A Maze Generator By any Other Name
From Maze
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The first part of the chapter will examine the conceptual permutations of the word "maze." From ancient Greece, the legendary '''labyrinth of Knossos''' establishes the maze as terrifying and life-threatening space. Even so architectural spaces called labyrinths appeared in descriptions and '''ruins in Ancient Egypt'''. The labyrinth found its way into the spiritual centers on '''the floors of cathedrals'''. However, mazes have also served as '''directions for dances'''. '''Hedge-row mazes''' bring the maze into the realm of public shared diversion. In '''puzzle-books''', mazes became an even more common-place diversion, one in which the depiction and the structure were conflated. In psychology the maze becomes the tool of examining behavior. In '''role-playing games''', the maze became the structural frame of the encounters. Finally, and growing out of all of these traditions, in computer games, the maze became one of the central organizing principals for game-board design. | The first part of the chapter will examine the conceptual permutations of the word "maze." From ancient Greece, the legendary '''labyrinth of Knossos''' establishes the maze as terrifying and life-threatening space. Even so architectural spaces called labyrinths appeared in descriptions and '''ruins in Ancient Egypt'''. The labyrinth found its way into the spiritual centers on '''the floors of cathedrals'''. However, mazes have also served as '''directions for dances'''. '''Hedge-row mazes''' bring the maze into the realm of public shared diversion. In '''puzzle-books''', mazes became an even more common-place diversion, one in which the depiction and the structure were conflated. In psychology the maze becomes the tool of examining behavior. In '''role-playing games''', the maze became the structural frame of the encounters. Finally, and growing out of all of these traditions, in computer games, the maze became one of the central organizing principals for game-board design. | ||
| − | The second part of the chapter explores the degree to which the program generates mazes and how permutations in the code can affect that status. How does, for instance, changing the thickness of the lines affect a viewer's perception of the maze? This second half of the chapter explores the generated image as a maze pattern and considers the way in which the program weaves this pattern. | + | Consistent throughout these various concepts of maze is a sense of providing a structure (whether navigable with body, pen, or joystick) to organize or constrain a person's encounter with a space (whether by setting them on a track, offering them a puzzle, or merely deciding pathways and dead-ends). |
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| + | The second part of the chapter explores the degree to which the program generates mazes and how permutations in the code can affect that status. How does, for instance, changing the thickness of the lines affect a viewer's perception of the maze? How does the single-line of code present itself as a maze for the novice programmer encountering this code in the beginner section of a manual? | ||
