Pacman - the Amiga conversion from the arcade game

[jotd]

thanks for noticing. Fixed now.

[Retroplay]

Included slave on the disk doesn't get along with new version of the game.
Exception "Address Error" ($B00C) at $EFFFFF3B occurred.

[Edit]
Never mind, brain fart on my behalf.
Decrunched executable works.

[jotd]

the only thing I didn't test... or is that because of 68000?

[Retroplay]

In my case it's WinUAE 4.9.0 Beta 36 and my 68030 ClassicWB OS3.1 setup.

[jotd]

have you tried using xfddecrunch on the new "pacman" executable? probably RNC packing that screwed things up

[Retroplay]

D'oh, that was it, it works decrunched.

[edit]
Crunched with RNC Pro-Pack 2.08 works with the slave.

[jotd]

good. I have an old version. I wasn't aware of a newer version. Aminet?

[Retroplay]

Yes, right here
http://aminet.net/package/util/pack/RNC_ProPack

[jotd]

found it thanks

[chadderack]

Originally Posted by jotd

thanks for noticing. Fixed now.

Hey jotd... apologies if it seemed like I was being glib about the broken download. Not my intention. I haven't had a chance to check this out yet; but I'll download as soon as I have a minute. I liked what I saw before.

[jotd]

if you liked the previous version you'll like that one even more as the sound loops are now perfect no more pops thanks to cia timer of ptplayer

[Don_Adan]

Seems that Pacman can be invisible for ghosts in first ~100 secs. This is good test for game logic

[ Show youtube player ]

[jotd]

no, in that particular spot, facing up, no ghost can get you for an infinite amount of time.

It allows the player to take a bathroom break after a few hours too (I don't have the exact time but this was this position). I also don't know why the player does that at start. Maybe to test that it's working so bathroom breaks are possible later?

It happens because:

1) ghosts cannot go up to get pacman in that location (and also above the pen). In that situation, even the red ghost is forced to turn in circles to get closer to pac-man, but using the circuit below (continuing left would make him reach pacman eventually but the first turn is shorter the other way...). Yes the A.I. isn't A* or Djikistra it's primitive.
2) facing up means pink ghost aims above left and misses the turn (same happens for blue too)
3) red also misses the turn to left and goes up because goes into scatter mode. And when switching from scatter to chase, it also (by chance) doesn't arrive on the right of pacman.

To achieve that, the positions of the ghosts are also important. There are some positions where it won't work. Ms Pacman also have blind spots in some mazes. Best way to find them is to enable invincible cheat and test.

I'll test that location in my version, but I'm pretty confident it will behave the same way.

[Don_Adan]

Originally Posted by jotd

no, in that particular spot, facing up, no ghost can get you for an infinite amount of time.

It allows the player to take a bathroom break after a few hours too (I don't have the exact time but this was this position). I also don't know why the player does that at start. Maybe to test that it's working so bathroom breaks are possible later?

It happens because:

1) ghosts cannot go up to get pacman in that location (and also above the pen). In that situation, even the red ghost is forced to turn in circles to get closer to pac-man, but using the circuit below (continuing left would make him reach pacman eventually but the first turn is shorter the other way...). Yes the A.I. isn't A* or Djikistra it's primitive.
2) facing up means pink ghost aims above left and misses the turn (same happens for blue too)
3) red also misses the turn to left and goes up because goes into scatter mode. And when switching from scatter to chase, it also (by chance) doesn't arrive on the right of pacman.

To achieve that, the positions of the ghosts are also important. There are some positions where it won't work. Ms Pacman also have blind spots in some mazes. Best way to find them is to enable invincible cheat and test.

I'll test that location in my version, but I'm pretty confident it will behave the same way.

He wait because at begining ghosts are turned 180° a few times (6 perhaps, but i dont calc this exactly) this is normal game logic for all Pacman games. So he dont wait to be eated by turned ghosts. Later ghosts are not turned/rotated, then he can move Pacman without surprise. He wait for every level.

BTW. Maybe you can ask him for testing your conversion?

[Don_Adan]

After 1h 26 minutes are started levels when power dots only change ghosts rotation for 180°. He used different pattern to finish these levels. These levels are finished very fast.

[Nightshft]

Yes, once it works the Ghost won't get you there forever. However looks like not all Ghost positions are safe to start the maneuver.

The original Pacman Arcade Game logic is extremely well explained here:

[ Show youtube player ]

[alkis21]

Congratulation on this great conversion. May I ask where I can find the WHDLoad version? I can't see it on itch.io or whdload.de.

[mrv2k]

Originally Posted by alkis21

Congratulation on this great conversion. May I ask where I can find the WHDLoad version? I can't see it on itch.io or whdload.de.

Check the reply in the Ms Pacman thread.

[BigD]

@jotd

Could we get this working on The A500 Mini? Neither the MsPacman 500 nor the Pacman 500 WHDLoad versions work! Neither does Tiny Bobble :-( Travesty! We need to showcase these amazing conversions on the new hardware!

Congrats on 2nd place in the Amiga Game Competition too mate!

[jotd]

Travesty indeed!! that's utterly inacceptable.

What happens exactly? I don't have the A500 mini and even if I had it I doubt that I could debug it.