February 19, 2009

The Fruit of the Tree of Pac-Man Knowledge

by Nick Montfort · , 10:12 pm

Jamey Pittman’s Pac-Man Dossier is a Web page that contains everything that is known about Namco’s famous arcade game Pac-Man. As Pittman writes, “New discoveries found during the research for this page in December 2008 have allowed for the clearest view yet of the actual ghost behavior and pathfinding logic used by the game.” On the page, you will find a detailed analysis of why turning the joystick before reaching a corner is a good idea; an enormous table listing Pac-Man’s speed, the ghosts’ fright time, and other statistics for each level; and a discussion of the accelerated “Cruise Elroy” state which Blinky enters under certain circumstances. Word of this resource reached us thanks to (no, really) Inky.

5 Responses to “The Fruit of the Tree of Pac-Man Knowledge”


  1. Jason Scott Says:

    I love this thing. I love it more than life itself and I wish it was a PDF that I could then print into a professional binding and sleep with it under my pillow.

  2. andrew Says:

    That’s some incredible research. I’m blown away.

  3. Jamey Pittman Says:

    LOL!! I *love* the thing from Mr. Scott about sleeping with it under his pillow! Thanks!!

    -Jamey

  4. Nick Montfort Says:

    Have you noticed, though, that the page doesn’t even mention the cut scenes?

  5. Jamey Pittman Says:

    That’s a great point, Nick (re: cut scenes). I think I’ll add a section about them onto the site in the near-future. Good idea! -Jamey

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