Perfect Game of Pac-Man - 3,333,360 Points

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  • Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
  • This is a perfect game on the MAME emulated original version of Pac-Man from 1980.
    At the end of the final board I decide to get myself caught in the side of the board rather than give the ghosts the satisfaction of ending my game :)
    This perfect game attempts to exclusively use patterns rather than grouping. I say attempts because I do go off pattern twice during the game. First, on the board that starts at 1:22:50, and second, on the board that starts at 1:42:16.
    ============================
    = History of the patterns =
    ============================
    Here is, as best as I know, the origin of the patterns used in this perfect game.
    An important source of these patterns needs to be explained in more detail because it's a bit convoluted.
    Around 1983, through unknown means (I don't know if it was in a magazine, in-person contact, etc.), Randy Tufts from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada discovered a person who had impressively fast, high-point patterns. These patterns were used by this mystery person in Pac-Man competitions where you would play for a maximum of one hour and try to achieve as high a score as possible. Randy wrote to this mystery person and the guy mailed the details of his patterns to Randy. Then, in 1989, Rick Fothergill, who had known Randy since 1984 and lived in the same home town, started playing Pac-Man and acquired the patterns from Randy. Lastly, I met Rick in 1996 and obtained the patterns from Rick.
    You can see we are missing a very important part of Pac-Man history. We refer to this mystery person as "The guy from Tennessee", because that's all we know about him. And unfortunately, Randy Tufts is no longer with us, so this mystery person may never be known.
    With that explained, here's a breakdown of the patterns used in this video and who "discovered" the individual parts of each one.
    1 ║ Cherry ║ Neil Chapman
    2 ║ Strawberry ║ guy from Tennessee
    3 ║ 1st Peach ║ guy from Tennessee
    4 ║ 2nd Peach ║ guy from Tennessee
    5 ║ 1st Apple ║ 1st, 2nd, 3rd Energizers - guy from Tennessee, 4th energizer - Neil Chapman
    6 ║ 2nd Apple ║ guy from Tennessee
    7 ║ 1st Grape ║ 1st, 2nd, 3rd Energizers - guy from Tennessee, 4th energizer - Neil Chapman
    8 ║ 2nd Grape ║ 1st, 2nd, 3rd Energizers - guy from Tennessee, 4th energizer - Neil Chapman
    9 ║ 1st Galaxian ║ 1st and 2nd Energizers - Rick Fothergill, 3rd Energizer - Adam Sweeney, 4th Energizer - Neil Chapman
    10 ║ 2nd Galaxian ║ guy from Tennessee
    11 ║ 1st Bell ║ 1st, 2nd, 3rd Energizers - guy from Tennessee, 4th energizer - Neil Chapman
    12 ║ 2nd Bell ║ 1st and 2nd Energizers - Rick Fothergill, 3rd Energizer - Adam Sweeney, 4th Energizer - Neil Chapman
    13 ║ 1st Key ║ 1st and 2nd Energizers - Rick Fothergill, 3rd Energizer - Adam Sweeney, 4th Energizer - Neil Chapman
    14 ║ 2nd Key ║ 1st Energizer - guy from Tennessee, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Energizers - Neil Chapman
    Fun Fact: Segments of the 2nd Key pattern were used in the movie Pixels. You can see this in both the opening credits and when the two young guys are playing Pac-Man in the arcade.
    15 ║ 3rd Key ║ 1st and 2nd Energizers - Rick Fothergill, 3rd and 4th Energizers - Neil Chapman
    16 ║ 4th Key ║ 1st and 2nd Energizers - Rick Fothergill, 3rd and 4th Energizers - Neil Chapman
    17 ║ 5th Key ║ Ken Uston's Pattern P4-Tunnel, slightly modified, with board cleanup by Neil Chapman
    18 ║ 6th Key ║ 1st and 2nd Energizers - Rick Fothergill, 3rd and 4th Energizers - Neil Chapman
    19 ║ 7th Key ║ Ken Uston's Pattern P4 ("The Square"), slightly modified, with board cleanup by Neil Chapman
    20 ║ 8th Key ║ Ken Uston's Pattern P4 ("The Square"), slightly modified, with board cleanup by Neil Chapman
    21 to 255 ║ 9th Key ║ guy from Tennessee
    256 ║ Split-screen ║ Rick Fothergill informed me that the safest way to get to the BC park-spot was to go out the tunnel and immediately pull down
    As for the nine invisible dots on the right side of the split-screen, Rick and I discovered them together using MAME. At the time, we were unaware of anyone else who had done so. Among other Pac-Man players, I do not know who was the first to discover the nine hidden dots on the split-screen.
    As you can see, I by no means came up with all these patterns myself and owe a great deal to people before me. At least one of them seemingly lost to history.

Комментарии • 74

  • @bach730
    @bach730 3 года назад +22

    Some of the craziest patterns I’ve ever seen.

  • @paranoia2021
    @paranoia2021 Год назад +12

    1:14:18 1,000,000 points
    2:24:41 2,000,000 points
    3:34:31 3,000,000 points
    3:57:03 the kill screen

    • @anthonyguarino4242
      @anthonyguarino4242 10 месяцев назад +3

      It took over 4 hours to reach the maximum score of 3,333,360 points! I can’t do the max on pac-man!

  • @BiffsGamingVideos
    @BiffsGamingVideos 3 года назад +9

    Your patterns kick butt. I have most of them memorized and can get over 1 million points until I get bored. Someday I have to at least get to the kill screen. I think your site should have some of the generic patterns listed as well. These are what people start off with and can use until they master the specific patterns.

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  2 года назад +2

      That's a really good idea, and shouldn't take too much effort. Stay tuned.

    • @BiffsGamingVideos
      @BiffsGamingVideos 2 года назад +1

      @@PacStrats I tell you. I have the three 1 second patterns down now but can't always do them in real time. I can do them on the laptop sometimes. That's the only thing stopping me from joining your club. I am so close. I can get to the end with all of the pac-men, but I need to use the gerneic apple pattern (the one on my channel). When I do join your club, youll get a shoutout nc.

  • @Dascoo77
    @Dascoo77 2 года назад +5

    This is amazing to see. Hope to see more uploads in the future.

  • @jeffwolfe1697
    @jeffwolfe1697 2 года назад +11

    Thanks for posting this and giving the origins of the patterns. I've been working on developing my own patterns and have a set of safe survival ones that let me get as far as I want in the game but now I want to develop a perfect score set. Can you give any advice on how to proceed that would cut down the time needed.

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  2 года назад +4

      You're welcome. I'm glad the origin of these particular patterns are out there now. As far as the process of developing your own patterns, a few things come to mind. Knowing the MAME save state system well enough to save and load multiple states is most important. You can easily have four or five active save states that you need to return back to if a chain of ideas ends up hitting a dead end. Knowing more about ghost behavior will always help too. If you're paused and trying to figure out where you might go next, the more you understand ghost behavior, the more likely you will be to try routes that have a higher percentage of working and eliminate lower percentage ones. On the longer blue time boards, even up to two second blue time, don't be shy about eating an energizer when the ghosts seem close, but a little scattered. If things fall in place and you get the 1600, it will save you a lot of time. Prioritize getting 1600s any way possible over getting a nice group. It's also important to use the time when the ghosts are "going home" to their corner of the board to clean up large sections of dots. If you can also eat the prize during this time, then that's a "bonus" too. Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. There's certainly millions of perfect patterns out there waiting to be discovered.

    • @jeffwolfe1697
      @jeffwolfe1697 2 года назад +1

      @@PacStrats Thanks for the tips. I have a long way to go but find the process relaxing. Been trying to modify my existing patterns to collect max points with little success so started over and have a few boards done. Not as efficient as I'd like but at least I don't have to redo all my patterns (5th,7th,8th,9th key).Those ones I'm very happy with.

  • @thesmilingman7576
    @thesmilingman7576 Год назад +3

    That ai analysis video really did wonders now we know exactly where they will go no matter the scenario

    • @goldenwarrior1186
      @goldenwarrior1186 Год назад +1

      People figured out patterns way before that video

    • @thesmilingman7576
      @thesmilingman7576 Год назад +2

      @@goldenwarrior1186 yeah but I think the video did help

  • @yoschle3928
    @yoschle3928 18 дней назад

    The most satisfying video on this platform

  • @TheSweatdrop
    @TheSweatdrop 2 года назад +2

    The 5th Key is actually Ken Uston's Pattern "P4 Tunnel" modified. The 7th and 8th Key is actually Pattern "P4 The Square" modified.

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  2 года назад +1

      I agree. The pattern descriptions have been updated. Thank you.

  • @Splitscreen83
    @Splitscreen83 3 года назад +4

    Great execution Neil 😎

  • @haydendoan7691
    @haydendoan7691 Год назад +1

    Thanks for sharing this incredible play with us. Do you have the MAME input file?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  Год назад +1

      Thank you, and you're welcome. I do hold on to the input files, as they are the "source code" of the videos :)

    • @haydendoan7691
      @haydendoan7691 Год назад

      @@PacStrats Have you posted this input file somewhere? Thanks.

    • @patrickc5749
      @patrickc5749 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@haydendoan7691you missed his point. He doesn’t wanna share them.

  • @eat0625
    @eat0625 2 года назад +2

    Hint : nes version does not have the glitch

  • @Envisaged0ne
    @Envisaged0ne 2 года назад +2

    Nice. It's just amazing to watch

  • @EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay
    @EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay 7 месяцев назад

    Obligatory: Billy Mitchell has left the convention

  • @TheSweatdrop
    @TheSweatdrop 2 года назад +3

    How did you record your Pac-Man game?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  2 года назад +2

      I recorded the game in MAME using the -record option. Played it back using the -playback option and recorded the contents of the MAME window to a video file using OBS. Then prepared the video for RUclips as 1080p using HitFilm Express. I'm pretty new to this, so not saying that workflow is at all optimized.

  • @thesmilingman7576
    @thesmilingman7576 Год назад +1

    6:59 back then they were just supposed to be abstract monsters not ghosts so I guess this makes sense

  • @lebigboy6130
    @lebigboy6130 3 года назад +3

    I tried following the exact patterns on the “plug n play” and it didn’t work. Do you think it matters what system or machine your playing on to have the same ghost patterns?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад +2

      It certainly matters. That said, I am not familiar with the "plug n play" version. To check, you'll have to compare the plug n play version with the original version of Pac-Man in some way. For example, on the first board on your first life, do the ghosts come out of the box at exactly the same time as on the original version? Is there a demo/attract mode on the plug n play version? If so, in attract mode, the blue ghost should catch Pac-Man just above the bottom left energizer, as happens on the original.

    • @lebigboy6130
      @lebigboy6130 3 года назад

      There isn’t any demo/ attract mode on the plug n play but I recorded a video trying the same moves as you did at the start and this is what happen.
      ruclips.net/video/C0ymAFjUeDw/видео.html sorry for the bad quality

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад +1

      @@lebigboy6130 Something is not emulated quite right with that version. If you compare your pattern side by side with my Cherry pattern you can see the ghost locations are a little off. For example, compare the two patterns when each of us is in the bottom right corner of the maze. This is just a handful of seconds into the pattern and the ghosts are not in the identical positions. Original Pac-Man patterns have no chance of working on that version. Sorry.

    • @lebigboy6130
      @lebigboy6130 3 года назад

      @@PacStrats well it was worth trying your technique

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад

      @@lebigboy6130 Yes. Thank you for taking the time to post your results trying the pattern.

  • @zackeeu
    @zackeeu Год назад +1

    3:29:50 Is it a perfect score even if you don't kill all these ghosts with every single power pellet?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  Год назад +4

      Yes. In all cases, if a ghost could be eaten, he was eaten. No additional points are available. This is the maximum score you can achieve.

  • @Mark_S_74
    @Mark_S_74 3 года назад +2

    Is this a recent Run Neil?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад +5

      Yep, this is from a MAME run I did in early October 2020. It had been a while since I put any time into Pac-Man, so thought I would play, upload some new videos, and learn the very basics of Photoshop to keep busy. I also wanted to show this very safe Split-Screen method shown to me by Rick F.

  • @animator8555
    @animator8555 3 года назад +4

    256 levels done the exact same.

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад +5

      Well, 235 slow boards done the exact same, minus at least 2 where I went off pattern, but who's counting :)

  • @Sonicfan227
    @Sonicfan227 2 года назад +2

    Awesome

  • @SONYUSR
    @SONYUSR 9 месяцев назад

    is there a link to which emulator rom you used? tried several and they dont seem to quite line up. even with perfect inputs my patters dont quite line up. looking at level 1 the fleeing ghosts are especially inconsistent. I know its random chance which way they scatter, but does that mean these patterns only work under ideal conditions or frame perfect inputs?

    • @patientmental875
      @patientmental875 Месяц назад

      These games are goofy man, I was killing it with mame on a crt monitor in Donkey Kong but played the real thing & nothing matched up

  • @Julesacu
    @Julesacu 4 месяца назад

    Pretty damn impressive.

  • @SzymekCSC
    @SzymekCSC Год назад

    This is so cool!

  • @goldenwarrior1186
    @goldenwarrior1186 3 года назад +1

    When do you mess up the 9h key pattern? (Timestamps pls?)

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад +1

      Should be there in the description. You may have to click on SHOW MORE to expand the description.

    • @goldenwarrior1186
      @goldenwarrior1186 3 года назад

      @@PacStrats Oh I forgot to check the description. Thx!

  • @zo6rob
    @zo6rob 3 года назад +2

    Is this Neil Chapman?

  • @DAWOL2025-fs1ve
    @DAWOL2025-fs1ve 9 месяцев назад

    It is a perfect game total because the machine wouldn't go any further than that score. It just reached the highest point it could go by running out of memory and crashing!

  • @waltersobchak7275
    @waltersobchak7275 3 года назад +2

    Who is this??

  • @YoloYester94
    @YoloYester94 3 года назад

    PAC-MAN? More like POG-MAN!

  • @Sonicfan227
    @Sonicfan227 2 года назад +1

    2:47 6:53 12:55

  • @leek8656
    @leek8656 3 года назад

    How does this method work? Where did you learn this?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад +8

      This method works because Pac-Man is programmed in such a way that the game elements are completely determined by how Pac-Man moves within the maze. That is, if you do the same thing, all the monsters will do the same thing too. That's not to say running patterns is easy at all, but any of these patterns work 100% of the time if you make all the turns correctly. I learned these patterns through '80s arcade magazines, a few talented friends, and many, many hours playing Pac-Man both at the arcade and then later on the MAME emulator.

  • @that1cat999
    @that1cat999 2 года назад +3

    Who else searched this up just because of Ready Player One?

  • @frostyglenn8964
    @frostyglenn8964 Год назад

    I'm about to do this on PS4

    • @dominikinfante9002
      @dominikinfante9002 Год назад

      Pac-Man championship edition, 2+ arcade game Series I know what you're talking about

  • @trashgang_
    @trashgang_ 3 года назад

    How do you start off with 4 extra lives?

    • @PacStrats
      @PacStrats  3 года назад

      If you happen to be playing on the arcade game, you would set Dip Switches 3 and 4 to the off position. This will make you start the game with 5 lives. In MAME, start the game, hit Tab, which will open up an on screen menu, from there set Lives to 5.

    • @axinhedgelion8417
      @axinhedgelion8417 Год назад

      @TrashGang he set it to five lives to start with. This is one of those games where nothing on the life count is your last life

    • @trashgang_
      @trashgang_ 4 месяца назад

      I remember that at some point I didn't know about DIP switches, but I had completely forgotten about this comment! After a long time of off-and-on attempts at learning the patterns, RetroAchievements is fueling my will to push forward and actually take it seriously. Currently I can do everything perfectly up to round 9, the first Galaxian Flagship. Many thanks to you PacStrats, for I could've never even imagined getting a perfect score if it wasn't for your videos.

  • @alvaromediano
    @alvaromediano 3 года назад +1

    4:03:00

  • @aptiveviennapro
    @aptiveviennapro Год назад

    7 and 8 are melons, not grapes.

    • @HiIarityBribo
      @HiIarityBribo Год назад +1

      no theyre grapes.

    • @aptiveviennapro
      @aptiveviennapro Год назад

      ​@@HiIarityBribo Really? Prove it.

    • @OliviaWantsToBePretty
      @OliviaWantsToBePretty Месяц назад

      @@HiIarityBribo I'm curious, where does it ever say that they're grapes? Have I been calling any other fruit the wrong names? Are they really peaches and not oranges?