The Pac-Man Dossier
"Ghosts use a
pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) to pick a way to turn at
each intersection when frightened. The PRNG generates an
pseudo-random memory address to read the last few bits from. These
bits are translated into the direction a frightened ghost must
first try. If a wall blocks the chosen direction, the ghost then
attempts the remaining directions in this order: up,
left, down, and right,
until a passable direction is
found. The PRNG gets reset with an identical seed value every new
level and every new life, causing predictable results." - Jamey Pittman
When I first played the NES port of Pac-Man many years ago, I thought the ghosts, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, were pretty smart. Now, many years later, I think the code behind the ghosts is pretty smart. The careful analyzing that Jamey Pittman presents on the Pac-Man Dossier is well worth a look. Interesting facts that caught my eye:
When I first played the NES port of Pac-Man many years ago, I thought the ghosts, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, were pretty smart. Now, many years later, I think the code behind the ghosts is pretty smart. The careful analyzing that Jamey Pittman presents on the Pac-Man Dossier is well worth a look. Interesting facts that caught my eye:
- Puck-Man's creation was a year and five months in the making--the longest ever for a video game to that point.
- The game starts with Pac-Man at 80% of his maximum speed.
- Billy Mitchell offered a $100,000 cash prize to the first
player to prove they could legitimately get past level 256.
I had a very similar reaction to the Pac-Man Dossier. I used to think the four ghosts were pretty smart too--it was one of the reasons I hated the game, because I hated being chased and feeling like I was surrounded. I had no clue that the ghosts had different behaviors/patterns, and I don't think I would've ever picked up on these patterns by myself.