This is getting annoying now. Basically I'm making a 3D space game. I'm new to 3D programming.
3D programming is a very different kind of animal than is 2D. I'm not sure this simple math is sufficient to get your ideas off the ground, really.
I want to make my spacecraft be able to rotate on all axis (which is simple) and be able to fire thrusters in any direction (on all axis). Its this problem which is halting my project. I've got it to partially work, but it just won't go in the direction the thrusters are facing. Do you have any thoughts? You seem better at maths than me! Once I've got my head around this I'll be happy!
First things first: the 3D formulas I gave above assume degrees as angle units. If your version of cos() and sin() take radians, you need to apply a conversion step just before plugging them into the equations.
Second: your problem has a fairly simply answer. If your thrusters are facing the opposite way of the nose of the ship, then all you need to do is to keep track of where that nose is, and move in
that direction. That is, after all, what will happen when a thruster fires. If, on the other hand, you are making a ship with vector thrusts---in other words, where the direction of thrust need not be diametrically opposite to the direction of flight---then things get a whole lot more complex. You need to take into account the fact that the shapeship will not just move forward in space, but rotate on its axis as well. My advice in this case would be to look for
this sort of book and work your way from there. But you'll quickly notice that such books do not use simple maths anymore, and for this there is no real remedy.
