Pac-Man...the tricks..the secrets..the basics

[Pac-Man]

As you can see from my sig and avatar and title and username I love the game of Pac-Man. I think its the best game ever invented (I'm sure most people won't agree with me on that, but hey, what can I say ). So I will be installing a series of posts that explore the secrets, strategies, and much more of this simple yet extremely entertaining game. Actually, its alot more complicated than you think. This first post will contain the basics of the game.



Pac-Man: The Basics



Objective: To eat all 240 dots on each level to advance, while trying to avoid one of the four ghosts that attempt to catch you. They are:


Shadow "Blinky"- This ghost is the hardest to shake. Shadow's strategy is to stay right up on Pac-Man's tail, in an effort to catch him. Although he is not the fastest of all four ghosts, his speed is definetely a threat. Coupled with the ghost, Speedy, these guys can pose a real challenge to the player. It will take alot of manuevering around the mazes twists and turns to get Shadow off your case. At the beginning of each level, he starts outside of the monster bullpen.


Speedy "Pinky" - This is the fastest ghost of all four. Speedy's strategy is to cut Pac-Man off at the numerous turns in the maze. He will often seemingly come from no where, only to catch Pac-Man and take away a life. He comes out of the bullpen first.



Bashful "Inky" - The strategy behind Inky is unclear. Some people theorize that when Shadow is the closest ghost to Inky, Inky takes on the characteristics of Shadow, but when Speedy is the closest ghost to Inky, Inky takes on the characteristics of Speedy. On occasion, Inky may even run the other direction when Pac-Man chases him head on. This is a theory behind his name, Bashful. He comes out of the bullpen second.



Pokey "Clyde" - This is the slowest of all four ghosts. He seems to be completely stupid, and seems to be completely run by randomness. Many times when Pac-Man is near him, Pokey will not even attempt to catch him. This ghost should by no means be counted out however, as many times, his seemingly "no strategy" strategy catches the player by surprise, and he is able to catch Pac-Man. This ghost seems to be the least threatening though. He comes out of the bullpen last.



There are also four big dots at the four corners of the maze in each level. These are called energizers. When Pac-Man eats these, all four ghosts turn into a vulnerable state temporarliy. When they are in this state, Pac-Man can consume them for points. After being consumed, the ghosts return to the bullpen to respawn as their normal selves. For the first ghost you catch while using one energizer you get 200 points, for the second, 400 points, for the third, 800 points, and for the fourth, 1600 points. When the ghosts are about to turn back into their normal selves, they start flashing.


(the big dot is an energizer)
When cosumed, each energizer will give you 50 points, and each of the 240 little dots will give you 10 points each.

(The blue things are the ghosts in their vulnerable state)

Fruits: Two fruits will appear directly under the bullpen in each stage.

Cherry: 100 points each if consumed
Strawberry: 300 points each
Orange: 500 points
Apples: 700 points
Grapes: 1,000 points each
Galaga Space Ships: 2,000 points each
Bells: 3,000 points
Keys: 5,000 points each

At 10,000 points, an extra Pac-Man will be awarded.


This pretty much covers the basics. I hope this thread dosen't sit here never to be read...I am aware of the fact that I may be the only Pac-Man player on this board...but I sure hope i'm not. If I receive positive feedback from this installment, than I'll do another one, Knowing the Maze:Strategies of Pac-Man. I'll also do others after that if I get positive feedback, but if I don't, then this will be a good bit of time wasted, lol.

[shev]

so whats your all time high score my pacman expert.

edit: maybe we can have a pacman competition. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pacman.html

[Pac-Man]

Its up there in the millions. I beleive its around 1.7 million. After the ninth or so level with the keys, the levels are basically all the same. You have to carry on with the same pattern over and over. It gets really repetitive. I've never gotten to it, but at level 256, the games screen cannot be beat. It is unbeatable beacuse you can't get all the dots to win, all 240. A percfect score on Pac-Man was acheived by Billy Mictchell, the score of 3,333,360. Pretty awesome. Heres an article on it: http://www.geek.com/techupdate/jul99/pacman.htm

[TheOldSalt]

I'm guessing you have the song "Pac Man Fever" on CD or 45?

[Pac-Man]

nope, actually i don't. i'm not a big collecter of merchandise and crap, I just play the game.

[shev]

my score= 9,000 lol second level.

[fish_doc]

Whats a pac-man? :P
I finally figured out pong.

[Shaggy]

The arcade that I will be putting on here has PacMan. I take it you will be on there all the time..

Thats where we can have our competitions, in the arcade.

[fish_doc]

Can you make pac-man look like a fish eating fish pellets? The ghosts can be made into squid. LOL

[Imbrium]

I like pac-man all right. I'm no good at it though. Maybe it's because I didn't know that the different ghosts act different. You've definately taught me something.

[Lydia]

lol....that would be funny

i just played it for the first time and i can see how it would suck you in and make you want to play it for a long time, lol

[Pac-Man]

alright, guys. would you like me to do the next edition then?

[Lydia]

yeah!

[Pac-Man]

ok, i'll do it tommorow.

[shev]

plz do so. "explore the secrets, strategies" is what i need, that game is hard.

[Pac-Man]

Ok guys, the next edition is here!!! yay!!!! Knowing the Maze: Strategies of Pac-Man. Please reffer to the attachment at the bottom of this post when I describe A, B, etc.

A: The tunnel...This is probably your best friend in close situations. The tunnel can be used to get to the other end of the screen. It is an effective way to get ghosts off your tail, because while you travel at the same rate through the tunnel, they slow down. Its best to be careful though, and make sure there is not a ghost at the other end of the tunnel, waiting to make a meal out of you.

B: This is called a T valve. There are several of these in the maze. It is an effective way to hide from ghosts, and shake them. A couple of quick turns through these do have the potential to throw ghosts off your trail.

C: Your good old buddy, Pac-Man.

D: One of the four energizers. Especially effective when you have numerous ghosts on your tail. Get to one of these and they'll turn in to their vulnerable state. Use them wisely. Don't just gobble them all up when nothings chasing you, and you think its just fun to see the ghosts run away from you. Use them when you need them. At the end of the maze, when theres just a couple of dots left and you got some energizers to spare, eat them and catch as many ghosts as you can. Catching these guys can really add up the points, which leads to that nice highscore you always wanted.

E: Uh oh......Its the BOTTOM ROW!!! hey that rhymes...anyways, this is probably the most dangerous place on the board, the bottom area. Srcatch that, definetely the most dangerous area on the board. People often stay in this area too long which results in....dead Pac-Man. It is very easy for the ghosts to corner you here. My advice, clear out the bottom row as soon as you can, preferably right at the start. This will not always be possible though. Get out of here as fast as you can. I have dubbed this area the deathtrap.

F: The monster bullpen. This is where the monsters come out from the start, and where they re-spawn if they are eaten while in a vulnerable state.

G: This is where the two fruits appear in each level. They are always a great help in raising your score, especially when you get into the higher levels, but don't just always go out of your way to get them, the life of your Pac-man is always more important than a fruit. If you can see clearly that the ghosts are really keeping an eye on the fruit and are near it, don't chance it necassarily. If your confident than you can get to it before they can get you, than go for it.

Now for the fun. The fakeouts. A scenario. Shadow is on your tail, setting you up so the ghost Pinky, can catch you at a turn. Quickly you pivot around the vertical block next to point A and head in the opposite direction. Shadow is sent flying in the wrong direction, and Speedy has no clue where you disappereared to. Fakeouts are one of the highlights of this game. Jerk your joystick back and forth, do whatever you wish, but remember that you always have the ability to really jumble their minds around.




Ok, this pretty much wraps it up. But finally, I have to confess to you. I lied. The tunnels are not actually your best friend. Your absolute best friend in this game is your ability to keep cool. Never panic. This takes some practice, and is especially tough when you got some ghosts starting to close in on you. But, you have to be patient. Analyze your options...quickly mind you...but don't rush it. There are many situations when a little bit of manuevering can help you escape from what seemed like certain death.

Hope you liked this edition...The next one will certainly be the best, when I show you the sercrets and patterns that will really help you get far in the game!

[fishboy]

i live in a new toll brothers development and i go to the model home whenever there's a event there to play the pac man mechine in the basement i've hit level 3 and thats all

[Pac-Man]

yup..once you get the patterns down that i tell you though, you'll get alot farther than that! hehe

[Ownager2004]

i like mrs. pacman better...

[Baby_Baby]

i actually have the pacman game on my nintendo 64 ( i know, i'm a comic book nerd, i have to play some video games =) i really like mrs. pacman and galaga. oh gosh, galaga is soooooooooo much fun.