On Thu, 24 Jun 1999, Bob Stewart wrote:

>
> My problem is using programming internals to further my
> ability to beat the computer program. That's not the game
> I want to play. It's too much like disassembling code to
> decypher the operating system so I can write whizbang
> programs of my own, or getting playing hints by printing
> out all the text messages from the software. That's
> playing the computer system, not the game.
>
> /loc and the grid system are program mechanisms, not a
> game world feature.

There are a variety of mathematical coordinate transforms you
could do with the numbers /loc generates. This would result
in the numbers still being useful for debugging since each
point would still have a unique value, and nearby points would
have similar values. But it'd be much less useful for
navigation, distance calculation, and mapping since it'd no
longer be a grid (think of it as deforming the grid by pushing
and pulling parts of it out of shape).

I still say that compasses need to give exact headings before
/loc is gimped. Then they could add surveying equipment so we
diehard explorer/roleplayers could develop maps by surveying
and triangulating distances... :-)

--
John H. Kim
kim@...