The Mathematical Guide

We see math everywhere- the world is defined by mathematical formulas. The gravitational constant, Fibonacci's sequence in a pine cone, the probability of 'option' A being chosen over 'option B'. If these laws govern our world, why shouldn't a virtual world be governed by their own laws? Needless to say, a video game need not adhere strictly to our scientific reality. We get to play God and make our own universe guided by their own rules. Who is to say what's realistic? If it is a war game set in the past, our physics may best apply, but science-fiction games may allow a more creative take on physics. Perhaps characters can stretch their bodies to new limits, or raise an army of zombies through mind control. Whichever reality is revealed in the game, it is undoubtedly math that enables these laws to exist. Programmers need to translate their ideas into 'scientific laws' for the game, and every single pixel on the screen is governed by a set of laws.

Everything in programming needs a source- an object does not fall because it decides it should fall, but rather because we decide it should fall under if certain requirements are met. We don't fall toward the Earth because we decide we should fall, gravity is pulling us toward the mass beneath us. Perhaps the only difference between physics and programming is that in programming, we are the creators, while in physics, we are the ones who don't fully understand what has been created before us.