Game Art Degree

Luxieto·3/5/2015, 12:39:36 AM·3 votes·2,777 views

So, I'm looking to start a bachelors in Game Art at FullSail university, but I'm seriously scared I won't be able to do it. I've never had conventional training at school, and I'm not the best at realistic drawing. I was just wondering, from you artists at league, and any artists that draw and play league, what do i need to be able to do to seriously consider a degree in Game Art?

Edit: Here's some art I did when I was younger, I fell into a depression and didnt draw for a while so I dont have much recent drawings. Everything on that profile I drew, and the one in color to the far right is the first time I used photoshop [(http://www.gaiaonline.com/profiles/sweet-i3ieach/14390596/)]

13 Comments

DG Ashabel3/5/2015, 1:24:00 AM15 votes

Before you worry about realistic drawing, I think you should ask yourself what kind of game art do you want to create. Just off the top of my head, you can create:

2D character art - splash arts in League are a good example of this.
3D character art - models that will be animated and made to move during the gameplay itself.
Spritework - those little sprites you see in games like Aquaria, Binding of Isaac, Don't Starve and Mega Man require a very different approach from traditional art.
Creature design - good scary monsters are always beloved in the game industry, and knowing how to design them often draws more on zoology than human anatomy. Did you know that monsters in Diablo and Borderlands were designed by the same person? Well, now you do.
Mechanical design - weapons and vehicles can be very hard to create, especially if you want them stylish. You might want to know something about engineering, for instance, in order to have them move convincingly regardless of their shape.
Environmental design - I know you'll think that it's lame to design that road characters will just stomp over, but I cannot overstate how important good environment is. Here, for example, is a good article talking about memorable places in video games; here is an entire YouTube playlist dedicated to beautiful places in video games. It should show you a lot about how creating a sense of place can make or break a game, and why people still talk about things like the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time and the Forbidden Land in Shadow of the Colossus.

All those forms of art are equally important in game design and they will equally land you a job that might end in you creating something very wonderful and important. However, all of them require very different areas of knowledge and focusing on one can help you narrow down exactly what you should be able to do.

OhOkYea3/5/2015, 12:45:25 AM1 votes

Full Sail University is a for-profit university

Into to the bin with your application

The Bearded Bard3/5/2015, 1:14:21 AM1 votes

I was going to go there for creative writing. Still might, not really sure. It's a lot of money for something I might not be good at, as you said. It's definitely a big decision. I decided against it for now, and I'm not particularly happy with where I'm at in life, so maybe I made the wrong choice.

bigdoofoo3/5/2015, 12:49:59 PM1 votes

I'm actually attending Full Sail right now in the Game Art program. I'm in my second month of finals with a focus in animation and loving it here. First thing I want to say is that you don't need to have much (if any) prior experience with art at all. In all honesty, the only traditional art in the program is about 4 months near the middle. The rest after that is all 3D, working in Maya, Zbrush, and Photoshop along with a couple other programs. From the sound of it you're more interested in doing concept work/texturing, but i could be wrong.

The way it works in Game Art is pretty much, you learn a little bit of everything leading up to the last 6 months or so where you pick your discipline from three choices. Animation, Props and Environment Modeling, and Character Modeling. You'll learn a bit of traditional art, but you won't be doing much of it, at least class-wise after those couple of classes.

And just some general Full Sail Info. It's gonna be a really rough schedule for you. Maybe not at the beginning, but once you start getting into the thick of your degree you'll start having months where you've got one class going from 1 AM - 9 AM, followed by a different class going from 1 PM - 9 PM the same day, every day, 6 days a week. I had that month and it was literally the worst, but I made it through! Don't let the hours scare you though, It's a great university with great professors and a fantastic community!

I know that I didn't really answer what you were asking, but I figured i'd give you a little insight into what it's like at Full Sail, just in case you had the wrong idea about it! Let me know if you've got any questions about it, because I'd be more than happy to help! :D