How the Use of Triangles in Video Game Design Lowers Computational Burden During the Rendering Process

In a triune essay for Vox, developer Cleo Abram explains how triangles are at the root of the beautiful amount of detail in video games. Essentially, the three points of a triangle represent a flat surface that can repeated over and again and are easily digested by computers that have to render all of the information into pixels.

Games today are meticulously detailed. They’re mysterious and heartwarming, and colorful and stylized. And that makes them a technical challenge…Triangles are a key part of how these gorgeous, detailed games appear on your screen — the hidden heroes we should all thank as we play. This simple shape helps keep the number of computations needed for each detail as low as possible, allowing the player’s computer to process these elaborate games.

I made a @voxdotcom video about something I've always been interested in: why are video games made of tiny triangles? ? with @mkbrangan on some amazing animations and @PhilEdwardsInc and @monalalwani story editing? https://t.co/Mkpu4hoMlL

— Cleo Abram (@cleoabram) January 10, 2019