PC-Man's World
Release type: Freeware
Release date: 1998
Levels: 5
Author: Erwin Bergervoet
Website: GamesLab Productions
Related games: Pac
Not to be mistaken for A-J Games's Pac or Gary Acord's Zapak, Pakdream, or Pakmon.
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 may be strange is the similarity of Bergervoet's game to a certain other clone of Pac-Man.
Though the parallels are striking, down to the weeping character at death, PC-Man is probably a better game than Pac. For one, Bergervoet put more work into designing original environments and hazards. Then he threw in scary interstitial screens, positing PC-Men in all manner of guises and professions. There is a whole storyline here, an element absent in most Pac-Man clones.
The main problems with PC-Man's World are the same that hinder Pac, namely the compromises centered around Xferplay's automatic counter rollover at death and the strictly location-based level progress mechanics. In other words, clearing all of the dots isn't enough; to move on you need to find and enter a goal -- and the game can't give the player more than one life, because if it did, any dots collected before death would stay collected while the level itself reset, rendering the whole collection mechanic meaningless.
Contents
Story[edit]
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 on this day, 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[edit]
- 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[edit]
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).
Availability[edit]
This game is known to have been distributed on local bulletin boards, contemporary to its development. Any other distribution is unknown.
Archive History[edit]
In ~1998, the author made contact by email to share his recent games (PC-Man's World and QiQ) and solicit comments. Both games have been retained since this time.
Links[edit]
Interviews / Articles[edit]
Misc. Links[edit]
Downloads[edit]
- PC-Man's World (750.0 kB)
- Level 1 map (8.9 kB)
- Level 2 map (11.4 kB)
- Level 3 map (16.0 kB)
- Level 4 map (9.7 kB)
- Level 5 map (10.7 kB)
