Copyright 2024 - Thomas Jentzsch
Pac-Line x 8 is a 4K, one button, up to eight simultaneous players Pac-Line game for the Atari 2600.
If you have a QuadTari, plug it into the two ports of the console and plug the paddles into the four ports of the QuadTari before you switch on the console.
Without a QuadTari, plug the paddles into left and right ports of the console.
On the title screen or any time during the game, press Select to select a game variation. There are 8 game variations, 4 different starting lines each, without or with bonus items (fruits). The currently selected variation's starting line number is displayed at the top of the screen. If a high score exists for this variation, it is displayed alternating with the game variation.
To start a new game press Reset. Or Fire while not in a running game.
After pressing Reset or Fire, a short countdown starts. During this countdown, each player must press the paddle fire button to activate her/his lines for the game. Activated lines are displayed colored and with their pellets enabled.
Immediately after the countdown the game starts. Inactive Pac-Men will be controlled by the game's AI.
There are two options for determining the direction in which your Pac-Man automatically moves:
- Left Diffculty = B: To move left, hold the fire button. Else your Pac-Man moves right.
- Left Diffculty = A: Pressing the fire button reverses the current direction.
The main goal is to clear all pellets of your line without getting caught by a ghost. Unlike your Pac-Man, the ghosts cannot wrap around. If you eat a bigger power pellet, you can start chasing the ghost for a limited time. The ghost will start to flash when the time expires. Also you can earn extra points by eating a bonus item.
After clearing a line, a new line with all pellets reenabled appears. Each new line is a little faster and more difficult. The game ends when all human controlled Pac-Men have been caught by a ghost or reached 9,999 points.
The row number and score of the current leading player is displayed at the top of the screen, alternating with the current line number and using the player's color.
Points are awarded for each eaten or caught object as follows:
- pellet: 1 point
- power pellet: 5 points
- ghost: 10 points
- bonus item: 10..500 points
When the game is over, the high score of the current game variation will be displayed first (white, e.g. "HI 1234"). Then all active player's results will be displayed one by one, ordered by their rank and using the player's color. For each player, there will be two displays:
- rank & score (e.g. "1. 1234")
- player number and line (e.g. "4 LN.17")
The high score will be reset when a game with a different variation is started.
Pac-Line x 8 has been developed and tested with Stella, the best emulator for the Atari 2600. Pac-Line x 8 is based on Paku Paku (https://abagames.github.io/crisp-game-lib-11-games/?pakupaku).
Thanks to the AtariAge community for testing the game and providing valuable input.
This game is freeware, but copyrighted; it may be freely distributed, but it must be always accompanied by this documentation file. This program may be included on websites and shareware or freeware compilations, but please contact me first. You cannot distribute Pac-Line x 8 on Atari 2600 cartridges without my explicit permission.