
                                 PAC-CLASSIC
                       "The definitive BASIC Pac-Man"
       Parts and Operating Manual  (err, instructions and documentation)

      Written by Phillip Jay Cohen of Pomegranate Programming and Design

1) Requirements

Minimum requirements:

-  An Intel x86 computer
-  MS-DOS 3.20 or higher, or Windows 
-  640K extended memory
-  VGA or MCGA graphics card
-  640K video RAM

  I haven't really tested this with anything less than a low end Pentium, and
I'm also not a hardware guru, so these specs are my best educated guess.

Recommended setup:

-  133Mhz or higher procecessor
-  SoundBlaster compatible soundcard
-  VESA compatible video card
-  HIMEM.SYS or other extended memory manager
-  Pure MS-DOS or Windows 95/98, shut down to DOS
-  As few drivers loaded as possible

Notes on video and sound:

  Pac-Classic uses a tweaked EGA video mode to allow the scrolling that
displays the entire maze.  This mode should be compatible with all cards and
monitors, but if you get a lot of flickering or the screen jumps when
scrolling, please contact me with a description of the problem, as well as the
specs of your machine. Also, the game may run a bit jerkily when run under
Windows with many backround programs also running.

  Sound is in it's early stages.  It may not be compatible with your soundcard,
or may be compatible and just not work.  Sound is disabled by default,
enabling it MAY LOCK UP YOUR COMPUTER.  If this occurs, or you get distorted
sound, please contact me with a description of the problem, as well as the
specs of your machine.  

2) Release History / New Features

  Beta V 0.2:
    - Implemented two player mode
    - Fixed a bug in which scores were not zeroed on starting a new game
    - High score and bonus scores are now displayed
    - Changed scores to long integers to avoid crashes
    - High score save implemented
    - Major improvements to the Ghost-monster movement algorithms.  Almost a
      complete rewrite, and much closer to the original!
    - Fixed a bug that allowed Ghost-monsters to move up through the maze 
      passages above their den
    - Ghost-monsters now wait to regenerate until their eyes move to the 
      appropriate corner of the ghost monster den.
    - Preliminary routines created for intro screens and intermissions
    - Slight clean up of source code; however still poorly commented
    - Some changes to the sound routines, which may cause the sound to run a
      bit fast.   Again, I intend to do a complete reritein a future version.
     - New credits.  If you send in any helpful hints or improvements, you'll
       get your name listed as well!

  Beta V 0.1: First Public release, bugs and all!

3) Running Pac-Classic

  To run the game, type PACLASSC at a DOS prompt.  Pac-Classic can be run
under windows, but I wouldn't recommend it.

  At the main menu, use the following commands:
    C to view info about the game, credits, and thanks
    S to set up the configure game options 
    1 to start a one player game
    2 to start a two player game 
    X to exit the program

  At any point during the game, you can press the escape key <ESC> to return
to the main menu.

4) Playing the game

Game synopsis:

  You're yellow.  You're very hungry.  You live in a maze, along with with
some technicolor Ghost-monsters.  They're hungry too... for you!

  Eat pellets for points, and avoid the Ghost-monsters.  If a Ghost-monster
touches you, you lose a life.  You can eat large, flashing Power-pellets to
scare the Ghost-monsters; this turns them dark blue, and also makes them
edible!  Yummy!  You can eat all of a Ghost-monster except for it's eyes,
which will return to the Ghost-monster den to generate a new body.  The
Ghost-monsters will flash white when the effect of the Power-pellet is about
to wear off.  After every third of the maze's total pellets has been cleared,
a Bonus Item will appear in the center of the maze, eat it for points.  When
the maze has been cleared, you will advance to the next level.

Hints:

  For a brief respite from being chased, you can use the maze's side-tunnels,
if a Ghost-monster follows you in, it will be slowed, giving you a head start.

  Pac-Classic moves slower while eating, giving the ghosts an advantage.  So,
try to clear as much as you can while the Ghost-monsters are in their den.

  Ghost-monsters move half as fast when they are scared, use this to your
advantage.

  On a similar note, Ghost-monster eyes move twice as fast as a full
Ghost-monster would, to allow them to return to their den expediently.
Therefore, the longer you wait before eating a scared Ghost-monster, the more
of an advantage you have.  But beware of flashing Ghost-monsters!

Scoring:

  Pellets are worth 10 points each; Power-pellets, 50 points.
  Scared Ghost-monsters, eaten in order are worth 200, 400, 800, and 1600
points respectively.

  The point values for Bonus Items vary according to the level, as follows:
    Level 1: 100 points
    Level 2: 300 points
    Levels 3 and 4: 500 points
    Levels 5 and 6: 700 points
    Levels 7 and 8: 1000 points
    Levels 9 and 10: 2000 points
    Levels 11 and 12: 3000 points
    Level 13 and up: 5000 points

  You get an extra life at 10000 points, 30000 points, 50000 points, 80000
points and every 30000 afterwards.

5) Missing Features / Known Bugs

  As this is a beta release, there are some features missing, as well as some
identified bugs.

  Missing features:

    - No start up screens or intermissions.  (preliminary support)
    - No start up music (when sound is on).   
    - Game does not increase in difficulty, i.e. Power-pellets should have
      less effect in later levels, and the game's overall speed should
      increase each level.

  Known Bugs:

    - Ghost-monsters do not follow the same patterns as the original.  This is
      because I lack info on the original hardware which controlled the
      patterns.  If I find more info, I'll make improvements.   
    - Ghost-monsters emerging from their den can not kill Pac-Classic.
    - Ghost-monsters in their den do not become scared when a Power-pellet
      is eaten by Pac-Classic.
    - Ghost-monster eyes sometimes go through the maze walls.  I've been
      unable to figure out what causes this, as my code is so convoluted!  If
      I figure it out, I'll fix it, meanwhile your only hope is to exit and
      restart.
      This bug is believed to be corrected, but has not been tested.  Let me
      know if it occurs.
    - Pac-Classic death sprites may be offset by a few pixels, I'm not sure.
    - Sprites sometimes have black borders around them.  This is due to the
      method used to erase and redraw sprites.  A new routine is in the works.
    - Sound may be distorted or freeze the computer.  Sound is in a very early
      stage at the moment, I'm working to improve it.  Meanwhile, run the game
      without sound.

6)  About the game, it's programmer, and how YOU can help!

  Pac-Classic is an ongoing project of mine that I have been writing off and
on since my freshman year of high school, when I began learning how to
program in BASIC.  I had (and have) loved Pac-Man for quite some time, and had
seen a lot of bad clones of it written in BASIC, so I decided to take a crack
at it, and write "The definitive BASIC Pac-Man."  Little did I now what I was
getting into!  Programming Pac-Classic has taught me many skills, and I've
revised it more times than I can count, from a simple text (ASCII character)
based version, up through the current one.

  I intend for Pac-Classic to prove the capabilities and flexibility that
BASIC has when you know how to use it.  To this end, I have INCLUDED THE FULL
SOURCE CODE!  It is written entirely in Microsoft QuickBasic 4.5.  Programmers
are welcome to use my routines, in fact I encourage it, but PLEASE CREDIT them
to me if you do.  Pac-Classic's source may be run under the QB45 environment,
but I would not recommend it, please use the included compiled .EXE instead.
Programmers, if you make any improvements or optimizations to my code, PLEASE
SEND IT TO ME!  You will be included in the credits if I use your code.  I
want to improve this as much as I can; I know my code can be a mess sometimes
(It's not even well commented at the moment! Ack!)

  In addition to the source code (PACLASSC.BAS) and executable (PACLASSC.EXE),
the following data files should be included in the Pac-Classic archive
(PACLASSC.ZIP):

  PACLASSC.GR1
  PACLASSC.GR2
  PACLASSC.GR3
  PACLASSC.GR4 
  PACLASSC.GR5
  PACLASSC.SFX
  PACLASSC.TXT (This file)

  If any of the above files are missing, please get a new copy of the program,
it will not run without them.  When run, Pac-Classic will also create a file
called PACLASSC.SCR for high score support.

  I can be contacted with any and all questions, whether they are about
Pac-Classic itself, help with programming, or what toppings I like on my
pizza.  Here's how to contact me:

  Via email: p.j.cohen@usa.net (cohennet@erols.com still works, but I will
only rarely see mail sent there, if you have attempted in the past to contact
me at this address, please try me again at the new one)

  My homepage: http://members.xoom.com/pjcohen/

  You can always find the latest version of Pac-Classic at
http://members.xoom.com/pjcohen/program.htm

  Now remember, BE GOOD!

 -- Phillip Jay Cohen
