nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

1862: Re: [MUD-Dev] Rooms, 3D arrays, etc.

clawrenc@cup.hp.com wrote:
> 
> You can grab another 26 by using case-sensitive letters.  Another
> fairly simply possibility is to use something like UTF-8 (probably
> preferably over one of the UCS or Unicode codesets).  You won't get a
> directly addressable array any more, but its still fairly simple and
> semi-human readable.

You can make it functionally infinite by having a 'key' preceding the
actual grid, which can map characters to terrain types by map. You could
also have a 'continuation' sort of field, where you specify where to
load the appropriate map for the different compass directions when the
map is left. This can also make your map more human-readable. Assuming
you don't use more than some 40 or 50 terrain types in a grid, that is.