Officially quit college for Flash!

[Cartoon-Electra]

Sounds like a stupid move and it's possible i regret it but right now i'm feeling good.
i couldn't be bothered with college as it was pretty shit and now i can start game design full time..im confident i can make a lot of money off it i just hope the money in flash games doesn't die out!

whos with me!!!!!!!

[LeechmasterB]

Bad move, flash isn't exactly a safe technology to quit college for. Before you know it it will be obsolete and you are screwed. Having a degree before trying such stunts is more reasonable as you can still find a job in another area.

[Jereminion]

im doing both

[psychicpebble]

probably a bad idea, I would have done both, but who knows, maybe if you make some good enough shit like games and movies, you'll get a good job.

[CrazyChihuahua]

At 2/22/09 10:14 PM, Cartoon-Electra wrote: i just hope the money in flash games doesn't die out!

That's exactly it. While you'll undoubtedly learn some things making Flash games, how well would you be able to adapt what you've learned and apply it to other things if (or rather when?) Flash games, or the money in them, goes down the tube?

I can't say anything about dropping out of college, because I did the same thing :P But I wouldn't and still don't think making Flash games as your only skill without any kind of other education (beyond high school) or skills to fall back on is a good idea.

To each their own though, good luck with it.

[SethBlake]

That's seriously a bad idea.Flash isn't everything.

[Cartoon-Electra]

but i shouldnt have to worry about flash dying out for atleast another decade right?? some companies depend on flash or software really similiar..so they'd be fucked...plus if some new gaming thing took over flash i could just master that??

because i cant see internet games dying out anytime this century..

[TheSongSalad]

good luck, but dumb move man.

[MrAbnormal]

That was seriously a bad idea. College is more important than Flash.

[Cartoon-Electra]

jesus people its not that dumb..im already in a position where im making $6k per game for around 2 months work...

like i said its a gamble hoping that flash or similar programs last for a long time..and i think they will plus even if they change i can adapt as my art and aniamtion skills will still be there

[CrazyChihuahua]

At 2/22/09 10:48 PM, Cartoon-Electra wrote: but i shouldnt have to worry about flash dying out for atleast another decade right?? some companies depend on flash or software really similiar..so they'd be fucked...plus if some new gaming thing took over flash i could just master that??

Yes, those companies would possibly be fucked, but that's their problem, it doesn't really affect you in any way. Let them worry about themselves. You could possibly 'master' some new program, but really, it wouldn't hurt to look in to some other things. The more you know, the better.

because i cant see internet games dying out anytime this century..

The internet was loads different a decade ago from what it is now. Who knows what it'll be 10 years from now, let alone 50 or 100.

[Randomini]

Oh well. If you think you'll be fine, then good luck. If you make a really good flash game (e.g. Meat Boy, Alien Hominid) someone might port it to a console! But guess what - with all the games out there, that sort of thing has only happened about 5 times.

[LeechmasterB]

At 2/22/09 10:48 PM, Cartoon-Electra wrote: but i shouldnt have to worry about flash dying out for atleast another decade right?? some companies depend on flash or software really similiar..so they'd be fucked...plus if some new gaming thing took over flash i could just master that??

because i cant see internet games dying out anytime this century..

Unfortunatelly ten years is a too long period to know for sure. Right now the money on flash games is already going down because of the world economic situation. It might get worse too, if you make really original quality games it shouldn't affect you as much too soon, but other games will have a rough time probably.

There is already something "new" out there called "Unity" but the future development is also hard to predict. Best is if you are flexible and know your way around OOP so that you can easily move on to another language. You could also work parallel in unity and flash, for example.

But thas all rough guesses only time will tell.

One thing should be sure though, browser games will not die as long as the browser doesn't.

[zuperxtreme]

This sort of sounds like the case of the dude who needed money to save their house. He made a game for the iPhone in between work and his free time. And in 6 weeks he finished it.

In one of his best selling days he made around 37k.

But then again, he did it in his spare time, not risking anything. Basing himself on the fact that he made all that money, in just one day, he made the decision to leave Sun.

IMO, dude, you should try what you're doing now for a while. You're just looking for an excuse to not go to College and I understand that. It's not everything. You can make a lot of money without having a degree. It's just a matter of wanting it.

Good luck. :)

[Eggy]

Well I didn't quit college, I just didn't go to it in the first place. I make flash games full time and live off sponsership money :) and Armorgames offered me to go work in there office, so I might be doing that soon.

So from my point it worked out great and i love my job :) just make sure you don't half ass it and practice all day every day.

[Johnny]

I went back to school for game design when I was 25. I'm 29 now, and almost finished with degree... I work full time, go to school full time, have a steady relationship, have many bills to pay... and still find time to work on flash projects.

That being said though...

If I could go back to being 18-19, I would have focused ALL of my time into my dreams, instead of drudging along "trying to make it" in the professional world.

I really wasted all of my time from 18-25, which was probably the BEST time for me to just try something I wanted to do... because it was before I had the responsibilities now.

As much as I'm an advocate of getting a degree to secure your future, I say Go for it. You're young, and there's plenty of time to recover. If it doesn't work, just go back to school when you're 25.

=)

[zuperxtreme]

At 2/22/09 11:05 PM, LeechmasterB wrote:

There is already something "new" out there called "Unity" but the future development is also hard to predict. Best is if you are flexible and know your way around OOP so that you can easily move on to another language. You could also work parallel in unity and flash, for example.

But thas all rough guesses only time will tell.

One thing should be sure though, browser games will not die as long as the browser doesn't.

Dude! Holy shit. Unity is amazing.

I just tried one of their demos and it feels light years from Flash's power. I WANT.

*awaits eagerly the Windows version editor edition*

[mothmann]

if all fails u can move to west virginia / kentucky / penn / virginia join the coal mines and make around 70-80k without any degrees or even a diploma / ged. thats what i did. well i didn't have to move tho.

hell u can pay your way thru high voltage electrician classes and get a 6 figure salary job easy in 6 months work. but by high voltage i mean 11,470 volts. kinda dangerous on top of all the roof colapases and equipment.

[Johnny]

At 2/22/09 11:05 PM, LeechmasterB wrote: There is already something "new" out there called "Unity" but the future development is also hard to predict.

Unity is an amazing technology, but unfortunately, we all know that the best technologies aren't the ones who win... it's the companies with the best marketing and penetration. I'm sure Adobe is working on something to rival it. =) ((or just buy the tech off of them))

[Juice-Tin]

Dont know if anyone said this yet, but the best route to go if you really don't like what you do in college,
is to quit, and join a programming or graphic design college. This way, what you learn in college, would help you in flash, and what you learn in flash, would help you in college. It works very nicely. Not to mention, if you love programming/animating in flash, taking one of those colleges can eventually get you a job in making real games or animated movies, far beyond flash.

Think about it.

[ImpendingRiot]

There's a real misconception that is sad about college, and that is too many people say if you quit or don't go to college you'll fail.

People don't fail because they don't have a college education, people fail because they don't have direction. There are plenty of successful people who never went or finished going to college.

WITH that said, you must be honest with yourself. ARE you quitting college to do flash, or are you frustrated that college has become difficult? There's a difference between pursuing a dream and running from a nightmare.

[Nuttro]

At 2/22/09 10:48 PM, Cartoon-Electra wrote: but i shouldnt have to worry about flash dying out for atleast another decade right?? some companies depend on flash or software really similiar..so they'd be fucked...plus if some new gaming thing took over flash i could just master that??

because i cant see internet games dying out anytime this century..

Well, at least get a part time job. But if your expecting to make a lot of money you should make really good trial versions of games and make the full game cost. People actually do go for that.
Or work your ass off and try to produce games as quick as you can and drink coffee.

Still, you should have stayed in college. You will regret it one day when your are very low on money.

[CrazyChihuahua]

At 2/23/09 01:02 AM, Nuttro wrote: Still, you should have stayed in college. You will regret it one day when your are very low on money.

Yes, only the people who stay in and finish college have money. Every one of them gets the job they're looking for right out of school, and it pays so much more. They also don't have any sort of debt to pay back.

Also, to echo what ImpendingRiot said, do you just dislike college, or are you actually going to go strong with Flash? You should be good if it's treated like a job, and you actually spend the time that would be spent with school working on Flash and such.

[jmtb02]

I would go back to college.

[liaaaam]

All I'm going to say is.. good luck. If you work at it there is a good possibility of getting a job in the web design industry or maybe even as a graphic artist somewhere - it usually helps to have A levels and a degree but like I say if you work at it you'll have a lot of experience which is also invaluable.

Aren't your parents going to kill you? Mine are very supportive but they would.

[Cartoon-Electra]

thanks for all the comments.

I'm quitting college mainly because i dislike it and hate the work but having said that even when i finished college i planned on taking flash/game design up full time. I just wanted the qualifications as back up if things did fuck up.

Yeh my parents won't be happy lol.

all in all it might of been better to stay at college but it felt like a waste of time. I'm pretty sure i'll do alright..even if something takes over flash i can move with the times.

plus my grades where pretty shitty lol

[GustTheASGuy]

Heheh, good move. Do well.

[CaiWengi]

At 2/22/09 10:48 PM, Cartoon-Electra wrote: but i shouldnt have to worry about flash dying out for atleast another decade right??

Id worry about it if I had next to no qualifications and it was the only area I was qualified in. And your life is gonna last a lot longer then 10 years.

some companies depend on flash or software really similiar..so they'd be fucked...plus if some new gaming thing took over flash i could just master that??

Nope they wouldnt be fucked. The people that work there have qualifications, they have solid proof that they can do things and could move to other fields. You would be a college drop out with next to no qualifications so good luck competeing when that time inevitably comes

because i cant see internet games dying out anytime this century..

You can predict into the entire century? Thats incredibly naive.

Qualifications prove that you can do something, companies are far more likely to hire someone with proven skills over someone who they can presume dropped out of college for laziness. (Not saying thats why you did, but its why most people do)

I thought about this a while ago, the way I see it, college is fun, leads onto other things, and I sure as hell wouldnt want to be making flash games the rest of my life, but thats just me.