How to master Ms. Pac-Man
September 21, 2015 12:12 PM Subscribe
Here's David Manning's YouTube videos illustrating how to make use of ghost AI quirks on the fly while playing in Ms. Pac-Man: Ghost Behavior and On Grouping. It's excellent for building an intuitive sense of how to play the game which, because of random aspects, cannot be reliably beaten with patterns as with Pac-Man.
Some time back I linked to Jamey Pittman's excellent site The Pac-Man Dossier, an in-depth description of how Pac-Man's program, especially its ghost AI, works internally. While accurate and exhaustive, it's difficult information to make use of during a game, and unlike its predessor Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man randomizes some of the monster behavior slightly, making forming explicit patterns impossible, requiring the use of more complex techniques like AI prediction and monster grouping.
Some time back I linked to Jamey Pittman's excellent site The Pac-Man Dossier, an in-depth description of how Pac-Man's program, especially its ghost AI, works internally. While accurate and exhaustive, it's difficult information to make use of during a game, and unlike its predessor Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man randomizes some of the monster behavior slightly, making forming explicit patterns impossible, requiring the use of more complex techniques like AI prediction and monster grouping.
Slightly off topic, but the recently released Pac Man 256 is a great free to play endless runner interpretation of Pac Man, although the ghost AI is probably the most lacking aspect, so maybe we'll see a Mrs. Pac Man version soon!
posted by furtive at 12:59 PM on September 21, 2015
posted by furtive at 12:59 PM on September 21, 2015
Related: a week and a half ago, there was a post detailing some bugs in Ms. Pac Man and others from DonHodges.com
posted by MtDewd at 1:48 PM on September 21, 2015
posted by MtDewd at 1:48 PM on September 21, 2015
The Ghost AI in PACMAN256 isn't that bad, it's pretty easy to bluff them. It's the bugs in the game that are more annoying.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's the bugs in the game that are more annoying.
If you mean those garbled symbols and letters, they're intentional :-)
posted by effbot at 2:44 PM on September 21, 2015
If you mean those garbled symbols and letters, they're intentional :-)
posted by effbot at 2:44 PM on September 21, 2015
No I mean like the tornado completely passing through ghosts with no effect.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:00 PM on September 21, 2015
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:00 PM on September 21, 2015
Pac-Man, glitches, tornadoes... this is all I can think about now.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:54 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jason_steakums at 8:54 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by 7segment at 12:52 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]