get_cdist()

ID:121792
 
Dec 10 2011, 11:35 am (Edited on Dec 10 2011, 12:27 pm)
Redundant
Applies to:
Status: Redundant
This feature has already been implemented, or is already achievable with existing methods.
I would like a native proc for calculating the distance between two tiles in a circular shape. This proc would compliment get_dist() which calculates distance in a square shape. I'm well aware this is possible with soft code, but I think a native procedure would be at least a tiny bit speedier. It's also a feature you'd figure BYOND would have right out of the box.

Here's a diagram to illustrate some of the distances it would return:
Dec 10 2011, 7:05 pm
I think the speedup would be, as you say, quite tiny. The only advantage would be in code that uses this sort of calculation often, but that being the case I suspect there are other ways to optimize such code. (I'll venture a guess you're writing custom A* pathfinding. Generally speaking you should only need to do the distance measurement once per tile as long as you store the result.)

As a rule, Tom doesn't like to add features that make the language too cluttery. If something can be very easily done in soft code, it's usually preferred that it be done in a library.