The mathematical mystery inside the legendary '90s shooter Quake 3 (scientificamerican.com)

It's not a mystery per se.

It's explained exceptionally well here [0].

[0] https://youtu.be/p8u_k2LIZyo?si=loEDS5hPcRGWXk0E

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_inverse_square_root for those who just want the info without AI filler

The wikipedia article gives a lot more detail and history than this fluff piece:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_inverse_square_root

Ignore the clickbait aspect. It is one of the craziest flexes in game development.

The guy had made Doom (nice fast pseudo 3D), Quake (fast 3D), and now made it look great.

Finding obscure math and figuring out that it was the correct fit for his renderer is just so bonkers.

This could have been a good article except for all the AI slop. The future is bleak.