Maths

[Anonymous]

Hey… quick (or long winded most likely) question about maths in games courses. I’m currently doing a degree course in computing which has about 4 hours of maths p/w in it. I’m wanting to do further studies, hopefully on a games course – when I finish.

The problem is… I don’t have much knowledge of maths. I’m managing ok on the course I’m doing, but having to do a lot of catch up work (was living abroad, which messed up my education – never sat the leaving cert, got into college by other means etc. etc.).

I’m trying to decide…
Should I avoid courses with maths in them?
Should I maybe take a maths course before applying to a games dev course (if so, what kind of maths course? Know of anything?)- and catch up with what I need first? Do you think it’s worth trying this?

Just how much maths should you expect on these courses? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to avoid maths… I am really interested in it. The maths module on the course I’m in now is one of my favourites. I just don’t really know how much catching up I need to do.

Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

You need to know at least the basics of 3D maths and some basic physics.

Have a look at the contents page of Mathematics For Game Developers (or any book on a similar topic) to see the topics you should be covering.

http://books.google.ie/books?id=lTUUswhVqqkC&dq=maths+for+game+programmer

[Anonymous]

if you feel you need to brush up on your maths you should think about one of the on-line courses in maths or physics on gamesinstitute.com . i took one of those courses(physics) one in my own time to see what it was like, and found it really good. Although like all on-line courses you have to put in the work and complete the assignments etc. but you’ll definitely be improved by the end and more than capable of maths for games.

[Anonymous]

Wow thanks, really helpful replies. :)

[Anonymous]

It’s a reality that as computing power increases the complexity of the maths used in games increases as well, not because maths has suddenly become harder, but because more involved algorithms are now possible in realtime and offline for games.

Learn as much maths as you can possibly fit in. Look towards the engineering degree maths books and books on introductory linear algebra to get a good grounding for the maths needed in games.

A good, non-theoretical, step by step maths book that I’m currently using:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Engineering-Mathematics-5th-Programmes-Problems/dp/0333919394/ref=cm_lmf_tit_20_rsrssi0

[Anonymous]

Yeh doing a lots of maths before a game course is good. I am doing maths and computing so that will ready me for a games course i want to do in IT carlow next year. Maths aint that scary am not good at maths but i am willing to work hard at it.

[Anonymous]

A good, non-theoretical, step by step maths book that I’m currently using:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Engineering-Mathematics-5th-Programmes-Problems/dp/0333919394/ref=cm_lmf_tit_20_rsrssi0%5B/quote:8e5a6ebd17%5D

definafely sounds like useful reading for a good grounding in maths. seems to cover the material in a good manner. probably started out as course notes. always the best Way to write a book.years of feedback

[Anonymous]

Metar

The more mathematics you can get under your belt, the stronger your programming will become.

Best advice is to grab a book on the following:
Analytical Geometry
Trigonometry
Calculus
Vectors
Matrices
Quaternion

That should give you enough knowledge to take on most post-grad game programming courses.

Books I would recommend:

Good all round:
http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Physics-Programmers-Game-Development/dp/1584503300/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199023891&sr=8-1

Really comprehensive, great coverage on splines and curves:
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Mathematics-Games-Interactive-Applications/dp/155860863X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199023891&sr=8-2

Good overview, and some material on collision detection and response:
http://www.amazon.com/Primer-Graphics-Development-Wordware-Library/dp/1556229119/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199023891&sr=8-3

Best overall (in my opinion):
http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Programming-Computer-Graphics-Development/dp/1584500379/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199024170&sr=1-10

Lastly, I would recommend whatever textbook you pick up, to check the author’s website for errata. Almost all of the above books get the dot or cross product wrong.

And as Peter_B stated, GameInstitute offers a course in Game Mathematics, which covers most of this material (although mostly in theory, no practical source code applications to work through.)

Hope this helps,
B.

[Anonymous]

This is why i want to be a game artist lol

[Anonymous]

This is why i want to be a game artist lol[/quote:72953a49f2]
i would love that but where do u start and what are ur chaces getting a job and thats why i am stayimg away. i still do some graphics designs in my spare time :)

[Anonymous]

Wow thanks… all of your replies have been very helpful. Probably be checking out those books soon and eventually buying one (to start off with). Those courses online looked quite good too.

Anyway I had another question… I know you have a list of courses on this site… related to games dev. But I’m wondering if anyone knows of any related to like, visualisation/graphics … which wouldn’t necessarily be games specific? Specifically graduate courses… seems like we have hardly any options over here and England has all the good stuff.

Oooh yeah and is there anyone on this forum doing the Trinity course? Have there been any posts about it? I’d be curious what people are saying about it (people doing it).

Thanks a lot for all the replies – you’ve been very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Metar,

Heard great things about the LYIT graduate course:
http://www.lyit.ie/courses/computing/MS_Computer_Games_LY_KGAME_M.html

Regards,
B.

[Anonymous]

Metar,

Heard great things about the LYIT graduate course:
http://www.lyit.ie/courses/computing/MS_Computer_Games_LY_KGAME_M.html

Regards,
B.[/quote:2b4a11da05]

Again though, has this course been developed in association with any games companies? Because after all we’ll be the ones hiring them. If it hasn’t then it might be hard to get into a company after.

[Anonymous]

Peter_B

What are your thoughts on the IGDA curriculum framework?

http://www.igda.org/academia/curriculum_framework.php

Do you feel it meets what your team needs?

B.

(Perhaps we should move this to a new thread, as to not hijack the maths thread?)

[Anonymous]

Happy new year to all. Glad to see someone that wants to get into games course also recognises the importance of maths. I’m currently working with some maths teachers on ways to ‘make maths fun’ i.e. give people some incentive during maths class. For a kick off we’re looking at trigonometry and its application in areas such as games, other areas may be added later. I’ll report back on progress in the coming weeks (if I survive one of the classes, my hearth goes out to second level teachers as I think most of their time is spent on crowd control). The current senior cycle maths curriculum covers concepts that should be further advanced during a games programming course.

Its also nice to see a well structured post as we don’t see too many games manuals or instructions written in cryptic misspelled text.

Best of luck on working towards getting into your chosen course.

[Anonymous]

Again, thanks for all the replies. :]

Greenbean – I bought the maths book you recommended (The engineering one) – it looked really good and clear and had good reviews on amazon.

I think I’ll be looking into a course for over summer. Will give me more motivation.

I’ve seen the Letterkenny course but yeah I haven’t heard anything about it really. Anyone else know much?

[Anonymous]

Feel free to take a look at my course notes:

They cover most of the maths (vectors, geometry, quaternions, matrices etc)

http://www.comp.dit.ie/bduggan/Courses/Game%20Worlds/index.html

http://www.comp.dit.ie/bduggan/Courses/Game%20Middleware/index.html

There are quite a few example programs to download also

Bryan

[Anonymous]

Hi Bryan,

That’s some great material you have up on your site.
Reading through the ODE material right now, looks great.

Regards,
B.

[Anonymous]

You’ve probably see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LgZOLrFFLQ

At some point, I’ll get the class to put all their code online also

Bryan

[Author]

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