Re: Critters referencing which level/map they belong to: I ended up doing exactly this in
Squirm, leading to really horrible memory leaks that I discovered years later, and which made me just give up on the game completely. Related, (maybe you already know this, but it can't be said enough, especially about languages with garbage collection, I think): Try not to directly reference instances like items, critters, level layouts, more than you have to. One way that's certainly better, is to keep eg. a dictionary for your critters, where every being can be looked up with a key. That way, if you remove a critter from that dictionary, you can be sure there remain no references to it hidden behind the rose-pot.
Re: Linus. I'm a crusty Linux fanatic myself, but have to agree with Krice on this one
. That guy just acts like an utter clown so often, even if I'm sure his accomplishments have demanded a lot of talent, ingenuity and hard work.
As always,
Minotauros