RandomPac

RandomPac is a tribute to Pac-Man (Pakkuman), an arcade game released by Namco in 1980.

Main differences from the original version:

• Procedurally generated mazes
• Bonus rounds

Gameplay

RandomPac is an action maze-chase video game; the player controls Pac-Man through an enclosed maze. The objective of the game is to eat all of the dots placed in the maze while avoiding four colored ghosts - Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (cyan), and Clyde (orange) - who pursue Pac-Man. When Pac-Man eats all of the dots, the player advances to the next round. Rounds are indicated by fruit icons at the bottom of the screen. After the first 2 rounds and every 3 rounds thereafter, Pac-Man enters a bonus round where he has to eat all the bonus items before the time runs out.

If Pac-Man is caught by a ghost, the player will lose a life; the game ends when all lives are lost.

Placed near the four corners of the maze are large flashing "energizers" or "power pellets." When Pac-Man eats one, the ghosts turn blue with a dizzied expression and reverse direction. Pac-Man can eat blue ghosts for bonus points; when a ghost is eaten, its eyes make their way back to the center box in the maze, where the ghost "regenerates" and resumes its normal activity. Eating multiple blue ghosts in succession increases their point value. After a certain amount of time, blue-colored ghosts will flash white before turning back into their normal forms.

Eating a certain number of dots in a round will cause a bonus item - usually a fruit - to appear underneath the center box; the item can be eaten for bonus points.

To the sides of the maze are two "warp tunnels", which allow Pac-Man and the ghosts to travel to the opposite side of the screen. Ghosts become slower when entering and exiting these tunnels.

The game increases in difficulty as the player progresses through the rounds: the ghosts become faster, and the energizers' effect decreases in duration.

At 10000 points and then every 50000 points, the player earns an extra life (except in ONE SHOT mode).

Options

You can choose to start the game with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 lives. You can also choose ONE SHOT mode to play with only one life and no chance of earning extra lives.

You can choose between 5 different shapes for the maze walls.

You can choose whether the maze walls will be the classic blue color or if the color will be variable.

You can choose whether the mazes are generated symmetrical or not.

You can choose a random seed from 0 to 19. For each seed, the same sequence of random mazes will be generated. The value NONE corresponds to no particular seed, so the random sequence of mazes will be different each time you play.

Controls

Arrow keys Controller lever	Move Pac-Man
P	Pause
Home	Stop game and return to title screen
Shift+Del	Reset ranking (while the top scores are displayed)
F9	Change border color (fullscreen mode only)
F10	Change pixel effect
F11	Toggle integer scaling
F12	Toggle fullscreen
Esc	Exit game

You can also use the WASD or IJKL keys as directional keys.

The gamepad D-Pad can also be used.

History

Version 1.0

• First release.

Version 1.1

• In fullscreen mode, the game could be jerky using certain video cards.
• You can now choose whether to start a game with 3 or 5 lives.
• You can now press Home while playing to stop the game and return to the title screen.

Version 1.2

• Up to 10 top scores are now stored.

Version 1.3

• Fixed an issue with color accuracy on some monitors.

Version 1.4

• You can now use the WASD or IJKL keys as directional keys.
  
• You can now use the gamepad D-Pad.
  

Version 1.5

• Sound effects are now suspended when the game is paused.
• There are now two separate score rankings based on whether you choose to play with 3 or 5 lives.
• You can now use the controller to enter a top score name.
  
• Other minor changes.

Version 1.6

• More controllers are now recognized.

Version 1.7

• You can now choose to start a game with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 lives, or play in ONE SHOT mode.
• You can now choose between 5 different shapes for the maze walls.
• You can now choose whether the maze walls will be the classic blue color or if the color will be variable.
• You can now choose whether the mazes are generated symmetrical or not.
• For the procedural maze generation, you can now choose a random seed from 0 to 19 or NONE.
• Now the orange ghost no longer moves randomly in the maze, but chases you much like the others (except during the phase of the game where all the ghosts wander randomly).
• Added a third bonus level, where there are new food items to eat.