You could use read byte, and it will only read one character, and then you will want to use variable = chr$(variable) to turn it into the character instead of like, 25.
Example (not tested):
Dim Map$(10,10)
open to read 1, "file.txt"
For y = 1 to 10
For x = 1 to 10
read byte 1,variable
string$ = chr$(variable)
Map$(x,y) = string$
next x
next y
close file 1
I'm not sure if it counts carrage return or not. If it does, find the ascii code for it and add an if statement with the
string$ = chr$(variable)
Map$(x,y) = string$
lines within it.
Good luck!
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