Flow Puzzle Revisited

If you go back to chapter 11, you will notice that not much other than the data has changed. For that reason I am going to use this section to explain why the data looks so strange and present an alternative way of dealing with the data that might work much better for some people. First, lets take a look at the data.

TILE_INDEXS = "+-abcde";
   WAVEMAP_DATA = new Array(
   "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaab+",
   "dc-cccccccdd-ccccccccccc-ccccbb+",
   "dbaaaaaaaa-abaadaaaaaaaadbd-dbb+",
   "d-ccc-cdbbdbbda-adaaaaabdbdddbb+",
   "dbdaadddbbdbbdbbbdddaa-bd-addbb+",
   "dbc-bdddbbdbbdbbb-dddabbddbd-bb+",
   "dbbdbdddbbdbbdbbbddddbbbddbaabb+",
   "dbbdbdddb-ab-dbbbdd-dbbbddccccc+",
   "dbbdbdddbdbbbdbbbddddbbbddbdaad+",
   "dbbdbddddabbbdbbbddddbb-dd-c-dd+",
   "d-bdbddddcbbbd-bbdddc-bbddbaadd+",
   "dbb-bda-abbbbdbbbdddbbbbddbaadd+",
   "dbaabdcccbcbbdbbbdddbbbbdccdbdd+",
   "dbaab-cccc-cbdbbbdddbbbb-cdd-dd+",
   "dbbbbcccccccddbbbddd-bbbcdddbdd+",
   "-cc-baa-cccc-dbbbdddbbbbddddbdd+",
   "bbbdcccbaaaaadb-bdddbb-bdaddbdd+",
   "bb-dbdaaaaaaaaabaaadbbbb-dddbdd+",
   "bbbdbdbbb-aaaaaaaaa-bbbcbdddbdd+",
   "bbbdb-ccbdccccccccccbbbbaaddbdd+",
   "bbbdbdbbbdb-aa-ccccccbbaaa-dbdd+",
   "bb-aaaaaadccccbaaaaaaaaaaaaabdd+",
   "bcccccc-b-ccccccccc-cccccccc-ad+",
   "baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa+"
   );

The map is stored as a string, with each character representing a tile of the map. The problem, as you can see, is that you can not easily tell what the letters represent. This was done for the simple reason that I was using my Coffee Quest Construction Set tool to create the map and the tiles I used happened to map to the symbols. For those who are curious, the letters translate as follows:

Code	Description	Alternative
+	Win. Landing here results in the player winning the episode.	+
-	No movement. These are the stop points that let the player make a decision.	-
a	Western flow moves the player west (left).	<
b	Northern flow moves the player north (up).	^
c	Eastern flow moves the player east (right).	>
d	Southern flow moves the player south (down).	v
e	BSoD tile is where the bad guy is (used in episode 11, not used in this episode).	B

Taking advantage of existing tools is a wise thing to do, but it is entirely possible to create this map in a text editor as long as the text editor uses a mono-spaced font. If I were creating this map in an editor instead of using another tool, I would have used the alternative code set in the above table and the data would look like this.

TILE_INDEXS = "+-<^>vB";
   WAVEMAP_DATA = new Array(
   "v<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<^+",
   "v>->>>>>>>vv->>>>>>>>>>>->>>>^^+",
   "v^<<<<<<<<-<^<<v<<<<<<<<v^v-v^^+",
   "v->>>->v^^v^^v<-<v<<<<<^v^vvv^^+",
   "v^v<<vvv^^v^^v^^^vvv<<-^v-<vv^^+",
   "v^>-^vvv^^v^^v^^^-vvv<^^vv^v-^^+",
   "v^^v^vvv^^v^^v^^^vvvv^^^vv^<<^^+",
   "v^^v^vvv^-<^-v^^^vv-v^^^vv>>>>>+",
   "v^^v^vvv^v^^^v^^^vvvv^^^vv^v<<v+",
   "v^^v^vvvv<^^^v^^^vvvv^^-vv->-vv+",
   "v-^v^vvvv>^^^v-^^vvv>-^^vv^<<vv+",
   "v^^-^v<-<^^^^v^^^vvv^^^^vv^<<vv+",
   "v^<<^v>>>^>^^v^^^vvv^^^^v>>v^vv+",
   "v^<<^->>>>->^v^^^vvv^^^^->vv-vv+",
   "v^^^^>>>>>>>vv^^^vvv-^^^>vvv^vv+",
   "->>-^<<->>>>-v^^^vvv^^^^vvvv^vv+",
   "^^^v>>>^<<<<<v^-^vvv^^-^v<vv^vv+",
   "^^-v^v<<<<<<<<<^<<<v^^^^-vvv^vv+",
   "^^^v^v^^^-<<<<<<<<<-^^^>^vvv^vv+",
   "^^^v^->>^v>>>>>>>>>>^^^^<<vv^vv+",
   "^^^v^v^^^v^-<<->>>>>>^^<<<-v^vv+",
   "^^-<<<<<<v>>>>^<<<<<<<<<<<<<^vv+",
   "^>>>>>>-^->>>>>>>>>->>>>>>>>-<v+",
   "^<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<+"
   );