Loading a map in Pygame / Python

Question

How would I go about loading a map file in Pygame / Python?

I would like to load a map file in this format;

http://pastebin.com/12DZhrtp

EDIT: I\'m guess

Answer 1

If you're literally asking how to load a file in Python -- disregarding the pygame side of the question -- then it's very simple.

>>> with open('a.map', 'r') as f:
...     for line in f:
...         print line,
... 
x g g g x
x g g g x
x g x g x
x g g g x
x x x x x

KEY:
x = wall
g = grass / floor

Now instead of printing each line, you can simply read through it and store it in whatever data structure you're using.

I don't know anything about pygame though -- if it has some custom function for this, I can't help with that.