Pac Man - 4k versus 8k

[Hank Rearden]

Novice question. I see that the 4k cartridge is available in the Atari store. Is it possible to put the 8k onto a cartridge? Or is that only for an emulator?

 

I'd greatly appreciate a link to an explanation of the differences in 4k and 8k and the ability of the original unit. I do want to understand.

[+SpiceWare]

They're 2 different versions of Pac-Man written by 2 different people.

 

The 4K was started in 2006 - Pacman4K - Homebrew Discussion - AtariAge Forums

 

The 8K was started in 2014 - New pacman for atari 2600 - Homebrew Discussion - AtariAge Forums

 

The 4K has been a finished game for years. The 8K was only finalized in couple months ago, thus hasn't yet made it into the store - it takes a while to work up labels, manuals, boxes, etc.

[Andromeda Stardust]

The 4k game was great, but the 8k game is even better. If you're interested in picking it up in the store, you might wait, but you could be waiting a while...

[+Cafeman]

The 4k game was great, but the 8k game is even better. If you're interested in picking it up in the store, you might wait, but you could be waiting a while...

 

This is my opinion too! Pac-Man 4K was quite an achievement, just compare the original Pac-man with it. But the extra memory and time put into Pac-man 8k really adds a lot of quality and fun -- nearly coin-op quality sounds and even intermissions fit into the game. And both capture the fun of Pac-man yet you can tell the patterns and AI is different enough to enjoy both versions.

[WildBillTX]

It's fun to think that the 1982 Pacman was one of the biggest disappointments for the 2600 and we now have several nice versions..

 

I'd wait for Dintar812's 8K game to be released, the flicker of the monsters has been reduced over his 4K version, and I believe he was planning to add some extra speed features.

[DEBRO]

Hi there,

 

I wrote the Pacman4K that is in the AA store. I'll chime in with my opinion.

 

If you want the ultimate 2600 Pac-man experience then I'd say wait for the release of Pacman8K.

 

If you just have to have a Pac-man game for the 2600 now...I'd say...download the Pacman8K ROM and wait for the release of the Pacman8K on cartridge. This version is incredible! No extra hardware or RAM...simply amazing!

[Hank Rearden]

Hi there,

 

I wrote the Pacman4K that is in the AA store. I'll chime in with my opinion.

 

If you want the ultimate 2600 Pac-man experience then I'd say wait for the release of Pacman8K.

 

If you just have to have a Pac-man game for the 2600 now...I'd say...download the Pacman8K ROM and wait for the release of the Pacman8K on cartridge. This version is incredible! No extra hardware or RAM...simply amazing!

Could they have expanded to 8k back in the day and just didn't? Did it have everything to do with cost? Or is it just time and patience finally got us to a decent 2600 Pac Man.

[+Cafeman]

Could they have expanded to 8k back in the day and just didn't? Did it have everything to do with cost? Or is it just time and patience finally got us to a decent 2600 Pac Man.

 

Atari corp ordered the 4K. The orig programmer had little time, and some constraints - he needed to use precious RAM for a 2-player mode for example. The story's been told many times if you search on Tod Frye and Atari 2600 Pac-Man.