🕹️ Packman

Variant of the arcade game Pac-Man. The objective is for PACKMAN to score as many points as possible by devouring dots, prizes, power capsules, and "scared" monsters, while avoiding fatal collisions with "mean" monsters. A screen ends when all 180 dots and four power capsules are cleared. The game ends when the player loses his last PACKMAN. As play starts/resumes, the four monsters emerge from their "pen" in the center and begin searching for PACKMAN. At first, they move randomly about the maze, checking out the corridors ahead and to the sides. As soon as a monster sees PACKMAN, it begins to chase him. PACKMAN may be spotted even if only partially visable in a corridor. Chasing basically entail this: If PACKMAN is in sight, the monster will head directly toward him. If PACKMAN then ducks out of sight, the monster will remember where he was last seen and the direction he turned, and will try to proceed to that point and turn the same way, after which it reverts to its searching algorithm. The monsters also forget the trail when exiting the tunnels or passing in front of the pen exit. The monsters normally do not look backwards or reverse their direc- tions arbitrarily. Therefore, PACKMAN can follow a monster without being seen. However, since the monsters cannot run over each other, collisions between monsters may resuld in one or both suddenly revers- ing their course, unexpectedly trapping PACKMAN if he is careless. When PACKMAN eats a power capsule, all monsters outside the pen turn blue, slow to half-speed, and attempt to flee if they see PACKMAN. The first monster PACKMAN catches is worth 200 points, doubling for each subsequent monster. When a monster is captured, its disembodied eyes make a beeline back to the pen, where it is reincarnated and re- emerges. After a short time, the blue monsters flash white three times and revert to their normal dangerous state. The prize appears twice per screen, staying for a time for PACKMAN to claim it, then disappearing. The first appearance is sometime after one-third to two-thirds of the dots are cleared from the screen. Each screen is progressively more difficult than the last. For the first several screens, PACKMAN is considerably faster than the monsters in open corridors, so he can usually out-run them unless he gets him- self trapped or is slowed by eating a long string of dots (eating slows his speed by one-third). However, with each screen, the monsters become faster relative to PACKMAN, and remain frightened for shorter length of time. By the tenth screen, the power capsules cease to have any effect at all. Also, the prizes appear for progressively shorter intervals.