Physics and math books. Siggraph papers. Scratch papers.

And out of all the stuff you do, what's the hardest?

The hardest thing is probably physically based animation - trying to get everything to move in code. Sometimes we have to compromise and use art animation because we don't have the bandwidth. It can be tough to work out sometimes - I mean, it's not like you can just go look it up. That's stuff's not in any book.

The other really challenging thing is trying to optimize the engine We're using a lot of multi-texturing which would really slow things down if we weren't able to get the code well optimized.

Was there one unit in particular that was challenging to work with?

The ISDF Walker has been tough because of its rigid body simulation.

And is there another game out there that you thought had great physics?

I really liked Trespasser's physics. The simulations were impressive - that was good technology.

Finally, over the years you've become a skilled and respected physics programmer. If I wanted to do what you do, what's the best thing I can do to prepare myself?