how can I write an ANSI C console screen buffer?

Question

I\'m working on making an ASCII based game, and everywhere I look people are saying to use Console.Write() from MSDN, which is dandy and all if you\'re using Windows, but I\

Answer 1

I really don't want to use any external libraries like curses (because that would reduce portability)

What? Libraries like curses and ncurses are designed to make this kind of thing more portable, because...

and would like to keep to ansi standards if at all possible.

...there is no ANSI standard (for C at least) for what you want. Each operating system implements this kind of behavior differently, so if you want a portable way to do it, you need to use a library. Honestly, I'd hate to have to develop for a system that didn't have ncurses ported to it. Imagine all the programs you wouldn't be able to use without it.