Real-Life Math
Computer game designers create concepts for new computer games.
"Most
games are models of something, either a reality [like a fighter simulation]
or a fantasy reality [like a role-playing game]," says Mark Baldwin, an award-winning
computer game designer.
"And since these are models of the world in
the computer, math is the tool for managing these models."
Baldwin
says designers use all kinds of math. "Gads, we use basic math all over the
place. And trig and calculus crop up quite often...even lighting effects on
a graphic screen use strong math."
Designers work with programmers,
artists and sound technicians to put together a game. In smaller companies,
designers will end up programming the game themselves.
You've come
up with a new war simulation game. According to your storyboard, a tank will
move across the screen from left to right at 10 mph. The screen represents
one mile. The screen itself is 500 pixels (locations) across. The game updates
the screen 10 times a second.
Where is the tank at 0.3 minutes (answer
in pixels)? Where is the tank at 4.5 minutes?
Taking into account you
don't want to calculate the tank's position any more often than necessary,
how many game cycles (screen refreshes) can you skip before calculating the
tank's position such that it moves from each location to the
next?