Pac-Man Pattern Trainer (MAME)

[big10p]

i'll take a look when i open it up this week to fit the save game thingy

You can tell what the difficulty is set to buy watching the attract demo game. If Inky comes straight out of the den and makes his way to the bottom-right of the maze, the PCB is set to harder difficulty. If Inky stays in the den, difficulty is normal.

 

[kingtreelo]

i've not checked, but i think i have the super hard version of Pac-Man, like a one off thing

although, i was once at AC and i had more lives than i should have had(in Pac-Man), it was on one of the man Pac-Man machines they had, i think i have possibly just gone crap(er) at the game

 

[Hexen]

Wow, that is the nuts.
Do you think this could be adapted to run on MiSTer FPGA?

Fancy having a go at a Mr Do! training guide?
40 different scene combinations in Do! A few more than Pac-Man.
But nowhere near as popular as the pill munching yellow geezer

Mr Do! has to be one of my all-time favourites

 

[SnicklefritzG]

Fantastic! and good to hear you are making progress with my trainer.
I really like the default "Pacstrats" pattern set and have been playing regularly myself. The set is very unforgiving and you have to be pixel perfect on every turn. This set has no 180 direction changes and only 3 patterns to learn. I find it easier to follow, just need to give it my full concentration.

To help with learning patterns. I thought about adding an "advanced mode" were the guide path temporarily fades out and then fades back in a few moments later. The frequency and duration of the fades could be configurable or it could increase as you progress into the game. Idea being to encourage learning of the pattern rather than mindlessly following along the path. What do you think?

I think the "advanced mode" is a great idea! I was thinking a week or so ago that it would be nice to have pactrainer running invisibly and then playing an alarm or indicating someway when I go off the pattern. Something that fades in and out would be extremely useful, especially for the pacstats and perfectpattern sets where it seems there are a lot more intricate movements.

I had another excellent couple of runs today, getting into the key levels up to level 19.

The only times I lose lives is if I twitch or my keyboard keys get stuck.

So I think it's time for me to switch to a joystick. I've exceeded teh capacity of my keyboard to handle rapid fire movement.

I also had my neices and nephews over last week and they love pacman and played on mame without the trainer. Then I turned it on and they went nuts! They went home with much higher scores much to their delight and perhaps my sister's dismay!! But I told her just make them earn video game time by doing more chores and then she can get work done around the house. lol.

What are your thoughts on reducing lag by choosing the right type of joystick? I bought a sanwa style stick (w/restrictor gate) on Etsy and it works well, but I don't think it can keep up with what I need for precise work for pacman. What true 4 way sticks out there have a good reputation for being low lag?

 

[10yard]

I think the "advanced mode" is a great idea! I was thinking a week or so ago that it would be nice to have pactrainer running invisibly and then playing an alarm or indicating someway when I go off the pattern. Something that fades in and out would be extremely useful, especially for the pacstats and perfectpattern sets where it seems there are a lot more intricate movements.

I had another excellent couple of runs today, getting into the key levels up to level 19.

The only times I lose lives is if I twitch or my keyboard keys get stuck.

So I think it's time for me to switch to a joystick. I've exceeded teh capacity of my keyboard to handle rapid fire movement.

I also had my neices and nephews over last week and they love pacman and played on mame without the trainer. Then I turned it on and they went nuts! They went home with much higher scores much to their delight and perhaps my sister's dismay!! But I told her just make them earn video game time by doing more chores and then she can get work done around the house. lol.

What are your thoughts on reducing lag by choosing the right type of joystick? I bought a sanwa style stick (w/restrictor gate) on Etsy and it works well, but I don't think it can keep up with what I need for precise work for pacman. What true 4 way sticks out there have a good reputation for being low lag?

Great going! Keep it up! I will take a look at that advanced mode when I get time.
I typically connect my arcade controls via keyboard encoders and have never experienced any lag and use sanwa style 4-way sticks too. I actually developed my own encoders in the past - I was a co-founder of the KADE project - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kadevice/kade-connects-arcade-controls-to-computers-and-con
I should still have a few boards kicking around if you need one.

 

[SnicklefritzG]

Great going! Keep it up! I will take a look at that advanced mode when I get time.
I typically connect my arcade controls via keyboard encoders and have never experienced any lag and use sanwa style 4-way sticks too. I actually developed my own encoders in the past - I was a co-founder of the KADE project - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kadevice/kade-connects-arcade-controls-to-computers-and-con
I should still have a few boards kicking around if you need one.

I would love one!!!

I made it into the 9th key level yesterday and died bc my physical keyboard keys got stuck 😂


Send me a dm when you have a moment, I would love to work out a deal

 

[SnicklefritzG]

I had another great milestone with the Pactrainer today…

I had if turned on so I could practice the key patterns and I broke the 200k barrier!

213,830 to be specific 😎

The trainer really emphasizes how important it is to corner efficiently. I’m finding it takes a lot of concentration!!!

 

[10yard]

I had another great milestone with the Pactrainer today…

I had if turned on so I could practice the key patterns and I broke the 200k barrier!

213,830 to be specific 😎

The trainer really emphasizes how important it is to corner efficiently. I’m finding it takes a lot of concentration!!!

Nice one. 200K is big!
Yes, it's all about the tight cornering, staying focussed. Keep at it mate.
I dropped you a DM regarding the arcade encoder.