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

Updating and Drawing the Graphics Environment

All objects in a graphics environment undergo a cyclical process of being updated and then drawn. This occurs in the main game loop and is synchronized by a frame rate clock. Building this ability into our graphics engine and application at this point is critical for further functionality, such as physics and other interactivity, to be added down the line. Adding a strong foundation to facilitate this early on is crucial in order to succeed in graphics processing and rendering down the line.

Herein, we will examine the purpose of the main game loop and add a clock to regulate the frame rate in our project. Coordinated with this loop are updates to objects so that they can become whatever we need them to be, from audio sources to game characters. Therefore, we will also be concentrating our efforts on developing an object’s abilities.

To this end, in this chapter, we will be examining the following:

  • Introducing the...