Hi guys,

I need a bit of advice and I hope someone can help. I want to get into Game design and I enquired about a course called train to game.

Last night they came to my house and told me all about it. Im still not sure if its something like computeach, a total con. And I need some advice on it.

Has anyone here signed up for or completed this coarse?

They have given me a deadline of today to decide if I want to attend the coarse.

Please help me decide.

Many Thanks

Kal

anybody dictating terms like they have are worth avoiding …

The natural cynic in me is screaming 'Run! It's a pile of cr4p!'. I tend to be very wary of these distance type courses, especially the ones where contact details etc are sketchy.

A quick google turned this up: http://forum.ready-up.net/topic.php?id=795

Which I think says it all.

However, it should be noted I know sod all about games design, or this company, so they might actually be great. Personally I wouldn't chance it though.

I agree completely.

They wanted your money bad enough to come round your house and ask for it.

Ask them what qualifications you will gain and who is it accepted and recognised by.

Personally, I'd leave them alone. If they start to harass you, tell them you're going away travelling and need some time to plan your future or some other BS.

Don't Don't Don't

Same lines of computeach etc, I believe they are part of skills train or computeach, cold calling typically

From what people have said the learning material is very outdated, it is exceedingly expensive and the support is very poor. If your deadline is today request some sample literature of what you would learn, I can pretty much guarantee if it involves DirectX it's probably DX7/8

Do you have any programming experience? There are a plethora of high quality free tutorials for people learning either programming from scratch or game programming. You also need to decide what language you want to start with, C++ is the industry standard pretty much, but it's a complex and dangerous language (gives you all the tools to shoot yourself in the foot and doesn't tell you how not to) but takes a long time to learn the basics, C# is an easier language to start with (for the basics at least) and is a good transitional language to C++ being the same family or Java, being another OO language

For a start look at MSDN, XNA (you can get Vis Studio express for free which will do what you need) and there are some other game related tutorials, but the XNA is probably one of the best places to start

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Scheidegger__22656 <- The parent company

Thanks for the advice guys, think I will stick to trying to get into uni.

I did feel very pressured into making a decision by this company so I think I will pass. Anyone who you are paying £5,000 to, should have more tactful methods than they seem to have lol.

had an appointment with a woman and when she showed up she came with a guy, then she sat there and didnt say a word while the guy was doing the whole sales pitch... what was the point in her coming lol I think I was a training course for her...unbelievable.


Thanks again, just needed some reasurrance that I wasnt passing up a good thing, and clearly im not. Also Thanks to Finlay666...I will definatly take your advice in regards to getting started, Thank you!

Kal

You are passing up a good thing.....

.... If paying £5k for a load of dated materials you can probably get for free

hahaha

True! They tried to make it like an interview and it kinda seemed I was smarter than them, I think they might have been reading from scripts

I wouldnt let them through the front door.

Look at your local college or open university, etc for genuine courses

Personally I'd look at something like this.

I hate going into classrooms, I like to learn by myself, for myself.

Did you not read the OP?

Yes I did.

It's up to him if he wants to join the corse, letting other people decide for him is a big mistake. I'm just putting in my input here.

But the point was that they turned up and tried a hard sell by telling him he only had until today to decide if he wanted to go on the course or not which, if you're going to be paying £5,000 is not the way to instill confidence.

Advising him not to sign up was not a mistake. It was common sense.

Why on Earth would you look at something like that when there are genuine and real (credited) degrees you can do from home
http://www.open.ac.uk/
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01B29
Funny that... The full Bsc comes in under £5000 and is from a credited university with up to date materials

Rather that some some dodgy Micky Mouse qualification, I wouldn't even hold it above a foundation MCTS, actually gives you choice to.

If those people call back ask them what the difference between an exe and a dll (and what dll stands for) is, I very much doubt they will know.