Benefits while training?

Spendless

Leaving aside the question of the qualification which I have no experience of.

Bills should increase if 2 people live there but they shouldn't double. Think about it, you put the oven on once to cook. If you are both in the same room, there should only be one light on. I would look at your expenditure and find areas in which you can make cutbacks and combine this with studying and working in order to achieve your goal.

Energize

Yeah missed that, how on earth do they double!?

Rent is the same. Gas and electric should only be marginally higher to accommodate one extra shower a day (electronics like tv use very little electric). Water and food would show the biggest increases but still far from double due to economics of scale.

Savvy_Sue

I am not entirely sure what the dream job of videogame developer involves, but I would try to be really really sure that it is what you think it is, and if it is not what you think it is that you would enjoy what it actually is ...

And the other thing I would do is try to network like crazy with other videogame developers.

DS1 is an independent game developer - I'd have said not videogames, more natty little puzzle games, but when I went to his blog I found this:

More pertinently, I make videogames such as the PAX10/IndieCade nominated Sokobond, the ridiculous BRICK[bricksmash]SMASH and the adorable A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build.

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This gives me some confidence that what I'm going to say will have some relevance ...

He got into this by joining the game design society while he was at Uni. He went to game jams. He gave talks to his course and to the GDS about writing games - and his basic, bottom line advice is: just write games. To begin with, don't worry if they're good or bad, just get them written.

When he left Uni, he got a 'proper' job, then asked if he could reduce his hours so that he could spend more time writing games, then reduced his hours some more, and then gave it all up to go to the USA for a few weeks to go to one of the big Game Developers Conferences. And he's been 'travelling' ever since.

Some of his games he produces on his own, others are co-produced with others: he's great at the puzzles, others are better at making the games look good or adding music. And he knows that, so networking and team working are essential for him.

His income is erratic, but he's happy to live frugally - no long-term rent or mortgage commitment, no dependents, no taste for smart clothes or an expensive social life. It's one of the comments he sometimes makes when others are wondering how the full-time game devs take the first step / survive.

He reckoned he could survive for six months when he started. That was four years ago: he now says he'd be OK for two years even if he didn't sell any more games. Last year he released two games, after five in 2015 and seven in 2014 - fortunately they're good games! (One made it into Time Magazine's top 10 apps of 2016 - seriously! - and there's only two games in that list, and EVERYONE'S heard of the other one!!!)

Obviously, if you get work with a company producing videogames, the situation is quite different. What the opportunities for that are I have no idea. What I am sure about is that there will greater time pressure imposed on you, and that a lot of what you have to do will be quite tedious. DS1's 'deadlines' are known for their flexibility ...

BTW I've not given links lest I be accused of touting for business for him.

bez2345

The wisest choice would be have some form of employment as a gap in the CV could cause problems especially if you take 6 months to learn the basics and a potential employer thinks you should have been able to achieve it in 4 weeks. Also having the extra money saved will help with the final goal unless you live near the HQ of one of the few UK games developers you are going to have to move and set up a new life..