When working with grid-based video games, programmers will inevitably discover the need to represent discrete rotations.

In this series, we derive and implement a theoretical “rotation object”. The goal here is to create an API for performing common grid-based operations.

## Nomenclature

Let the sign domain $\mathbb{S}$ describe the 3 integer signs. $$\boxed{\mathbb{S} = {-1, 0, 1}} \tag{Definition 1.1}$$

## Theory

2D directions are most commonly described with cardinal directions:

• North
• East
• South
• West

If we require more precision, we can use intercardinal directions to describe the “in between” directions:

• Northeast
• Southeast
• Southwest
• Northwest

Informally, each cardinal/intercardinal direction can be thought of as a vector which “points” in a certain direction in the XY plane. For example, “southeast” can be expressed as $\langle 1, -1 \rangle$. In other words, it has a component in the “east” direction (positive X) and a component in the “south” direction (negative Y).

Let’s formally define this type of vector: for some dimension $N$, let the vector $\vec{d}$ represent an $N$-dimensional cardinal vector.

$$\boxed{\vec{d} \in \mathbb{S} ^ N} \tag{Definition 1.2}$$ where $$N \in \mathbb{Z} ^ +$$

All cardinal vectors for $N = 2$ are listed in Table 1.3. Notice that most 2D cardinal vectors correspond with a familiar cardinal/intercardinal direction.

VectorCardinal direction
$\langle -1, -1 \rangle$Southwest
$\langle -1, 0 \rangle$West
$\langle -1, 1 \rangle$Northwest
$\langle 0, -1 \rangle$South
$\langle 0, 0 \rangle$
$\langle 0, 1 \rangle$North
$\langle 1, -1 \rangle$Southeast
$\langle 1, 0 \rangle$East
$\langle 1, 1 \rangle$Northeast

Table 1.3 - Cardinal Vectors in 2D

All cardinal vectors for $N = 3$ are listed in Table 1.4. Notice that in 3D, it is less appropriate to rely on cardinal/intercardinal directions. With cardinal vector notation, we eliminate the need to create distinct labels for the 27 cardinal directions. Instead, we express each direction numerically.

VectorCardinal direction
$\langle -1, -1, -1 \rangle$
$\langle -1, -1, 0 \rangle$
$\langle -1, -1, 1 \rangle$
$\langle -1, 0, -1 \rangle$
$\langle -1, 0, 0 \rangle$West
$\langle -1, 0, 1 \rangle$
$\langle -1, 1, -1 \rangle$
$\langle -1, 1, 0 \rangle$
$\langle -1, 1, 1 \rangle$
$\langle 0, -1, -1 \rangle$
$\langle 0, -1, 0 \rangle$South?
$\langle 0, -1, 1 \rangle$
$\langle 0, 0, -1 \rangle$South?
$\langle 0, 0, 0 \rangle$
$\langle 0, 0, 1 \rangle$North?
$\langle 0, 1, -1 \rangle$
$\langle 0, 1, 0 \rangle$North?
$\langle 0, 1, 1 \rangle$
$\langle 1, -1, -1 \rangle$
$\langle 1, -1, 0 \rangle$
$\langle 1, -1, 1 \rangle$
$\langle 1, 0, -1 \rangle$
$\langle 1, 0, 0 \rangle$East
$\langle 1, 0, 1 \rangle$
$\langle 1, 1, -1 \rangle$
$\langle 1, 1, 0 \rangle$
$\langle 1, 1, 1 \rangle$

Table 1.4 - Cardinal Vectors in 3D

For example, consider the direction left-up-back. Using cardinal vector notation, this direction can be written as $\langle -1, 1, -1 \rangle$.

## Conclusion

With the concept of a cardinal vector, we are ready to implement our rotation object. The implementation will be revealed in Part II of this series.

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2021-02-07 09:49 +0000