I think one of the best solutions to people like you, that studied gamedev and realized how horrible the field is, would be to go into robotics. I myself studied robotics and every time I read about game engines and similar stuff I am amazed about how similar those two fields are. Computer Vision and Computer Graphics are a lot of times quite similar, partly because they are the exact opposites of each other. The whole knowledge of quaternions and different Coordinate systems is essential for both fields. Path planning also does not change whether you do it for a 6-dof robot arm or for your troups running over the map (yes I know it kind of does due to different dimensions but the theory does not change).