Pacman - Ultimate


Remember those good old days where arcade machines were the thing, and pac-man became popular? Well, since I love old classic games, I gave myself a challenge to create a pac-man game on game maker. And so far, I think I've done well! I've also added a bonus version, Pacman - Ultimate, which takes the classic to a new level with powerups and soon-to-become better graphics.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Any suggestions or complains are welcome!


How to play

I'm sure most of you who play my game have played Pacman before, or at least have seen it, or hopefully have heard of it. But just in case, the next paragraph will explain the basics of the game. You may skip to the next section if you have played pacman before.

Pacman is a game that consists of a yellow circle with a mouth that makes it look like a pie with a slice missing. This circle is called Pacman, hence the name of the game. When the game starts, pacman starts moving around a basic maze. In the maze there are dots, both big and small, which give pacman points. There are also four monsters/ghosts, each a different color. As pacman moves, they follow him. If a monster/ghost runs into you, then you lose a life. The big dots (four of them in total), when eaten, cause all the monsters/ghosts to turn blue. Now they are in a short state of panic. You can now eat them as well, only they will float back to the center of the maze, where they started out at. Then they will return to their normal state. Your goal is to eat all the dots before you loose all your lives!


Ultimate

If you have played pacman before, then you will have no problem playing my version. As it is still a WIP (work in progress), there are some known (and possibly unknown) bugs and issues with the game, but the majority of the game play works just like it did back then. You may notice that you can select two different game types. Classic and Ultimate. Classic is obviously the classic game. Ultimate is different, sort of. It's still the same concept, that you must collect all the dots before you loose all your lives. Only... this time you have a health bar. And the dots flash. Oh, did I mention that you can become invisible, move twice as fast, and even go through the walls?

As the Ultimate is still a WIP, you may notice some odd things, such as a strange building or whatever you might think it is, which is covering the middle of the maze. This is for a future BETA, and it doesn't affect the game, so just pretend it's a pretty decoration!

The three (soon to be four) bonus items you can collect are the Super Fast Pacman, the Invisible Pacman, and the Go-Through-Walls Pacman. Obviously the Super Fast Pacman gives you a speed boost. The Invisible Pacman will cause you to become half invisible (so you can see where you're going!) and when the monsters run at you they can never harm you. And the Go-Through-Walls Pacman will... take a guess? Go ahead... Yes, you're right, you can go through the walls! Well, not the outside walls, but still!


Known bugs

Classic and Ultimate
The monster/ghosts may get stuck outside the walls
The current movement engine is a bit buggy. You might notice some jittering when making turns
Making sudden turns in the maze won't work easily right now. I'm working on an engine that will make that possible

Classic
When you run over the big dot and eat a monster/ghost, they move back to the center, as a normal ghost. But if the ghost/monster runs over you within the next ten seconds after you ate it, you won't die. I am aware of what causes this... I'm just lazy and haven't fixed it yet.

Ultimate
This isn't really a bug, but still. The building thingy in the middle with the red bar and the things that looks like spider feet or whatever doesn't do anything. This will change!


Versions:

1.5

Added more music
Added ability to choose which game type.
Included bonus items
Improved the way pacman walks (still BETA)

1.0

Improved size
Modified backgrounds
Managed sound effects
Managed other odds and ends

0.5

Created game
Added arcade functions
Added sound effects

Cool! Maybe you could give pacman a gun of some sort to shoot the ghosts? That would be cool!

Hmmm... that's an interesting twist! I'll have to think about how that idea or at least the concept, could be implemented....

Perhaps I could have a series of pacman variations, including the original, the ultimate, a shoot-em-up, and maybe a co-op or battle.

I like this!

Sounds cool!

I'm working on a list of improvements.