PC-Man's World

PC-Man's World

Release type: Freeware
Release date: 1998
Levels: 5
Author: Erwin Bergervoet
Related games: Pac

There’s nothing strange about cloning Pac-Man. It’s probably one of the five most significant videogames ever made. Its appearance changed the whole face of the game industry. Without it we wouldn’t have Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., or the aspiration-based design that the whole industry has been based on since 1985. What’s strange is, instead of going to the source, cloning someone else’s half-assed clone of Pac-Man.

If anything, Bergervoet’s game is probably better than Pac. Strange and slightly creepy as it might be, he put more work into designing original environments and hazards. Rather like Glubada Pond, Pac was just a study on Game-Maker’s goal structures; that game was trying to see how a pre-Miyamoto design style would work in a very specific post-Keen design environment.

As it turned out, not that well. To move on to the next level, the player has to cash in all accumulated dots at a door in the center of the level. To prevent any consumed dots from carrying over after death, the game had to give the player just one life -- a boring and frustrating compromise all around.

Bergervoet in turn copied the game's tricks almost to the letter, down to the weeping Pac at death. Then he threw in scary interstitial screens, positing PC-Men in all manner of guises and professions.

So that was kind of weird.

Story

Level 1 of PC-Man's World

PC-Man lived with his family, in the tranquil forests of PC-Land. Of course a PC game is no game if nothing happens. But as it happens, there was quite a bit of fuss.

One day, PC-Man went shopping. When he returned home, five of his relatives turned to him.

The others stood gaping, open-mouthed, at a flower vase. Of course PC-Man was shocked, and he immediately asked what was going on, to which his family said:

"This bottle is a Dungeon Spirit, which has taken five PCs from five different regions. Please, PC, will you help us?"

"Okay," PC-Man replied, "but where do I begin? Well, I suppose at the beginning. That would be in the desert, where Cowboy PC belongs. Then on to the cemetery, to return Vampire PC. And from there... I guess we'll see what happens."

Good luck!

Instructions

Level 1 intertitle from PC-Man's World

Left - Go left

Right - Go right

Up - Go up

Down - Go down

F1 Help

F2 Status

F3 Sound On \ Off

F4 Music On \ Off

F5 Save Game

F6 Load Game

F10 About Game Maker

Credits

Programmed and graphic designed by Erwin Bergervoet.

Assistance: Vincent Bergervoet

Voting: Have come due

Test Team

Jos Bergervoet

Vincent Bergervoet

Eric Large

Roel Kuiper

and Saskia

Created by Multigames.

Thanks to Game-Maker(tm).

Downloads

• PC-Man's World (750.0 kB)