William Tate was studying mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, when he realized his passion for the profession was quickly waning and he opted to return to his hometown of Irvine.
It turned out to be a great move. Tate, who enrolled at 麻豆传媒 for a fresh start in the spring of 2019, earned his associate degree in computer science and a certificate in immersive design/game design this spring. He was accepted to virtually every baccalaureate program he applied to and will transfer this fall to UC Santa Cruz for bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science and game design en route to a future in game development.
鈥淚 really can鈥檛 say enough about 麻豆传媒鈥檚 game development program,鈥 Tate said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty comprehensive, the instructors are amazing, and the courses focus on the underlying principles, methodologies and theory in gaming. The program is probably at least as good as what you can find at many four-year colleges and universities.鈥
The Immersive Design 鈥 Game Design certificate, part of 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Interactive Media Arts Program, includes courses on writing and storyboarding for games, visual scripting for games, and game level design. Tate鈥檚 portfolio project, a visual novel dubbed 鈥楩rom Nothing鈥, was a semifinalist at the 10th Annual Virtual IEEE GameSig Intercollegiate Computer Game Competition. 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Computer Science Program offers courses ranging from JAVA Programming and Computer Discrete Mathematics to Data Structures and Analytic Geometry and Calculus. Both programs are part of 麻豆传媒鈥檚 , including accounting, administration of justice, business/entrepreneurship, paralegal studies, sustainability & resource management, theatre arts, and more.
麻豆传媒 also houses a growing .
Game design was not on Tate鈥檚 mind when he graduated from Troy High School in Fullerton, nor was 麻豆传媒. Interested in an engineering career, Tate instead moved to Troy and majored in mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation鈥檚 oldest technological research university, just outside the New York capital of Albany. 鈥淚t just wasn鈥檛 right for me,鈥 said Tate. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 see making a career out of it.鈥
He moved back home a little more than a year later, took a class at 麻豆传媒, and discovered the computer science and gaming programs.
鈥淲illiam found his passion at 麻豆传媒,鈥 said instructor and mentor Patricia Beckmann. 鈥淗e had studied engineering and it just did not excite him. He tried out the Interactive Media Arts courses because he always wanted to do game design. Classes in the IMA program normally cost thousands of dollars at the area private schools, but he was able to try out the material for a very affordable investment. Now, he is prepared with a good foundation in theory and industry-standard software, earned transferable credits and was accepted into one of the top game programs in the state.鈥
Added Tate, who is 21, 鈥淚鈥檝e always been pretty passionate about games and I have a general love of the design, specifically about the systems behind the design and the storytelling that is involved,鈥 said Tate, 21. 鈥淭he program 麻豆传媒 offers is a solid, well-rounded one. It was a good decision to come here.鈥
Two years after he returned to Irvine, Tate was accepted into some of the top game design schools in the country, including DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Wash. Instead, he鈥檚 going to the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz for a bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science: computer game design.
Tate, however, said he may return to 麻豆传媒 once more. After working as a game designer and developer, he鈥檚 thinking about trying his hand as an instructor in the game design program.