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

[RHS Linux User]

On Sun, 25 May 1997 coder at ibm.net wrote:

> 
> On 25/05/97 at 10:32 AM, Michael Hohensee
> <michael at sparta.mainstream.net> said:
> 
> Yup.  This is actually a workable idea, especially f you code in some
> form of compressing array (a simple RLE would do fine, even better if
> capable of handling several dimensions).  Multi-dimensional arrays can
> get big, quickly.

Hmm, never heard of a compressing array.  I just figured on an array of 
structures like:

struct space
{
   int              terrain;
   GENERIC_THINGY   *room;
};

struct space world [MAX_LENGTH] [MAX_WIDTH] [MAX_HEIGHT] [MAX_TIME];

I suppose this could get on the large side.  I calculate a 400 X 400 X 
100 X 10 world would use up 2,080,000,000 bits.  Hmm.  Might need a 3 Gig 
partition to run this thing on.... :)

How would you do compression?

> The problem here is preserving state changes at the various "time
> levels".  Consider the cimple form of two players crossing the same
> ocean.  Bubba  crossed two hours ago IRL, and Boffo is crossing right
> now.  If you go for the 4'th D == time, then you should be able to
> move some distance in the 4th D and find Bubba still crossing the
> ocean (even if you can't interact with him for obvious reasons).  

Well, you could always come up with some arbitrary rule which prevents 
this.  Say that due to the laws of physics/magic, you can only travel in 
time in 100 year intervals.  And each universe is moving forward in time 
at the same rate.  So in the year 101, you could go back to the year 1, 
but in the year 102 you could only go back to year 2.

It would take a rather determined player to prove your universe 
inconsistent. :)
> 
> <<Light goes on!  I *could* use my roll-backs in the DB for this sort
> of stuff.  It would be awfully epensive, but I could do it.>>
> 
> I think you'd be better off modelling the 4th D to some sort of
> "parallel dimension", but not time.

That'd probably work too. :)

> 
> >	This circumvents problems that you currently get with diku-style 
> >rooms...
> 
> DIKU.  <shudder>

Well what *should* I compare it to? :)

--
Michael Hohensee		.sig not here cuz my files are not here.  
				I hated FreeBSD and now I have Linux. :)