10-Sep-2015, 10:47 PM
I would say that if that's the kind of program you want, you shouldn't use Tile World as a starting point. You can leverage the knowledge that it embodies, but there's just a few too many assumptions about CC built into the structure of the program. I never designed it with the idea of making it extensible, and that's not something you want to just bolt on after the fact.
Ice blocks are a good example. Ice blocks add complication not because they're a new object, but the fact that any number of them can be pushed simultaneously completely blows the roof off of the upper limit to secondary effects. Right now, it's not possible to create a lengthy chain of side effects while computing the effect of a single move. (There is a bit of a chain, due in part to how blocks clone instantly.) So the code just handles it in an ad-hoc fashion. With the possibility of dozens of ice blocks being pushed in the course of a single move, that approach won't work any more.
I'm not saying it would necessarily be hard to write a program to do it right, mind you. I'm just saying that if you're looking to make a Swiss army knife, then my finely crafted kitchen knife isn't a good place to start.
Ice blocks are a good example. Ice blocks add complication not because they're a new object, but the fact that any number of them can be pushed simultaneously completely blows the roof off of the upper limit to secondary effects. Right now, it's not possible to create a lengthy chain of side effects while computing the effect of a single move. (There is a bit of a chain, due in part to how blocks clone instantly.) So the code just handles it in an ad-hoc fashion. With the possibility of dozens of ice blocks being pushed in the course of a single move, that approach won't work any more.
I'm not saying it would necessarily be hard to write a program to do it right, mind you. I'm just saying that if you're looking to make a Swiss army knife, then my finely crafted kitchen knife isn't a good place to start.