PacKodu

PacKodu

Cedric Pulmano

Screenshots:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iClGgWQCIysThI3CYwrn-4S3vDd_IUS4fm1Df5tt6Io/edit?usp=sharing

1. Both Pacman and PacKodu are similar, for both have the same concept of collecting pellets/apples to win, with enemies that will kill the player when they touch. However, some things differ, like how the arena is different and the power-ups are different.

2. The arenas differ, for there is an entrance where Pacman can go on one side of the map, and Pacman will come out the other side, but my game does not do that. The map for PacKodu is smaller in comparison to the map for Pacman, and is my own spin on the arena. In Pacman, the power-up is a power pellet, which allows to kill the ghosts for a certain time frame. My power-ups are a star, which grants extra movement speed, and a coin is revealed by touching a rock, which gives the player extra turn speed. I added these creative power-ups, for it was difficult to make the identical power-up seen in Pacman, and the character I created seemed to not be at its best speed limit. So, I created the power-up, so the character could move and turn quicker, as a replacement power-up. It is also creative, for the player can only get the coin power-up by getting the rock, so it is a two-step process to get the coin power-up. The pink octopus, which is visually larger than the other octopi, moves a bit quicker than the rest, so the enemies differ a bit by danger.

3. One difficulty I had was how the octopi would clump up together and bump into each other at times. So, I decided to spread them out, and it seemed to make the game better, for the octopi could chase the PacKodu more efficiently. Sometimes, PacKodu would miss apples, so I fixed this by resizing PacKodu, so it would be very hard for him to miss the apples.

4. My beta testers gave me good suggestions. One suggestion, which really helped me, was that sometimes PacKodu would miss the apple, so Cameron advised me to resize PacKodu. I thank him for telling me this, for I was about to resize all the apples instead. Mr. Chen also suggested to let PacKodu have a quicker starting speed (without power-up), for the game to run smoother and quicker. The green apples were originally too small for even the resized PacKodu to touch, so I redid the size of the green apples.

5. I believe I would improve the map, for the map may be a bit too simple, and I would think it would be more entertaining to have a more detailed map. It was too late when I thought this, for I already placed in the apples in the map, and had no time. My next step would be to add items that when PacKodu touch, it would actually worsen PacKodu's statistics. This was an idea from Henry, that I definitely think is a great one. Maybe, I should also make different types of characters, like one that follows you right off the bat, as if he knows where PacKodu is through the walls, but is slow, and one that wanders a lot, but is quite fast. The pink octopus does move quicker than the rest, but I think there should be more versatility in enemies to make the game more enjoyable.