Changing number of colors?

Folks,
  Because we are integrating GRASS within another software system,
we need to tell GRASS not to use all 8 color planes of the Sun, but to
leave 2 or 3 for us to use in animation. Currently, we do our animation
in XOR, but this is only one "color", and leaves a lot to be desired.
While it seems it should be straightforward to tell GRASS that NCOLORS
is (say) 32 or 64, I'd sure love to hear (read?) reports of folks who
have tried this.

Thanks!

Steve Frysinger
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Environmental Systems Engineering
TEL: 908/949-7596
FAX: 908/949-6029
NET: spf@hoqaa.att.com