| The following table provides on overview over the various modes and supported features of JavaScript-PacMan 3D: |
| Feature | Game Play / Modes | Special Levels | |||||
| Generic | Pac-Man | Ms. Pac-Man | Pac-Man | Ms. Pac-Man | Ms. Pac-Man Plus | ||
| 3D levels and graphics | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Figures and sounds: JS-PacMan 3D | + | + | – | + | – | – | |
| Figures and sounds: Ms. Pac-Man | – | – | + | – | + | + | |
| Ghost personalities | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Generic A.I. | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| A.I. alike Pac-Man | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Regular disposition of scatter targets | + | + | – | + | – | – | |
| Irregular scatter targets (randomized) | – | – | + | – | + | + | |
| Scatter mode timing JS-PacMan (generic) | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Scatter mode timing Pac-Man | – | + | – | + | – | – | |
| Scatter mode timing Ms. Pac-Man | – | – | + | – | + | + | |
| Frighten mode timing Pac-Man | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Multiple levels | + | + | + | – | + | + | |
| Multiple sets of levels | + | + | + | – | – | – | |
| Shuffle play | + | + | + | – | – | – | |
| Levels must be cleared twice | – | – | – | – | + | + | |
| Bonus fruits Pac-Man style | + | + | + | + | – | – | |
| Bonus fruits Ms. Pac-Man style | – | – | – | – | + | + | |
| Extra bonus for key level 11+ | – | + | – | + | – | – | |
| Static bonus fruit | – | + | – | + | – | – | |
| Moving bonus fruit | + | – | + | – | + | + | |
| Bonus fruit random appearance | – | – | + | – | + | + | |
| Increasing difficulty per level | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Difficulty relies on timing only | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Ghosts slow down in tunnels (tele ports) | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Ghosts reverse on changing modes | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Ghosts reverse on encounters only | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Clyde acting short-sighted | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Clyde acting far-sighted | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Ghost may not travel up over ghost pen as they leave their home |
+ | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Ghost may never travel up over ghost pen (in normal mode) |
– | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Ghost may never travel up at Pac-Man's spot (in normal mode) |
– | – | – | + | – | – | |
| Static random generator | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Random generator reset at start of each level | – | + | – | + | – | – | |
| True random generator | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| True Pac-Man-style ghost pen handling | – | + | + | + | + | + | |
| Dynamic ghost pen management | + | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Generally unsupported features: |
|||||||
| Variable speeds per level | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| "Cornering" | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| "Cruise Elroy" mode | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
|
Just a few words on the A.I. models ... JS-PacMan Generic A.I."JavaScript-PacMan 3D" employs a special game logic that is optimized for speed and relies mainly on table look ups. As opposed to the game engines of the original games, the "intelligence" of the ghosts — and therefor also the difficulty of the game play — increases from level to level. (In lower levels the ghosts movements are mixed with random decisions.) Here is a quick overview of the individual ghosts' behavior
Pinky's (the pink ghost) target is in front of Pac-Man, trying such to "sandwich" him together with Blinky, who is following in his tracks. In contrast to the original games Pinky actually "knows" at which crossing you are to show up and heads for it. In fright mode (that is, when the ghosts turn blue) the ghosts will not only move at random, as with the original games, but will actually try to get away from you. Again, this behavior is a bit randomized in lower levels. The Original Pac-Man A.I.And here a quick overview of the ghost-logics of the original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man games. For details have a look at Jamey Pittman's great guide: The Pac-Man Dossiers. Again, each of the ghost's features its special "personality":
Each of the ghosts will try to reduce its distance from its current target (see above). Should it be confronted with two or more equivalent solutions, it will prefer directions in the following order: up, left, down, right. Quote from the Pac-Man Dossiers: Rumor has it Toru Iwatani and his team spent months doing nothing but tweaking and refining the ghost A.I. routines before releasing Pac-Man to the world. Their efforts show in the final product: Itawani's team created the illusion of complex pathfinding by using very simple logic and very little code. In fright mode the ghosts will act on random. But Pac-Man's random isn't exactly random: As a ghost encounters a crossing or junction is will request a direction from a pseudo-random generator. Should this direction be blocked, it will search for an open passage in the following order: up, left, down, right. (Yes it's the same order of directions as above.) Since this random-generator is reset at the start of each level, it is possible to work out reproducible patterns for each level with the original Pac-Man game. (As the random generator is never reset in Ms. Pac-Man, there is much more real random involved. The only definite state of the game is, when you've just switched on the machine.) Generally all ghosts take their decisions one step in advance. In the original games you may even see their eyes pointing to the new direction as they approach a crossing. This isn't only for a nice visual effect, but also allows the player to perform some tricky moves to outmaneuver the ghosts in the last moment ... Unsupported FeaturesThe list above also mentions some features of the original games, which are not supported by "JavaScript-PacMan 3D". Here is a short glossary of them:
Ms. Pac-Man PlusMs. Pac-Man Plus is a classic hack of the original Ms. Pac-Man game (by Two-Bits Score), reported to have surfaced in 1981. This hack provides a new set of 4 levels that are to played in the same sequence as those of the original game. A series of bugs adds some entirely new features to the game: Since the fruits' path information remained unchanged, fruits will move on the imaginary grid of the original mazes, eventually passing through the walls of the new levels. For a similar bug ghosts slow down on some spots without reason as they pass the locations of tunnels found in the original levels. "JavaScript-PacMan 3D" provides a set of levels like those of Ms. Pac-Man Plus, but does not emulate the bugs of the hacked game. Dimensions and Timing"JavaScript-PacMan 3D" uses a smaller grid of tiles than the original games. (It's roughly 2/3 the size of the original layouts.) The timings for scatter mode, frightened mode, the ghost pen management, and bonus appearances were adjusted to match the smaller grid and closer distances involved. High-Scores and SettingsHigh-Scores are treated separately for any individual combination of mazes and game play settings. So there is a separate high-score as you are playing "JavaScript-PacMan 3D" using shuffle play in Pac-man mode and yet another if you're playing all mazes sequentially in generic mode. (As there are 5 primary maze-modes to be played with any of the 3 game engines and 3 special modes with forced A.I., this adds up to 18 different high-scores in total.) All high-scores and settings are stored permanently between sessions using cookies. Use the link at the end of the introduction (below the actual game) to reset the high-scores on your computer.
Back to JavaScript-PacMan 3D.
N. Landsteiner, June/Aug. 2009 |