Quote: Original post by Katie
If you're worried about not being a great mathematician, I wouldn't overstress about it. Being able to think clearly and reason about things can make up for any lack of that weird innate maths ability that proper mathmoids have.

Heh, no I'm not stressed about not being great in math. I was just wondering if it would be worth the time to grab a masters degree in math. In fact, math interests the hell out of me. Right now I'm a senior waiting to jump into college. 1st semester of my junior year I taught my self some linear algebra from 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development. 2nd semester Junior year I taught myself calculus from Calculus Demystified and I went through some multi-variable calculus in Advanced Calculus Demystified. Right now I'm trying to tackle differential equations when I have the time from Differential Equations Demystified.

I am just very interested in higher level math and I think it would be awesome to pursue a masters in that field. However, I also think that maybe it would be a better idea to pursue a masters in computer science too.

Obviously college costs a couple of kidneys, but I think I could first get a BS in Computer Science while minoring in math. Then maybe I could try to jump in to a game development position and try to continue my education when i get a chance next.

Can someone tell me how plausible that is? I'm hoping to get into University of California Santa Cruz, they have a Computer science degree there that focuses on "game design" and they have some connections with EA, Sony, etc.

If you're developing middleware for physics or AI, or a new digital content creation tool for 3D modeling, I would tend to agree with direwolf. A deep knowledge of mathematics at all levels could be beneficial. (We all know about how the governing equations of physics are derived from differential equations, but it applies to 3D modeling as well. For example, if you want to build a 3D mesh modeling system that procedurally tessellates an arbitrarily-trimmed smooth bicubic surface into a collection of triangles that look good even on profile from any camera view and also behave well for displacement mapping, you might implement an elliptic mesh generator, which is based on a numerical solution to the Laplace equation, a PDE, with a combination of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. This can generate more elegant triangulations, for example, than the simple algebraic tessellation techniques implemented in some of the DX11 hardware and some of the current 3D modeling tools. And 3D modeling features of today's art tools definitely requires a reasonably strong knowledge of manifold and non-manifold topology. Somebody working on such tools ought to understand the math!)

If you are creating a game, you probably don't need to have as deep an understanding of math. You need enough to use the tools and to build any custom gameplay logic that relies on mathematics, but at this time you probably don't need to go nearly as deep if you are merely making a game.

[Edited by - grhodes_at_work on September 22, 2009 12:28:16 PM]

Thanks all for your wide and varied responses.

@grhodes_at_work: I've heard of topology, but I never quite understood what the use of it was for. That elliptic mesh generator sounds interesting, mmmm...procedural content

I whish I had better math skills, but my brains can't hold information if it's not used for something practical within 5 seconds. In other words, I rarely use advanced math. Trigoniometry, vector math and simple graphical 'physics' such as how lighting works is not too difficult though. I can safely say that you don't need special studies for them, just watch and play. But collision detection and matrices will already make me sweat, and these are certainly not the most difficult things you can encounter in this area!

Luckily, most of the difficult math is solved for me (math function libraries, Physics engine, ...). It doesn't mean game programming would not require advanced math skills though. Take a look at all those (universetary) papers explaining new techniques or game related theories... 90% of them is supported by crazy formula's, written by nutty professors (and therefore I ussually don't understand these papers). A good math knowledge will help you getting a grasp on new techniques, a big plus.


I'd say the math requirements depends on what you are aiming for. There two kinds of people; those who work with their hands, and those who work with their heads. The first group builds houses, fix your car, bake bread and create beautifull things. The second group tells them howto do it. I belong to the first group. I don't need to know all the details, just let me program a game! A construction worker doesn't need to know the electrical scheme for his drilling machine either, just let him drill! A little bit extra knowledge does help though, when problems occur...

My 1 cent

If you genuinely like math for its own sake, then why limit yourself to learn only things that apply to games? Gamedev is great (obviously these are the gamedev forums..), but it is only one possible career out of many. You may find that even though games got you into math, as you learn more and more math your interests shift, and that's OK.

lol my interest lies in rendering, math, and programming I'd say. but i think it would be interesting what other careers a masters in math could provide as a possible backup or something.