How good one must be in math for Games Development?

[Justin505]

Just curious, i'm looking to write a simple 2D game and i know math just not so good at it, i heard that Math isn't really required when you're writing 2D games they're most used when writing 3D games, is that true? also can someone please recommend me some math concepts i should learn for Games development? i would really appreciate it, thanks!

[Uk Marine]

Math is needed for both 2D and 3D games (to make objects move and stuff), i don't write plenty of games but when it comes to games development i think you need to know Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and calculus well, you don't have to be fluent at them or anything but you need to understand how they work, as mentioned in the previous topic you can learn all of them right here https://www.khanacademy.org/ for calculus i think you're best off buying a book, i recommend this book (specifically written for games developers) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Game-Developers-Development/dp/159200038X it's well over 600 pages and i really recommend you read it.

[Mats]

It really depends on what games you are writing. If you're writing a platform game or a horizontal scrolling shooter, then no, you don't need to be particularly good at maths. If you're writing a 2d rts game or board game, then the maths can get fairly hard.

also can someone please recommend me some math concepts i should learn for Games development?

To start with, just make sure you are definitely very comfortable with algebra.

[zb0S216C]

Justin505 wrote:

"i heard that Math isn't really required when you're writing 2D games they're most used when writing 3D games, is that true?"

No. A 2-D game can just as mathematically intense as a 3-D game. But, like what Mats said, it depends on what type of game your making. If a game does not utilise a vast amount of mathematics, it doesn't mean the game will be any less fun. For example, look at the early Pokemon games; they were 2-D, no physics were involved and mathematics in general was limited, but it was still a popular gaming series.

If your main objective is to build 3-D games, start with 2-D games. If your mathematical skills are limited, build 2-D games will little mathematics. Then, learn what needs to be learnt. Just take little steps. It unnecessary work learning all of those mathematical fields what Uk Marine stated; just learn what your game calls for. No more, no less. Don't be afraid of expanding your mathematical comfort zone with each game you make, or else you'll never improve.

_Wazzak

[chrisname]

Framework wrote:

A 2-D game can just as mathematically intense as a 3-D game

It can be, but it probably won't be. You don't have to deal with homogeneous co-ordinates or 3D matrix multiplication for starters.

[Justin505]

Thank you so much guys, appreciate all the answers, thank you.

[Lachlan Easton]

You don't have to deal with homogeneous co-ordinates or 3D matrix multiplication for starters.

If you're not building your own rendering engine from scratch then won't need to either.

[belgarionriva]

I can math but I can't make games, I'm halfway there, right? =D

[N36fSL3A]

If you can program and can do math I'm not sure why you're not already there?

[Uk Marine]

lol

[htirwin]

Think of it like this: Game programming is a good excuse to learn math. It's not like the whole process of programming a game is math. You come across situations while you are doing it that require math. So when you need to know some math to implement a feature, you just look it up or ask someone for some help. It's pretty much just like any other part of the programming process, whether it be knowing how to work with something in the STL, or how to build a good code structure. In that sense, I don't think that the math part is any more difficult than the programing component, but if you don't know it, there are more steps involved and it will take you more time. But the math components in games are for the most part, a small subset of the math you learn in school. After so much experience in game programming, you will have learned, or built up the resources, to solve most of your problems.

[BHX]

Knowing math just helps you figure out a lot in your head. It honestly doesn't hurt to learn more math though.

Lumpkin wrote:

If you can program and can do math I'm not sure why you're not already there?

That is way too simplistic. It takes more than understanding programming and math to make games even less in some cases. Depending on what you are wanting to make it would also require understanding graphics and their coordinate system to display graphics properly. Networking, requires understanding of something else. The more you want to do in a game requires more skill sets than just programming and math. Honestly, if you are doing console applications, you don't even need math, just programming.

[N36fSL3A]

@BHX You're right, that was way to simplistic. That was pretty ignorant of me to say that.