Do I neccesarily have to be good at or enjoy math to enjoy/be good at game programming? Right now I'm in highschool, and I am really not enjoying the math courses that I'm taking. I have always been a little slow with math, but excelled in everything else. Q-basic has been my best friend for a few years...probly since fourth grade even. Programming to me is a blast, but only the basic stuff has come into play so far. I've only recently begun to learn C++, and am considering programming as a career. I love what I can do with it so far and really enjoy it. My question is this, will my dislike/slowness in math be a hindrance as I take more advanced programming classes and math courses in college? I really do enjoy programming but I don't wanna be screwed later on. Edited by - Samurai Spiffy on January 18, 2002 10:20:45 PM Edited by - Samurai Spiffy on January 18, 2002 10:23:43 PM

If you take a CS course in college, most likely you will have to take as high of a calculus class as they have (i know i did), and maybe even beyond that (differential equations). As far as math and game programming go, i mostly only have to use trig and a little bit of calc (for vector math and such).

But is math extremely involved in game programming later on? As in...could I still enjoy game programming even if I don''t enjoy straight up math?

You sound to be in almost my exact position, down to Qbasic since 4th grade. To my experience, math isn''t incredibly important in game programming, but I suppose I''m not in the areas that would use it most. 2D RPGs don''t exactly use all the math a 3D racing sim probably would. The big point here is: it depends on what you''re programming. If you want a 2D RPG, don''t worry about it. The vast majority of the math you use would be Algebra I or less. If you want something else, it might involve more. Look around for articles on simulating physics and such, and see if its over your head or not.

-Arek the Absolute

Potentially, yes.
It depends on what part of game development you want to do.
Graphics is very highly math oriented, AI can go this way also.
Other areas such as game logic and network coding don''t require such extensive knowledge. It all depends on what you want to do.
I never used to enjoy math, until I started to understand it - maybe that is your problem also?

-Mezz

Well to me just doing straight math in a class has no purpose. To me, in learning how math fits into programming would be math WITH a purpose, and I might enjoy it more.

Is that how it really is or am I just glossing it over?

I''m new to game programming myself, but have been programming in general for many years (I just graduated with a CS degree).

I''d strongly recommend learning basic trigonometry and physics. Any game that involes movement is probably going to involve decomposing vectors and solving kinematic equations (i.e., if the player is moving with velocity V in direction (X,Y), where will they be when the next frame is rendered?). Try to take a physics class in high school. If you find it boring, just keep reminding yourself that it can all be applied to games!

As for math, I had to take many courses, ranging from Calc 1&2 to Linear Algebra. Most graphics/game books I have read include a brief tutorial in the Appendix.

One of the reaons you might not like math is that you have only been exposed to it in a boring classroom setting. I found that there were many subjects I didn''t like that suddenly became interesting when they were related to programming (or some other area of interest).

Like the other posts, id say it depends on what part of game programming you do. If you want to develop a state-of-the-art 3D graphics engine, then yes, you'll need to know a good deal of math. If you want to simulate real-world physics, math will help you there. For sound, maybe, im not sure. And for AI,networking,game logic and anything else, you should be able to excell in any of these areas without getting too math intense.

Edited by - Cannon346 on January 20, 2002 3:38:27 PM

I wouldnt say number math is extremely important, more like calculus. Because in programming you are constantly having to make basic or advanced algorithms. Just study more in your math classes, once you understand it you will love it. But I wouldn''t say EVERY branch of programming requires advanced algorithms, but EVERY branch does require some sort of algorithms.