gaining a broad education is good, but having food money is way more important. Poverty's no fun.

It's really not an either/or though, more of a spectrum. There are plenty of programs where you get a good broad education and still pick up the skills you need to start a successful career.

And to the OP's question I should add that you want to take a lot of communication classes. The thing about writing a game is that you actually have to be able to write. You could come up with the best game in the world, but if you can't tell people how to play it it does you no good. And if you can do a good job editing your work it costs a lost less to have an editor fix the remaining problems. Knowing how to create a good story helps a lot too.

 

[pawsplay]

I disagree with your disagreeing. Gaining a broad education is good, but having food money is way more important. Poverty's no fun.

Neither is spending your youth qualifying for a profession it turns out you don't enjoy. Balance is important. And if there is something you really love, go for it, and worry about how you're going to make the big bucks later on. Plenty of people get "food money" with no degree at all... in fact, it takes college kids a number of years to catch up, when you count the time they spend in school.

It makes very little difference what your Bachelor's is in, unless you are trying to get into Harvard Law School or somesuch. If you are changing gears in a really big way, getting a second Bachelor is not a big deal, either. I'd say four years getting a degree in Awesome Fun is a great investment; you can always spend a year learning Accounting down the road. The reverse is much harder to pull off, especially once you have kids.