2
\$\begingroup\$

This question is mainly aimed at this book, Essential Mathematics for Games and Interactive Applications, Second Edition which I have seen highly recommended all around the internet, so I'm sure there are people on here who own a copy.

What I want to know specifically is if any of the information would be out dated since the book was released on June 2, 2008?

Also interested to see how the mathematics behind game development has changed over time.

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5
\$\begingroup\$

You can pick up a 200 year old book on mathematics and it'll hold true for game development. Books on "math for game development" don't teach anything special.

The book is a great introduction if you don't know where to start, though it's not as much a book about mathematics as it is a book about 3D theory. Computer graphics do evolve, modeling especialy, faster than anything else it would seem, still mathematics don't change, a dot product is a dot product.

Even when it comes to computer graphics theory a book from 2008 isn't going to be outdated, so don't worry. The fact is that most solutions, models, etc. used these days, even the more advanced ones were developed decades ago, before we could use them on home computers.

Also, TBH if you want knowledge younger than 2008 then you have to look for things like GDC talks, articles, etc.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ The basics of matrix-related math are only about 150 years old, and the entire mathematical foundation of computation and computer science is younger still, but your point stands. :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Sean Middleditch
    Jun 11, 2012 at 4:36
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Even if GDC talks are highly accurate, having a book helps to learn in an organized way. GDC talks are about specific subjects, a book goes step by step. \$\endgroup\$
    – lvictorino
    Jun 11, 2012 at 5:02
3
\$\begingroup\$

Unfortunately or fortunately for some, the physics and mathematics of game development does not change much and has not changed much in the last 20-30 years. I checked the table of contents of the book you linked and it seems cover most of everything you will need.

There may be more advanced mathematics and techniques especially in collision detection which make use of more abstract concepts like the Minkowski sum, but you will probably not need to cover these for some time.

As an example the series of books Graphics Gems was publish around 93' and they are still very relevant. I.e. I found it particularly helpful when I needed to do random vector sampling.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .