Beginning Math and Physics for Game Programmers [Paperback]

Wendy Stahler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0735713901 | ISBN-13: 978-0735713901 | Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Whether you're a hobbyist or a budding game design pro, your objective is probably the same: To create the coolest games possible using today's increasingly sophisticated technology. To do that, however, you need to understand some basic math and physics concepts. Not to worry: You don't need to go to night school if you get this handy guide! Through clear, step-by-step instructions, author Wendy Stahler covers the trigonometry snippets, vector operations, and 1D/2D/3D motion you need to improve your level of game development. Each chapter includes exercises to make the learning stick, and Visualization Experience sections are sprinkled throughout that walk you through a demo of the chapter's content. By the end of the volume, you'll have a thorough understanding of all of the math and physics concepts, principles, and formulas you need to control and enhance your user's gaming experience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"The book is very well written; the author does an excellent job of explaining the concepts and walking the reader through the various terms and applications of math and physics for the 3-D world."
Bill Galbreath
Program Manager for Digital Media, Full Sail Real World Education

"There are several other books covering game-specific math and physics on the shelves. Those books focus on intermediate to advanced issues that might be too complex for those learning the basics. This book focuses on topics that are foundational in the area of math and physics that the other books tend to assume the reader already understands."
David Astle
Executive Producer, GameDev.net

"I could see myself using this book with my students when I'm doing introductory game design and programming. The content is well organized, lucidly presented, and written at a good level for students who lack the basic math and/or physics background."
Harvey Duff
Department Head[md]Computer Technology, Jasper Place High School, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

"New developers and students in math/physics will find the topics covered a good start. The topics are covered quite comprehensively to make the book easy to pick up and read. The exercises and examples are also helpful tools."
Gianfranco Berardi
Computer Science Student, DePaul University

"This book is an excellent practical introduction to game math and physics. The author has an interesting visual approach to trigonometry and matrix arithmetic, which makes it an entertaining read. There’s a good mix of theoretical insight (described in an unusually useful visual style) and practical advice."
Richard Jones
Director, Merjis Ltd.

About the Author

Wendy Stahler was the first course director of the Game Design and Development Program at Full Sail Real World Education in Orlando, Florida. During her six years at Full Sail, she concentrated much of her time toward developing the math and physics curriculum. Wendy is also an adjunct professor at Rollins College in the IT department, and just recently took on her next challenge of IT training in the corporate world. Wendy graduated from Rollins College earning an Honors B.A. in Mathematics with a concentration in Computer Science and an MA in Corporate Communication and Technology, graduating with honors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Games (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735713901
• ISBN-13: 978-0735713901
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #675,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius reviewer?, May 31, 2004

By 

"gameprogrammer34" (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Math and Physics for Game Programmers (Paperback)

The previous reviewer on this book must be a genius. I meen, he could even read the title, "Advanced C++ and Code Optimization." Oh, wait, that's not what it says, it says "Beginning Math and Physics for Game Programmers." As an AI programmer for the last 10 years who came into the industry without any college level courses, I never studied math and physics in school, and most books that that claim to be physics books for game programmers read like calculas text books. I was very pleased to find this book assumed nothing about a persons level of math in a schooling environment, an explained in very good detail how to start learning a new area of programming. The previous reviewer asks "why would game programmers need a book about basic math and physics?" Well maybee they are'nt game programmers yet? "It's not just the code, her math is just as bad. She uses degrees instead of just sticking to radians." Most people that are just starting out don't understand radians or the need for them. That's why it is simplified using degrees. Again, the key word here is "Beginning." This book is not geared towards people who are industry level programmers. If you want a book where you can steal code out of to use in your game, search the internet, there is plenty of free code out there. By the way, if game programmers don't need beginning physics and math, and you're such an awsome game programmer, why did YOU by the book?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars some human errors, but priceless theory review!, January 3, 2005

By 

Rolando Gonzalez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning Math and Physics for Game Programmers (Paperback)

I had read some of the reviews for this book and they focus on parts where almost all books have human errors, code or math examples, but the explaination of the theory is very well reviewed. This book is very well organized and explains very well the topics. This book is a very good book for begginers on games physics and math, its not a book for learning math, physics or programming, and by reading the reviews of the book you'll see what I meant, seems a lot of people misundestood the book title.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for beginners,, June 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Beginning Math and Physics for Game Programmers (Paperback)

Although I'm not a game designer, I picked this up because I think it's important to read books outside my everyday work. I'm glad I did! This excellent book brings together a lot of material in just over 400 pages, and the author deserves a lot of credit for making the subject matter easy to understand without talking down to the reader. The author does a good job covering the subject matter, although the shortness of the book prevents an in-depth treatment of the dense subjects. It is a good primer for any aspiring game programmer.
The book is split largely along subject lines: math first, physics second, it being impossible to program the physics of an object if the math is not understood. One of my favorite things was included in this book: chapter exercises, along with the answers. I get a lot more out of a book when I can do problems and check on my answers. I found the software on the cd useful, despite not being a C++ programmer, it helped me concretely visualize what happens when you use certain techniques.
This book will be useful for a long time to come, because the math and physics discussed are the fundamental building blocks behind realistic game play. I will keep this book on my reference shelf for the math alone, it is a good refresher for basic algebra, trig, and calculus. Word of advice: if you don't understand this book, game programming is not for you.