How to Create Custom 7800 Pacman Hacks!

[jwierer]

Mazes 7-16 in the Ultra pacman rom are actually empty. Here is a modified editor that will allow you to see mazes 7-16 in that rom. After that just go to View->Maze Order. You can specify the maze for any of the levels. You can jump around they don't even need to be sequential.

 

PacmanConstructionSet.zip

 

-Jeff

[Justin De Lucia]

I just felt like making a port of the prototype maze for Pac-Man.

Yeah I deliberately made it monochrome (for what colors the Construction Set alone can change)

 

Pac-Man Prototype.zip

_03.bmp

_02.bmp

_01.bmp

_00.bmp

Edited March 28, 2013 by Justin De Lucia

[almightytodd]

Nice job, Justin. Although the colors and bonus items was not really why I was interested in this port.

 

What would be cool is utilizing the higher resolution and fit the entire (Ms.) Pac-Man maze without scrolling. The whole reason I brought up PC-Man is realizing the 7800 can handle higher arcade-like resolution and could fit the entire maze horizontally oriented - Just like PC-Man did under CGA graphics which also could not display a vertical maze completely on screen at a higher resolution at the time.

 

Utilizing a vertical arcade maze under the 7800 leaves two options:

1. At (320) high resolution the 7800 needs to scroll

or

2. Displayed at a standard/lower resolution (160) as done in your hack and the original Pac-Man Collection.

 

I was looking more at the higher resolution 320 ports here:

http://www.atariage....50#entry2346529

http://www.atariage....n/#entry2344539

 

Take that higher resolution port and turn the maze horizontal - Like in PC-Man. It would eliminate the need to scroll.

 

Putting numbers to it...

Arcade Pac-Man has a resolution of 224x288.

Low/Standard Resolution of the 7800 is 160x240 (NTSC).

High Resolution of the 7800 is 320x240 (NTSC)

 

When the maze is left vertical the high resolution is still short ~48 lines to display the entire maze (288 Arcade Vs 240 Atari 7800).

 

However, rotate the Arcade maze horizontal (As done in PC-Man under DOS/CGA) and the resolution is 288x224.

As stated above the Atari 7800 high resolution is 320x240.

Now there would be more than enough room to fit the entire maze without scrolling... 320>288 & 240>224.

 

It would look something along the lines of this:

 

(Ignore having two Pac-Men, it is a bad hack job by me to try an illustrate what I am suggesting).

I like the way you're thinking... ...I was wondering about similar issues in one of my first posts when I joined Atari Age in 2007...

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/103856-screen-orientation-for-arcade-game-ports/?do=findComment&comment=1259811

[Trebor]

I like the way you're thinking... ...I was wondering about similar issues in one of my first posts when I joined Atari Age in 2007...

http://atariage.com/...s/#entry1259811

 

I know Bob (PacManPlus) has moved on from this title and it is completely understandable as he has done the 'Pac-Man stuff' enough and rather pursue new/different games. I'm hoping maybe another talented programmer/hacker will be able to do it.

[Justin De Lucia]

For anyone interested, I have a few bonus Pac-Man related items:

 

Updated Champ Pac-Em sprite project, now with enough material for a Champ Pac-Em Plus.

My tweaked versions of Champ Ms. Pac-Em's (very cheap) default mazes. Not perfect but a considerable improvement over the original mazes.

Every maze from the Atari Lynx version of Ms. Pac-Man.

 

Every non-bonus maze from Puckman Pokimon. [Link]

 

And finally... My current collection of Pac-Man mazes, now with 64 designs. [Link]

 

UPDATE: I finished another small hack for the original Pac-Man based on two LCD versions published decades ago. On the left is the Entex maze, the one on the right is the Coleco maze.

PacHandheld.zip

Edited April 6, 2013 by Justin De Lucia

[gambler172]

Hi Justin

great work,cannot wait to see more Pac Man hacks

greetings Walter

[Justin De Lucia]

Thanks Gambler. I'm happy to hear you're enjoying my hacks.

A bit minor, though I further edited my Pac-Man prototype recreation with a few more tweaks and a second maze.

 

I also compiled up atlases for two arcade hacks of Pac-Man: 25 Map Pac, and MadPac/96 in 1.

Pac-Prototype.zip

[TrekMD]

Very cool! Thanks for posting these! Pac-Man must be one of the most hacked games ever!

[Justin De Lucia]

Anytime Trek. Glad to keep the greatest of Pac-Fans entertained.

 

Before I hit the hay for the night, I have one last hack to show: A port of Lagomorph's Pac-Man Remix, a hack of the NES/Famicom version of Pac-Man.

However the original maze has loads of problems, with long oversized paths with no way of escaping, and four dead ends. So they got butchered out in this port, but the remainder of the maze has been recreated based on what space there was to edit the maze.

One quickie about the original hack: Pinky was replaced by a grey ghost known as "Steel", whom never enters "frightened" mode (but reverses) when a Power Pellet is consumed. And for reference sakes, I attached a screencap of the original maze so you can see for yourself how deadly it really was.

Pac-Man Remix NES.zip

[TrekMD]

Lots of traps in that maze!

[Justin De Lucia]

So I went ahead and created a hack based on relaxxxrrr's "Fruit Man", a hack of the NES version of Ms. Pac-Man.

Ms Fruit Man.zip

[gambler172]

Hi Justin

Gald to see more.....very great work....

greetings Walter

[Justin De Lucia]

One more before I shut down for the night:

mass:werk's Ms. Pac-Man 3D mazes ported!

These are the mazes from the Ghost levelset.

Java Ms Pac.zip

[Justin De Lucia]

Another hack to add. Uki Software's "Baby Pac-Man"

Gimmicks I didn't replicate from the original:

*Each of the four ghosts start from the four corners, while Pac-Man starts directly in the center.

*Asymmetrical maze with sharp turns.

*No ghost pen.

*Lack of bonus fruit/items.

*No intermissions.

*You will always have a higher top speed then the ghosts.

*When you enter a warp tunnel, you instantly warp to the other side without even traveling an inch through the tunnel!

*Ghost AI are all the same with each ghost; just move to your location with a bit of random movement. The concept of scatter/chase modes are not present.

*When you eat a power pellet, you turn mint green instead of the ghosts changing color/expressions. Here, the ghosts' AI does not change when they know you're able to kill them, so they'll still try to ram you even if powered up!

*Ghosts are not allowed to re-spawn after being eaten until you exit your powered-up mode.

*Higher levels only cause the game's speed to accelerate and decrease powered-up time. Not sure if it makes the ghosts smarter...?

 

Edit: Anyone want to see me do a series of hacks based on these ZX Spectrum Pac-Man clones? Some look more passable in Jr. Pac-Man.

And how about a few of these? That'll be one heck of a lot of mazes.

http://members.chell...mes/pac-man.htm

2nd EDIT: Two more. Titan-Man and Pac-Maine.

3rd EDIT: I made a few improvements to Pac-Maine which I'll see about getting up tomorrow. Mostly with colors, but also swapping the stages. (Now updated, and with two additional ROMs)

ccs20.bmp

Titanman.zip

specman.zip

Pac-Maine.zip

MacManZX.zip

Baby Pac Uki.zip

Ms Fruit Man.zip

pcmandos88.zip

Edited April 18, 2013 by Justin De Lucia

[Justin De Lucia]

I've updated all the hacks I've made edits to since the other day. Downloads are in the previous post, and I'll see about what I can port over next.

 

I'm currently working on a conversion of Pac Jr., a bonus unlockable game from the Genesis version of Pac-Man 2: the New Adventures, into a Ms. Pac-Man romhack. I've already done all four mazes and the fruit graphics, I still have to do Jr. (his appearance is different than in Jr. pac-Man) and new intermission graphics (maybe make the love interest either a female Jr. Pac-Man or for a more interesting outcome, Yum-Yum).

 

 

[PacManPlus]

Wow!

 

You put a lot of work into these hacks - good job!

[Justin De Lucia]

Warning: Maze 3 has a pair of sharp turns!

 

EDIT: I'm going to see if I can improve on Junior's vertical movement sprites, and the heart graphic from intermission 1. I'll also check into Maze 3'a sharp turns. (Now fixed)

PacJr.zip

Edited April 19, 2013 by Justin De Lucia

[gambler172]

Hi Justin

Great job,really

I like your hacks

greetings Walter

[Justin De Lucia]

Did someone order an Intellivision/Vic 20 conversion around here?

Note: The Intellivision maze is a "hack of a hack" if you want to call it, it's a hack of PacFan's attempt to convert the Intellivision port of Pac-Man into the 7800; I cleaned up the maze, improved the accuracy of the colors, and changed the ghosts' sprites.

Pac-Man Vic 20 Maze.zip

Pac-Man Intellivision Maze SJBver.zip

[TrekMD]

This is just awesome!

[Justin De Lucia]

Thanks again Trek!

 

So I was thinking of doing the 2600 homebrew Pesco, the BBC Micro's Snapper, and the Apple II's Snack Attack justice. Though for accuracy purposes, does anyone have a spritesheet of Pesco's bonus items? I have seen the first is seaweed, the second in a clam, and the ninth is an anchor.

 

There's also Mastersoft Munch and this Chinese clone meant to have the original's Ghost AI I'd be interested in converting; or in the case of this one, create a maze with basic allusions to the source: http://article.yeeyan.org/view/350510/355597

 

This mobile version of Pac-Man Vs. deserves special mention. http://games.sina.com.cn/m/n/2006-11-15/1000175445.shtml Now to find and see if it has any other mazes…

Edited April 20, 2013 by Justin De Lucia

[Trebor]

Hi Guys

And here are 2 hacks,made by Jeff and me.

greetings Walter

 

Excellent work here in this thread for all these hacks with a big thank you to Justin, Walter, & Jeff. Although I would really love to see someday the 90 degree rotated PC-MAN/PAC-MAN maze, hacked off PAC-MAN 320, these hacks are wonderful. Justin, you have especially provided a plethora of mazes that surely satisfy many Pac enthusiast.

 

Respecting the quoted post above, I do not believe either the Caterpillar or the Piranha Pac-Man hacks were ever provided their needed *.a78 files for usage in such emulators as MESS. I am providing these here.

 

In the process of creating the *.a78 files, A78SIGN flagged Piranha as having an invalid signature which may have caused users of the previously provided BIN problems burning the ROM to EPROM or running via Cuttle Cart 2. I have provided the good BIN files as well for both games. Finally, just a couple of screen captures from MESS 0.148u3:

 

 

Caterpiller.zip

Piranha.zip

[Trebor]

Hey Justin,

 

Just a heads-up, many of the *.a78 files you posted have an invalid signature attached to them. The Vic20, MacManZX, and Prototype 'Pac-hacks' (There may be one other one) appear to have a valid signature though, but the others are looping at the Atari logo screen under MESS (Indication of a bad signature/header).

 

The ProSystem emulator will not flag it as an issue because its emulation is not as accurate.

[Justin De Lucia]

@Trebor

I think I should point out the Caterpillar hack's first maze is not a perfect replica of the original. This is easily identiifiable around the ghost pen being smaller and the six "O" maze pieces being larger than the original's width. In Hangly-Man (the origin of the maze used in Catepilliar), only the direct interior of the six O maze pieces are counted as solid; you can pass straight through their outlines. If you want a more accurate way to identify their true length, remove the outer rings of each O piece, and there you go. Why they used the maze boundary tiles to make these interior walls is beyond me, I suppose since four of the six O's exist inside areas that were made using hollow walls? :\

 

Apologies if this goes off as a little strict, but I'm not concerned with MESS emulation or burning ROMs to carts. I'm only aiming for them to have full compatibility with ProSysyem. I don't modify anything in the ROMS outside of what the (modified to display all 16 levels in Ultra Pac) Pac-Man Construction Set allows.

 

Still, thanks for the positive feedback on all the ports I've done.

 

For everyone else, new hacks are available!

ChampPacSJB.zip

Snack Attack.zip

Snapper.zip

Mastersoft Munch.zip

Edited April 20, 2013 by Justin De Lucia

[Trebor]

I went through all the hacks in the thread and checked every file. Again, *.BIN files were fine except in the case of Piranha which already had its repost and accompanying *.a78 file. Caterpiller had its missing *.a78 file added and posted with the *.BIN along with the aforementioned Piranha.

 

Here are the remaining problematic ones (All *.a78 files that had an invalid signature). These now run perfectly under MESS with a valid signature attached:

 

Baby Pac-Man (Uki) (Hack).zip

Bleach Pac (Hack).zip

Java Ms Pac-Man (Hack).zip

Jr Pac-Man (Ms Pac-Man Hack).zip

Ms Fruit-Man (Hack).zip

Pac-Man (Handheld Hack).zip

Pac-Man (Intellivision Maze SJB Hack).zip

Pac-Man (NES Remix Hack).zip

Pac-Man (Pac-Maine Hack).zip

Pac-Man (PC DOS 88 Hack).zip

Pac-Man (Specman Hack).zip

Pac-Man (Titanman Hack).zip

 

Just to emphasize, these are not my hacks. These are Justin's labor of love which just had bad signatures attached to the *.a78 files and now have been fixed, working beautifully under MESS.