Math in Game Programming
Some game programmers are held in awe among other game developers and game players because they were able to create breakthroughs in the game programming industry.
These few include Michael Abrash, prolific author of optimized graphic routines, Danielle Bunten Berry who developed several early groundbreaking games like M.U.L.E. and The Seven Cities of Gold, as well as Alan Miller co-founder of the first independent console game publisher and programmer of early Atari 2600 games.
As the hardware used to program games evolve and become more sophisticated, so do the possibilities that open in gaming. Before, a Math teacher can teach math through flash cards or answer sheets, but now, he/she can do so through simple, interactive math games.
How can one move on from the blackboards and colorful cardboard paper to the computer monitor?
Relate math to computers.
We mostly utilize computers as word-processing machines, thus, we think of words and not numbers when we think of computers. But the word “computer” itself has roots in compute, back when the abacus started all computing machines in the history of the world.
Moreover, computers these days use 2D or 3D graphics, concepts that are steeped in mathematical skills, namely geometry, trigonometry, vectors, matrices.
Not getting a good handle on those means losing game players due to bad or outdated graphics. One might have an extremely sophisticated game with a challenging story and enough characters to keep people occupied for days. But the ability to produce on-screen graphics is essential for people to enjoy playing the said game.
Know how to speak and teach the language.
Programming languages are the codes that tell a computer how to function. Game programmers use a variety of programming languages such as C, C++ or Java (for web-browser games), and tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio, Photoshop, Maya, 3D Studio Max and Adobe Flash are commonly used software for creating games for Windows or Nintendo Xbox.
Be armed with knowledge and tools.
Paying attention to the little details will make the difference between students playing a particular math game for an entire hour or for five minutes. Read up on the basics of the programming languages and the basics of game theory to come up with something custom-made for the interest of the students and the locality.
Some tutorials and useful links are as follows:
Sources:
Baldwin, Richard. “Math for Java Game Programmers, Our First 3D Game Program.”
Retrieved October 22, 2008 from http://www.developer.com/java/other/article.php/3773201
“Languages and Tools.” Retrieved October 22, 2008 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_programmer
“Learn Internet Game Programming with Java.” Retrieved October 22, 2008 from
www.softlookup.com/tutorial/games/index.asp
(Published 03 November 2008, Smart Communications, Inc.)
