Originally Posted by OldManClayton That's hilarious. I can't decide whether to do game design or programming.
Whoa, wait, that's a big decision. Game design and programming are two very different things. Think of the designer like the architect/scriptwriter/manager and the programmer as the engineer/camera crew. They're different roles because you need one to do the work that the other ones won't do.
Game design is mainly about well.. the principles of game design, balance, storyline, cinematicism, that sort of thing. They lay out the plans and the programmer turns it into reality. There's surprisingly a lot of specialists who only choose one, and unsurprisingly, all of them make games that don't feel fun. I think you have to focus on either programming or game design, but know the other well.
If you want to know what game design is about, learn it from the master himself at http://www.erasmatazz.com He posted a PDF of his book, The Art of Computer Game Design, which I think is something even klikers should know.
Oh, and one final warning: There are a LOT of game designers out there. You're looking at a job with tens of thousands of applicants and only a few hundred jobs, most of which require years of experience. You'll have to really suffer for long years to make it in game design as they're very underpaid and you have to be prepared to learn and study everything and work creatively. And you'll need to prepare for the huge lack of respect by programmers.
So, I'd suggest you take up studying programming but learn game design on the side. As a great game designer I knew once said, "Designers are promoted, not hired"
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
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