Studies Useful for the Gaming Industry?

Jari Komppa asks: "Although I'm not working for the game industry, this question keeps popping up. (Most probably since I make demos which are nowadays associated with game industry for some strange reason). Is there something specific a person trying to get into the game industry should learn? (math, programming, what?)"

Go with your stengths

[Joe Rumsey]

There are a lot of different jobs, programming and otherwise, that need to be filled to create a modern game. I'm a game programmer, but I don't have a huge math background, nor do I need it since I'm doing any 3D programming. If you're good at math, and like math, then by all means, learn it and write a 3D engine. If you're not, learn something else. Learn about TCP/IP and be a network programmer. Learn about compilers and write scripting engines. Go with what you like to do.

If you're not a programmer, there are still lots of things you can do. Truly good artists are hard to come by, take some art classes. Asset management is something most people outside the gaming industry don't stop to think about. Someone has to coordinate all the stuff that goes into a game from many different sources - programming, art, music, sound effects, videos, manual, packaging, and so on. If you have strong organizational skills, there's a company out there that needs you to help them get organized, I promise.

If you really don't know what you want to do, sometimes you can get a job as a tester and work your way up. I've seen it happen. If you play games 8+ hours a day, you can't help but have some ideas on how to make them better. If you consistently have good ideas, someone will notice, and you'll be on your way to becoming a game designer.

Useful knowledge

[RedDirt]

It all depends on what you're planning to do really. A lot of graphics work involves math (especially 3D work). A solid foundation on design principles is also necessary if you're planning to do something more than a simple collection of whiz-bang effects. I remember reading that a large number of demo groups in the early 90s wrote their own raytracers. That's not trivial math there.