This somewhat depends on what platform you are on. The most common way to do this is by printing ANSI escape sequences. For a simple example, here's some Python code from the Blender build scripts:
class bcolors:
HEADER = '\033[95m'
OKBLUE = '\033[94m'
OKCYAN = '\033[96m'
OKGREEN = '\033[92m'
WARNING = '\033[93m'
FAIL = '\033[91m'
ENDC = '\033[0m'
BOLD = '\033[1m'
UNDERLINE = '\033[4m'
To use code like this, you can do something like:
print(bcolors.WARNING + "Warning: No active frommets remain. Continue?" + bcolors.ENDC)
Or, with Python 3.6+:
print(f"{bcolors.WARNING}Warning: No active frommets remain. Continue?{bcolors.ENDC}")
This will work on unixes including OS X, Linux and Windows (provided you use ANSICON, or in Windows 10 provided you enable VT100 emulation). There are ANSI codes for setting the color, moving the cursor, and more.
If you are going to get complicated with this (and it sounds like you are if you are writing a game), you should look into the "curses" module, which handles a lot of the complicated parts of this for you. The Python Curses HowTO is a good introduction.
If you are not using extended ASCII (i.e., not on a PC), you are stuck with the ASCII characters below 127, and '#' or '@' is probably your best bet for a block. If you can ensure your terminal is using a IBM extended ASCII character set, you have many more options. Characters 176, 177, 178 and 219 are the "block characters".
Some modern text-based programs, such as "Dwarf Fortress", emulate text mode in a graphical mode, and use images of the classic PC font. You can find some of these bitmaps that you can use on the Dwarf Fortress Wiki see (user-made tilesets).
The Text Mode Demo Contest has more resources for doing graphics in text mode.
Best Answer
A few terminals, including iTerm2, have a feature where they change the behavior of the wheel mouse when a full-screen program such as
vi, orscreenortmuxis running. This happens when those programs use the alternate screen, to provide a useful function. Normally, when using the alternate screen in iTerm2, the wheel mouse acts like the scrollbar, scrolling the entire screen up/down. But when this feature is enabled, iTerm2 sends cursor up/down keys, making your command-history change.As suggested in another comment, select the Preferences menu:
and in that, select the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Mouse section,
and toggle the entry for
Scroll wheel sends arrow keys when in alternate screen mode
from Yes to No. You will have to restart iTerm2 for the change to take effect. (With iTerm2 v3.1.5 changes take effect without restarting.)