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
That article kinda misrepresents it.
The algorithm is just a very whacky way to get a very good first guess for a previously well known algorithm (newtons method).
The algorithm takes a shortcut by subtracting a random looking variable from the value in integer form, wich happens to be the “best guess” for the root, not the actual root it has to calculate. This is then used as the starting point of newtons method wich iteratively approaches the real solution from there.
It’s kinda a rule of thumb solution. Like, “if you want to know someones weight, half their height in cm to get the weight in kg”. That’s obviously wrong, but it’s a good starting point for an algorithm that plays “warmer, colder” with the correct number.
~~Modern hardware kinda made this obsolete, back when Quake3 came out there was no dedicated 3D GPU hardware available, so they had do use this workaround basically.~~
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