function Level() {
	this.CELLTYPE_OPEN = -1;
	this.CELL_SIZE = 64; // using multiple of 2 for optimization
	this.CELL_SIZE_SHIFT = 6; // x >> 6 = Math.floor(x/64)
	this.CELL_HALF = this.CELL_SIZE >> 1; // must be integer
	
	this.cellCount = { _x:0, _y:0 };
	this.dimension = { _x:0, _y:0 };
	this.spawnPoint = { _x:0, _y:0 };
	this.colors = { ground:'#000000', sky:'#FFFFFF', wallsNear:0, wallsFar:0 };
	
	this.map;
	this.viewExtent;
	this.walltypes;
 
	 this.parseMap = function(mapString, cols, rows) {
		  this.cellCount._x = cols;
		  this.cellCount._y = rows;
		  this.dimension._x = this.cellCount._x * this.CELL_SIZE;
		  this.dimension._y = this.cellCount._y * this.CELL_SIZE;
		  
		  var parsedOk = false;
		  
		  if (mapString.length != this.cellCount._x * this.cellCount._y) {
				trace("map size not equal to level dimensions");
		  }
		  
		  else {
				this.walltypes = "@#%&";
				this.colors.ground = '#444455';
				this.colors.sky = '#66AAFF';
				this.colors.wallsNear = new Array(0xDD1111, 0x11DD11, 0x1111DD, 0x6611CC);
				this.colors.wallsFar  = new Array(0x110000, 0x001100, 0x000011, 0x110022);
				this.viewExtent = this.CELL_SIZE * 3;
				var spawnChar = "P";
				
				this.map = new Array();
				for (var row = 0; row < this.cellCount._y; row++) {
					 var r = new Array();
					 for (var col = 0; col < this.cellCount._x; col++) {
						  var type = this.CELLTYPE_OPEN;
						  var c = mapString.charAt(row * this.cellCount._x + col);
						  if (c == spawnChar) {
								type = this.CELLTYPE_OPEN;
								this.spawnPoint._x = col * this.CELL_SIZE + this.CELL_HALF;
								this.spawnPoint._y = row * this.CELL_SIZE + this.CELL_HALF;
						  }
						  else {
								var i = this.walltypes.indexOf(c);
								if (i > -1) { type = i; }
						  }
						  r.push(type);
					 }
					 this.map.push(r);
				}
				parsedOk = true;
		  }
		  
		  return parsedOk;
	 }
	
 }