“The Quake III Algorithm That Defies Math”

Question

https://attackofthefanboy.com/articles/the-quake-iii-algorithm-that-defies-math-explained/

I know next to nothing about programming and physics, but I do know this article intrigues me. I’m mostly interested in how the algorithm “allowed the game to function faster and more smoothly,” and why it’s “seemingly mathematically impossible.”

In: 119

Answer 1

That article is very sensationalistic.

It is just a regular optimization tricks and hardly any thing that “defies math”.

Instead of using the “exact” math function (which takes many CPU cycles to perform) one can use an approximation instead which is faster but not as precise.. but precise “enough” for a computer game.