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I've been developing a modification for the Source engine for well over a year, but am now facing some troubles with the weapons, gamemovement (player physics) and player feedback from explosives.

This is all because of my weakness in mathematics!!!

What books, tutorials or any other various texts could you recommend (that have helped you).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Since there is not really the "one true answer" for this, you might want to consider marking this a community wiki post. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 22, 2010 at 18:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ When you ask users to create a list of answers, the question should be marked community wiki. I converted this question. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 23, 2010 at 1:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ Any 3D graphics development requires a decent understanding of linear algebra. Vector math tutorial for 3D Computer Graphics is by far the best resource for learning vectors and matrices. It is also interactive that each section has a test question to verify and seal the understanding of that topic. \$\endgroup\$
    – legends2k
    Oct 26, 2013 at 5:46

5 Answers 5

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I faced the same issue some time ago and found those two books which have really good reviews:

The first one seems to be easier to understand for math dummies like myself. I already bought that one, alas I didn't have the time to read it up till now.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I have both these books at home, and they are both excellent. \$\endgroup\$
    – rtperson
    Jul 22, 2010 at 18:52
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You're in luck! I just discovered some Linear Algebra tutorials on Wolfire's blog that I felt were really good. The guy writing the tutorials, David, has such a killer way to explain the stuff. It's extremely handy for those that are weak at math since it is showing more practical application than theory (which is what someone weak could use)

  • Part 1 - Vectors addition, subtraction, scalar-vector multiplication
  • Part 2 - Vectors length, distance, normalization, dot product, cross product
  • Part 3 - Basis vectors, matrices, 3d matricies

Be sure to add this to your RSS reader. He is continually writing new posts. Don't forget to read the comments!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The urls are case-sensitive. Check your links. And the ending slash in the url is required. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 22, 2010 at 17:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ That was odd. Should work now. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 22, 2010 at 17:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ Now "Part 2" and "Part 3" both links to part two.. :D \$\endgroup\$ Jul 22, 2010 at 20:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ Darn capital L's and slashes. I shall prevail! \$\endgroup\$ Jul 22, 2010 at 20:46
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I've found "Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics" to be an excellent resource. http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Programming-Computer-Graphics-Development/dp/1584502770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279832969&sr=8-1

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Another good resource in addition to the books listed here is this Linear Algebra course at MIT Open CourseWare.

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I was just about to pick up "Tricks of the 3D Game Programming Gurus" (volume II). It seems really good on the 3d theory side and keeps everything simple from what I saw. I tried to pick up Direct3D/OpenGL alone but I'm like you - I had no idea.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I used these books when I was first learning but I feel more recently they did me a disservice by not focusing on good structure or concepts. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jeff
    Jul 22, 2010 at 22:13

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