NOT Pacman.....

[kevin]

Not a Pacman clone, but very inspired by it.
Controls are the arrow keys, or a joystick. Menu selection uses the mouse.
The speed and intelligence of the ghosts may increase with the difficulty level selected.

Hints:
- make use of the tunnels at the side - Pacman can go through these, but the ghosts cannot follow. 
- On the more difficult settings, the ghosts may move towards Pacman, so don't take too long to start moving.
- the 4 orange powerups let you chase and catch the ghosts for 10 seconds - good for increasing the score.
- cherries will appear now and then, worth 500 points if run over.

There is a setting for slow computers - you can probably ignore this for post 2010 computers. There are different high scores stored for each difficulty level.

Hope you enjoy....

24/9 - Zip file has been updated to fix a pacman controls issue


  pacmanv2.zip (Size: 200.57 KB / Downloads: 10)

   

[Marcus]

Argh, can't try it out until tomorrow after work

[johnno56]

Nicely done! Those tunnels were very handy! The "settings" was a great idea...

[kevin]

Nicely done! Those tunnels were very handy! The "settings" was a great idea...

Many thanks Johnno.

I have updated the zip file to resolve an issue that Marcus identified, where Pacman could be moved up or down while going through the tunnels -  many thanks Marcus for finding this.

If you have already downloaded the original file, you can just update the "move_pacman()" function with this code:

Code:

function move_pacman()


if pacman.x >= 0 and pacman.x <= 1024-32
if keydown(KEY_LEFT) or joyx() < 0
if TM_GetCelAt( pacman.x - 1,pacman.y  ) <> 0 ' if the cel is anything but a wall
    pacman.dx = - pacman.speed
    pacman.dy = 0
    pacman.cell = 4
endif
endif
if keydown(KEY_RIGHT) or joyx() > 0
if TM_GetCelAt( pacman.x + pacman.w + 1,pacman.y   ) <> 0
    pacman.dx = + pacman.speed
    pacman.dy = 0
    pacman.cell = 0
endif
endif
if keydown(KEY_UP)  or joyy() < 0
if TM_GetCelAt( pacman.x ,pacman.y - 1 ) <> 0
    pacman.dy = - pacman.speed
    pacman.dx = 0
    pacman.cell = 2
endif
endif
if keydown(KEY_DOWN)   or joyy() > 0
if TM_GetCelAt( pacman.x ,pacman.y + pacman.h + 1  ) <> 0
    pacman.dy = + pacman.speed
    pacman.dx = 0
    pacman.cell = 6
endif
endif
endif
'allow pacman to move through the side tunnel
if pacman.x < 0 then pacman.x = 1024
if pacman.x >1024 then pacman.x = 0
endfunc'============================

[1micha.elok]

with over 1690 lines of code and 19 functions,
this NOT Pacman was clearly built with great care
You really put your heart into the game !
Awesome work !

[Marcus]

I completed the game on normal difficulty level on my second try - the first time I couldn't even beat the first level! Very, very, very well done game!

Have you studied the enemy "ai" in the original pacman, or did you improvise?

I really need to add a page on naalaa.com where people can download pre-compiled versions of games like this, without having to mess with n7.

[kevin]

I completed the game on normal difficulty level on my second try - the first time I couldn't even beat the first level! Very, very, very well done game!

Have you studied the enemy "ai" in the original pacman, or did you improvise?

I really need to add a page on naalaa.com where people can download pre-compiled versions of games like this, without having to mess with n7.

Thanks Marcus, I'm impressed that you completed this in only 2 attempts - it took me 4
I did check out the ghost "ai" in the original, but thought it was overkill, as each ghost had a different "ai" . Instead, I simplified it, by testing to see which direction would take the ghost closest to pacman, and using that, so it was a simple distance calculation each time. This approach totally ignores any obstacles, but seems to get the job done. In fact, the hardest thing that I found, was dumbing down the "ai" so that the game could be completed. In the end, only one ghost in medium setting, and two in the difficult setting, have any sort of "ai" - the others all move completely randomly. The ghosts with "ai" also have a variable speed, where occasionally they will move at the same speed as pacman (all other times, and all ghosts without "ai" move at half the speed of pacman).
I think the idea of making the pre-compiled versions of games available is very good, presumably under some sort of open license?

[Marcus]

I completed the game on normal difficulty level on my second try - the first time I couldn't even beat the first level! Very, very, very well done game!

Have you studied the enemy "ai" in the original pacman, or did you improvise?

I really need to add a page on naalaa.com where people can download pre-compiled versions of games like this, without having to mess with n7.

Thanks Marcus, I'm impressed that you completed this in only 2 attempts - it took me 4
I did check out the ghost "ai" in the original, but thought it was overkill, as each ghost had a different "ai" . Instead, I simplified it, by testing to see which direction would take the ghost closest to pacman, and using that, so it was a simple distance calculation each time. This approach totally ignores any obstacles, but seems to get the job done. In fact, the hardest thing that I found, was dumbing down the "ai" so that the game could be completed. In the end, only one ghost in medium setting, and two in the difficult setting, have any sort of "ai" - the others all move completely randomly. The ghosts with "ai" also have a variable speed, where occasionally they will move at the same speed as pacman (all other times, and all ghosts without "ai" move at half the speed of pacman).
I think the idea of making the pre-compiled versions of games available is very good, presumably under some sort of open license?

I'm very fond of the license I use for Darned Dungeon on itch.io:

"This program is free software. It comes without any warranty, to the extent
permitted by applicable law. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License, Version 2, as
published by Sam Hocevar. See http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING for more details."

But that one might be a bit too much for some projects

[kevin]

I'd vote for that license....perhaps add a completely optional request to add a link to the website, or add an initial splashscreen to each executable that states something like " çoded in the Naalaa programming language", with a link to the website......