Do You Need Math for Game Development?
Yes, you need math to develop games that will attract the attention of users. Having a good understanding of basic arithmetic and algebra is required for all of game development. You also need a good understanding of geometry to make good games.
Most game developers can make basic games with only the knowledge of basic arithmetic and algebra, but more advanced games need an advanced understanding of math.
Most of the advanced and complicated math used in game development is hidden in the development tools and handled by game engines, so that, game developers can focus on solving problems than understanding Calculus, logarithms, trigonometry, and many other math concepts.
Although game engines do a lot of the heavy lifting and calculations for game developers, developers need to have a good understanding of the math that is necessary for the logical behavior of their character and game environment.
As a game developer, you should understand how to work with decimals, percentages, fractions, and integers. You should have no problems working with angles, coordinates, vectors, etc.
A lot of math used in game scripting if fairly basic but the math that power game engines is far more complex and advanced. If you are interested in working on game engines, you need to be familiar with a lot of advanced math concepts.
HOW IS MATH USED IN GAME DEVELOPMENT?
Math is heavily used in game development for positioning, 3D rotation, making shaders, developing a scoring system, leaderboard implementation, general counters, character health and damage control, character movements, and more.
Advanced math is also used to build game engines and game environments from scratch. Game engines have a huge combination of low-level systems built on mathematical principles and models.
Math is the foundation of game development.
SHOULD GAME DEVELOPERS LEARN ADVANCED MATH?
If you just want to make basic games, you can stick to basic arithmetic. You will be able to make games by using game assets that other developers make for you. This does not require a lot of math.
But if you want to make progress, you can familiarize yourself with enough math that helps you to develop advanced games with the help of game engines and frameworks.
However, if you want to do something new, that has not been done before, if you want to break new ground and separate yourself from the rest of the competition, you need to learn advanced math and be able to apply it.
Learning advanced math has a lot of advantages for game developers, when you have a good understanding of math, you will be able to participate in a wide range of projects.
Advanced math skills will help you to add many advanced features to the game you are working on. You will be able to integrate machine learning, artificial intelligence, and many other features that are centered on advanced math
If you intend to work for big game studios or companies you will need a good understanding of Data structures and Algorithms. Working with Data structures and algorithms requires a good understanding of math.
IS MATH NEEDED FOR BACKEND GAME DEVELOPMENT?
Backend game developers will be working with databases, APIs, and server-side programming languages like Python, Swift, Java, Kotlin, Go, Ruby, Lua, C#, etc. These combinations of technologies are used to store user data, access API, connect many users, and more.
These technologies do not require a rigorous understanding of math to work with. As long as you are able to work with basic algebra, you will do just fine.
Ultimately, we can see that only a basic understanding of math is needed for backend game development. Most backend game development work does not require heavy mathematical applications and understanding.
If you are working on big game projects that require a lot of advanced mathematical concepts and applications, you will most likely be working in a big team. In this case, there will be other developers who will be specialized in the implementation of advanced math concepts.
CONCLUSION
Math is the foundation of game development, game developers need to be familiar with math to make a great and interactive game that attracts the attention of many users.
Ultimately, math is needed for game development, even if it is the most basic math. Basic math allows you to add a scoring or leaderboard feature to your game. It also helps you to know by how many units your character should move or rotate in any direction.