zaszx 2012-12-17 00:08
Could be better if pacman had a better AI, but it is still nice this way.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD25 → Namcap: Reverse Pacman
By caranha
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | 24 | 4.13 | ||
| Coolness | 2 | 92 | ||
| Overall | 142 | 3.42 | ||
| Humor | 161 | 3.14 | ||
| Audio | 194 | 2.94 | ||
| Fun | 200 | 3.19 | ||
| Mood | 205 | 3.09 | ||
| Innovation | 220 | 3.17 | ||
| Graphics | 263 | 3.19 |
Could be better if pacman had a better AI, but it is still nice this way.
Straight implementation of the theme. I like it.
Would love to see more implementations like this on, good job!
I really like the idea, also feels like the original. The only downside for me, I've had issues picking the right ghost in time (yes, it's on screen, but I'm usually too distracted keeping an eye on Pac-Man). I guess just requires some more practice.
Really Nice. Clear objective, and quite confortable control.
Wow, this game looks very smoooooooth. The art is very well done here, although I know it's not totally original. But still, the aesthetics are great. The AI of PacMan leaves a lot to be desired. He mostly just ran right into a ghost within seconds of starting. Make that AI a bit tougher and you've got yourself a winner!
I like the simple layout. Nicely polished.
Thank you all for the comments!
Smaxx - yeah, some people commented on having difficulty switching ghosts. I tried a few alternatives, but nothing that really satisfied me. Someone else making a Pacman game on this LD put a huge arrow on top of the Ghost head, which was brilliant. I will try to add that to the fabled post-compo version :-)
Sonny: Thanks for the comment! Making it very similar to the original pacman was a conscious decision. The art is not original (although it was hand-made), but I think this makes the "you are the enemy you always fought against" impression stronger. What do you think?
The AI needs a bit of work but the core idea is implemented well.
Great job. Blows my anti-Pacman out of the water.
pretty fun!
I think this is probably one of your best LD entries so far. You kept the scope a lot tighter in this entry than in past ones where the scope of the world stood in the way of your progress.
Sure, the AI here is a little wierd, but it's still pretty good.
My only suggestion from a mechanics perspective is that in the arcade game each ghost had a different behavior profile and speed. I kept expecting to be able to move faster as blinky, or for Pinky to do his whole "cut him off at the corner" behavior.
Hey .Frog(Soda), thanks for the comment!
Having different behaviors for the ghosts was in the original plan (that is why I added the names and stuff). But that was quickly dropped when I started cutting off features :-) Maybe in the mythical Post-compo version!
Also, yeah, I was super worried about the tiny scope of the game when I started it out, but it turned out to be my best decision. I'll surely talk more about it when I write the postmortem/timelapse.
Yeah you can tell that you made the art from scratch, but it's still obviously the Pac Man we all know. Your art, however, is very smooth and appealing, unlike the much older and obviously outdated 'real' Pac Man.
Interesting reverse pacman, would be better with smarter AI and control.
Deconstructions are well in line with the theme. It's a bit difficult to effectively micromanage, particularly after Pacman's had a power-pill and you can't tell who is who.
Good entry! I like it!
Wow, what a perfect idea! It definitely feels like Pac-Man, so congrats for achieving the right mood! I think that Pac-Man's AI is pretty good - if it was any better, the ghosts would have to move much faster (and then it could be really hard to manage them).
Regarding switching: you could also put somewhat transparent numbers over the ghosts' heads (or that could be switched on/off). It would really help to distinguish them.
Anyway, I loved the entry. Congrats!
Great entry yet there were 3 reverse pacmans (mine was one) this was much better than mine. Next year you should come up with a more original idea.
Marudziik: "you could also put somewhat transparent numbers over the ghosts' heads (or that could be switched on/off)."
Wow, what a fantastic idea! Thanks!
Boxerbomb: Well, I'd say that 3 out of 1000 people is acceptable, in terms of originality :-)
Nicely done! I was wondering how you would handle the player controlling four ghosts, but the numbered switching feels natural.
You should make ghosts distinguishable while a powerup is active. And make another way to select ghosts, like you click the screen and it selects the closest one. The current way is too confusing.
Great idea. A decent game, but needs more polishing.
Great job! It's hard but I did manage to defeat pacman once! (As in, killed him 4 times)
This is a simple and yet pretty cool idea! With the great realisation! I would say the only problem is that the ghosts don't really seem to need me to get Pacman :/ It get harder with the levels, but still
A little hard to control the ghosts, but still very enjoyable. You almost managed to catch the retro feeling but the score numbers and the selection ruins it. Still a really good and well executed idea!
Thanks, by selection you mean the selection image on the bottom of the screen? I'm thinking about removing it once I implement Marudziik's idea.
Very clever! :D I remember saying to myself as a kid playing Pacman, "I wonder what it'd be like to be the ghosts?" Thanks for answering that for me!
Fantastic idea, completely on-theme. These are the first bad guys in gaming history, and it's so nice to play as them! Beautiful presentation, fun gameplay, lovely! I'm not as good yet, that pacman's AI strikes me as stupid.
Would like to see a button (space?) that overrides 1-4 and selects nearest ghost, like in old soccer games. Might be fun. All in all, excellent entry!
I really like the idea but I am so, so terrible at this game. Like some other commenters, I have issues linking numbers to the ghosts on screen. Maybe it would work better if you could click a ghost/near a ghost to select them as well.
Christina, selecting the closest ghost is an awesome idea. Thank you! I will try to put it into the post-compo version too!
Nice. I wonder if it would have had the same impact if you'd chosen different characters. Also highlights just how sophisticated the real Pac Man AI is.
Funny idea here! Let's break down my comments:
Bad:
-Slightly weird A.I. sometimes. Aside from walking right in to ghosts, one time he just stopped altogether and sat there.
-Ghost selecting is hard... Especially when they're all blue.
Good:
+It's still a great concept.
+I love how the scoring system works... Really adds some strategy to it.
I quite liked the opening part. Overall pretty good, it was a little hard to tell which ghost was which when pacman ate the pill though. Really good job!
Great. :-D
I like the game for its use of the theme, I just found the game to be slightly slow. Just slightly. Great Work! XD
Good, but would've been better if I could control two ghosts - or more - at the same time.
Kill Pacman, what an excellent idea ! Good work and good polish. Bravo !
I found myself really wishing the ghosts would just stay where I placed them, but I guess that would be a bit unfair... It seems like the scoring system doesn't work. My score was always 0, even after I killed Pacman 3 or so times. Great job though! I enjoyed it!
Pacifist Games:
The score is only increased when you beat the level (kill all 4 pacman lives). This is because the score for each level is (2xMaximum pacman score - actual pacman score).
In other words, you only get to increase your score after you get a "you win" message for the level.
Great execution on your idea.
Pretty awesome execution! I had a similar idea, but i was stucked by the IA of the pacman and the control system of the ghosts.. And you solved those problem very well! I see a winner here..
fun game,the first round I got owned, but on the second game I got 9720 points!
Great game! The AI was a little funny at times, but it was never game-breaking. I was really glad when I saw the other ghosts moving as well, I was afraid I would have to micro all four at once (which would have been awful). Nice work.
Interesting idea. I like the gameplay - it's surprising challenging. (Although sometimes it's very hard to catch him, and at other times he just runs right into you.)
I'm not sure if I agree with the choice of controls. It's hard to memorize the color-number-associations, and I'd like to control more than one ghost at the same time. Maybe you could try mouse-control, where you drag & drop to set directions or targets for individual ghosts?
I love the graphics. They are so neat, almost cute!
The audio works well. The missing music is barely noticable.
All in all quite a good entry. Good job!
I thought the Pacman AI was fairly good (mainly because it beat me so often!) and the ghost AI when not being controlled was competent enough. It definitely felt a lot like the original game, with the obvious twist.
Controls were smooth as butter, very well implemented. Switching between ghosts was easy enough once you got the colors mapped to numbers in your head. Though I kind of wish there was some kind of lead-up or story it is what it is.
Very well done! :)
Very nice reverse Pacman.
Good Job!
Nice job! Looking forward to seeing how you make out with the post-compo version.
Oh my gosh
That opening music <3
As pretty much everyone stated, Pacman's AI isn't great and the difficulty remains the same, which makes the game really easy. Other than that, it's a great idea and pretty well made.