Book Image

Mathematics for Game Programming and Computer Graphics

By : Penny de Byl
5 (1)
Book Image

Mathematics for Game Programming and Computer Graphics

5 (1)
By: Penny de Byl

Overview of this book

Mathematics is an essential skill when it comes to graphics and game development, particularly if you want to understand the generation of real-time computer graphics and the manipulation of objects and environments in a detailed way. Python, together with Pygame and PyOpenGL, provides you with the opportunity to explore these features under the hood, revealing how computers generate and manipulate 3D environments. Mathematics for Game Programming and Computer Graphics is an exhaustive guide to getting “back to the basics” of mathematics, using a series of problem-based, practical exercises to explore ideas around drawing graphic lines and shapes, applying vectors and vertices, constructing and rendering meshes, and working with vertex shaders. By leveraging Python, Pygame, and PyOpenGL, you’ll be able to create your own mathematics-based engine and API that will be used throughout to build applications. By the end of this graphics focussed book, you’ll have gained a thorough understanding of how essential mathematics is for creating, rendering, and manipulating 3D virtual environments and know the secrets behind today’s top graphics and game engines.
Table of Contents (26 chapters)
1
Part 1 – Essential Tools
9
Part 2 – Essential Trigonometry
14
Part 3 – Essential Transformations
20
Part 4 – Essential Rendering Techniques

Let’s Light It Up!

While we will take a closer look at rendering techniques in depth later on in the book, it always brings a sense of achievement when you can get some color on the screen. Not just a sprite and a pretty background, but painting 3D objects with light and texture.

In this chapter, I will go over the fundamental ways that OpenGL works with light and textures to give you more to experiment with as you continue to investigate these types of projects. You will learn how to add lighting and materials to the project we are developing throughout. It will provide you with the skills to develop better-rendered images that will assist you in visual confirmation that your code is working as it should.

In this chapter, we will cover the fundamentals of visualization, including the following:

  • Adding Lighting Effects
  • Placing Textures on Meshes