pacd00d is a free pacman-clone, written in visual basic (igh) (if you don't have the visual basic runtime installed, download it
here (can't find MSVBVM60.DLL i.e)). It started as a schoolproject .. but i'm not quite sure where it'll end. If I have the time and the urge, i might keep these pages up and implement a few new features in future, but i know myself good enough to know that its probably never gonna change. so accept it as it is. The game was developed by Mats Lindh (
pacd00d@e-mats.org). Please e-mail all general questions and bugreports.
news:
v0.0.4 - pacd00d updater
* initial release .. downloads the most recent .zip-files from this page :) If you're installing pacd00d for the first time, why not just get this utility?
v0.1.1
* multiplayer-support .. and this is taking some time .. so enjoy this screenshot from the server until more comes along :)
v0.1.0
* since no new skins has been added or the old one modified yet, the one- and two-player models are similar. This will probably be fixed in 0.1.1 which will feature a few changes in the skinformat (since its now possible to be two players).
* this release will probably be buggy, since so many things has changed since v0.0.21.. so keep the bugreports coming!
* hopefully, i nailed a bug caused by the movement-engine which could cause the pacd00d to refuse to go one way.
* two-player - here's how it works: both pacd00ds starts together. In *COOP*eration, you'll have to remove all the dots. If
one of the pacd00ds looses all his/hers lives, the game is over (since its cooperation .. and as we all know, both the good guys always survive).
well. no program is complete without a few, selected bugs. here's a few of the still occuring bugs in pacd00d (and i'm not sure if im gonna fix'em either):
* DO NOT ALT-TAB ! - It will *NOT* work. (i'll get back to restoring the surfaces in directx later, but for now - just dont do it.) (fixed in v0.0.17)
* its possible to walk through the ghosts at one special moment - if the ghost is exiting the square as you're entering it. (fixed in v0.0.11)
* under some strange condition, the game will not end, even if you've aten all the dots. (fixed in v0.0.14)
* the map-parser will give you kinda funnylooking maps if you're grouping together walls in one big heap (so *DONT* do that.) (its adjusted to allow two straights run parallell when they're next to each other (instead of creating a sillylooking cross) (so this is not really a bug)
* (not really a bug) its not possible to make any selections at the main menu yet. If you press up or down you *will* select a new item, but you can't select it (and you can't see it being selected) .. so don't get yourself into this mess just yet. its on its way. (fixed in v0.0.10)
* overflow in score (fixed in v0.0.10)
* bonus always remains 1600 (fixed in v0.0.10)
TODO:
* two-player via netplay!
* load pictures from jpg instead of bmp.. saving a lot of space.. maybe. random screens for inbetween acts .. maybe.
* create some sort of congratulation-screen when you've finished all the levels.
* create the possibility of extending number of levels without recompiling .. hmm. creates problems with the order the levels are played in. (maybe just support mapXX where XX is the levelnumber..
* graphical leveleditor.
* support windowed mode.. low priority.
The mapsystem is pretty easy, so you can go ahead and create your own levels. Just use the following table for translation (open up map1-8 in your favourite text-editor (i'd suggest
UltraEdit any day)).
The grid *must* be 20 lines wide - and 22 lines high.
The ghosts (AND the pacd00d) is hardcoded to start where they're starting now. So don't put a wall there - unless you're looking for really weird results.
0 - free spot. a dot to eat will be placed here, togheter with the possibility of walking there.
1 - wall. this will stop everything from walking.
2 - wall that allows ghosts to walk through it - upwards (this is used as a gate where the ghosts can get out) - do *NOT* use this in any other place .. i have no idea what will happen. :P
3 - a empty spot with no dot (great for creating large boxes and alike) - also neat to place round the ghost-cage.
4 - a big dot which will give you superpowers! muhahaha!
.. and that's all there is to it. *PLEASE* send me any levels that you create and you find good, i'll include them in the next release (or just put them online here if there's no new release).
Another possibility is to theme the game. All the sprites are stored as bmp-files in the gfx/ directory, just have a look around. Be sure to retain the right sizes if you change anything - and all the sprites are 16x16. Please send new graphics along if you create it, it'll be fun to give people a choice between my sucky graphics and your nice drawings.
A *GREAT* Thank You to the following people for betatesting, suggestions and alike:
Magne (LOADS of testing! way to go!) (2 themes!)
Henning
Kay
Marius
Anette
Vidar (main beta-tester together with magne)
Daniel
old news:
v0.0.21
* highscore now gets saved to the registry for your later enjoyment.
v0.0.20
* new theme from magne .. and it's great! really retro .. nice one. readmes added for the other themes.
* magne's old theme changed name to pacgrrl, since thats what it looks like. ;)
* movementmodel changing to something inbetween the old and the retro one, hopefully this will work a bit better.
v0.0.19
* the movement-model has been changed to reflect the model in the original pacman. I'm not quite happy about the way things work when you control the pacd00d, if you have any comments on this, please mail me.
* there's rumours out there that magne will have a new theme ready for the .20-release .. we'll wait and see!
v0.0.18
* alt-tab'ing while the game is paused now works.
v0.0.17
* there is now text displayed when the game is paused, so that you infact know that its paused. whooopey.
* its now possible to alt-tab .. mail/msg me if you find any bugs with this (yes, i know the active tasks may not show up. live with it).
* the sprite-bug when starting a new level (i.e, changing directions before the game had started) is now gone.
v0.0.16
* its now possible to pause the game by pressing 'p'.
* the game now saves it settings (sound on/off and theme selected) to the registry.
v0.0.15
* the good old bug with walking through monsters were still hanging around in one place. hopefully fixed now.
v0.0.14
* ok, i introduced a new bug in the last fix, which again made it impossible to finish the level if you died once on the level. well, fixed.
* the main menu now also prints the version-number .. please include this if you're gonna submit a bugreport.
v0.0.13
* *FINALLY* i think i've nailed the bug making it possible to continue after all dots has been eaten. thanks to magne for helping locating the problem.
* bug which made it possible to eat all the ghosts if you finished off with a big-dot (partly fixed in 0.0.11) fixed.
v0.0.12
* it now shows the current level + current number of lives left.
* hopefully i've finally nailed that little bitchy bug that made the game continue even after all dots were eaten.
v0.0.11
* fixed bug where the ghosts would start a new level reversed (if they were reversed when the previous level ended).
* fixed bug where the level wouldnt end, even after you've eaten all the dots (hopefully).
* fixed bug where you could walk through ghosts (again hopefully).
v0.0.10
* themesupport
* bugfixes
* sound is "in-engine" (but no sound is available).
v0.0.9
* first public release
