Out of curiosity

[ZZZ]

Does calculus, basic physics and basic statistics play some role in games in areas not directly related to programming?

[Jord]

I won't say no, probably more beneficial for a programmer I'd expect. But in my limited experience as a level designer I've never come across anything like that really. I guess maths always helps?

[Chimeray]

It's more about logic gates imo, AND/OR/NOR, etc... When scripting you usually create systems like that and it helps when you can implement that without having to stress test for bugs. E.g. logic skills help create robust systems that won't break.

You usually think like this: This needs to happen if the player does that but if he does something else then deactivate another thing, UNLESS... this happens, etc etc.

 

Physics? Never had to use those, neither did I have to use statistics. I guess statistics might come in handy if you're doing gameplay balancing but I doubt someone on the lower end of the food chain would be doing that full time.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Chimeray

[e-freak]

you need all of them - at least to understand them and to be able to read a technical paper. you usually have tech artists and programmers to implement this stuff when it gets too complicated, but you at least need to know the ropes...

 

we had a gameplay designer in our uni who wouldn't have a clue about math... come the time where our game needed balancing (reward cycle, length and distance between objective) he was completely lost and couldn't provide any implementation/balancing thoughts... (procedural game where you had to gather speed by destroying objectives and spiral out of control or fail by slowing down and getting to stand still if you miss too often)

 

kids, do your math homework!

[KoKo5oVaR]

Well if you are not making a physic or lighting engine, or shaders. It doesn't go ahead of trigonometry (vectors maybe)  no ?

[Sentura]

Vectors I would say would have impact if you were a game designer as pretty much every projectile in 3D follows vectors. Like e-freak said, math in general is good for balancing and creating design formulas (e.g. armor vs damage type calculations in Warcraft 3).

 

I'd like to say physics to the point where you understand what kinetic and potential energy is, as well as some wave reflections/refractions. I guess that constitutes basic physics. I don't think physics are widely used, BUT the ideas of how these things work could help you levy some of the design problems that may occur in an engine with physics - and may also help you create better shaders as a technical artist.

[Sentura]

It's more about logic gates imo, AND/OR/NOR, etc... When scripting you usually create systems like that and it helps when you can implement that without having to stress test for bugs. E.g. logic skills help create robust systems that won't break.

You usually think like this: This needs to happen if the player does that but if he does something else then deactivate another thing, UNLESS... this happens, etc etc.

 

Physics? Never had to use those, neither did I have to use statistics. I guess statistics might come in handy if you're doing gameplay balancing but I doubt someone on the lower end of the food chain would be doing that full time.

 

This is basically programming =)

[FrieChamp]

Does calculus, basic physics and basic statistics play some role in games in areas not directly related to programming?

 

As e-freak has pointed out maths skills are a useful tool for game designers as well. If maths & statistics is an area you're interested in (and you're not trying to find what the bare minimum is ) you might want to consider becoming a data scientist/business intelligence analyst. Gaining insights for game design and business decisions from big data volumes is becoming more and more prevalent. Today it's hard to find an established studio who isn't looking to fill such a position actually, but they usually expect you to collect and pull the data, too (get familiar with SQL, R and the like).

[Chimeray]

This is basically programming =)

Indeed it is, (visual) scripting uses common concepts, never claimed otherwise Just wanted to point out you should be able to reason and be able to break concepts down to smaller systems.

 

1) Don't be stupid.

2) Be intelligent

...

Profit

[ZZZ]

What I'm studying, atmospheric science, is pure applied math, applied physics, applied statistics, applied chemistry, computing and big data with connections to biology, astronomy, engineering and financial risks (natural distasters).

[FrieChamp]

Ah looks like I wasn't so far off then. My colleague used to dig through data in an institute for meteorology. So yeah, I'd say there are more and more opportunities in the games business for sb with that kind of background.

[e-freak]

yeah, more often than not you will find that a lot of "game designs" are very similar to patterns found in chemistry or biology or can be described in similar terms and formulas. while nothing beats the "hands on" user testing and tweaking to what feels good to the consumer, its always a good starting point to be able to produce models before hand and analyze the data you get back based on those models!

[blackdog]

I dunno how much in depth you are thinking about these subjects and their application other than programming; I think that statistics could be used for important design aspects of a game, and even a full game can be designed about statistics concepts (i'm thinking procedural stuff).

That said, in the end you have to program it.

[FMPONE]

Advanced calculus, physics, and even quantum mechanics all play an important role in level design. In my fantasies, that is.

[ZZZ]

Speaking of which, read that Mark Cerny went to Berkeley, California, at age 13, to study math and physics.