Alternative ways to construct maps

Posted by sideways8 on Game Development See other posts from Game Development or by sideways8
Published on 2012-08-22T08:53:06Z Indexed on 2012/09/21 15:54 UTC
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maps

I've searched around and it seems like most people are using tile-based map systems.
I suppose this question is more theoretical than practical (I am not very concerned about memory or performance speed), but I want to know: what other ways can a map be created in a game?
A map being a graphic representation of terrain that can be navigated, has entrances and exits, and boundares (no-go zones).

Besides using text files to store and arrays to load tile data, one idea I had was to store a map entirely as a graphic file and use queries on the pixel colour to determine boundaries (ie, you can only move in a certain direction if the way is bright enough in that direction).

What other creative map systems are out there?

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