MagicManICT wrote:The current world size measures 5x5 supergrids (25000x25000 tiles). Let's call each map 100 kb for simplicity sake*. That's 6.25 x 10^10 kb.
10^10 kb = 10^7 Mb = 10^4 GB = 10 TB. That's 62.5 TB. I'm not figuring in the "border" maps you can see but can't actually enter.
I think you're off with that.
5 supergrids² game world = 25000²
tiles * 6 levels (ground and 5 underground)
Last time I looked the tile type was encoded in a byte, I guess elevation for the ground level also needs something (let's say a word, 2 bytes), that would be 25000²*8 (6 levels 1 byte tile type + 2 bytes for surface elevation) = 5,000,000,000 bytes (or 5GB in hard drive manufacturer terms).
That is quite manageable.
Then we need to encode the objects. Let's say we encode it relative to the minimap: a word each for x, y and type, a byte for rotation, a byte for size/growth stage for trees and crops/health for destructables, a word (on average over all, this may be on the high side) for modifyable material type: let's call it 10 bytes per object (for a default, persistent object, ignoring the attached lists for container/stockpile contents and similar stuff). Let's say further that every 50st tile is populated on average (over all levels, more on the surface and way less underground) with something, then we'll have another 25000²*6/50*10 = 750,000,000 bytes (or 750MB in hard drive manufacturer measurement), add some uncertainty and call it a GB. Also quite manageable.
Then we need to account for inventory contents for containers, pocket universes for houses and their contents, timers on the stuff that needs it, and whatnot. Let's say it's an old world and the people have been busy: double the amount needed.
Then we're at a ballpark of 16GB - which would fit into a normal root server without problems (your some-TB most likely wouldn't as of lacking disk space).