HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ckincy@mcs213c.cs.umr.edu (Charles Kincy)
Subject: Re: Pacman Ghost logic
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 00:34:41 GMT
Organization: University of Missouri - Rolla
Keywords: Pacman

In article <1992Aug26.092913.10103@meiko.com> gordon@meiko.com (Gordon Henderson) writes:
>In article <1992Aug25.160755.7776@hobbes.kzoo.edu> k044477@hobbes.kzoo.edu (Jamie R. McCarthy) writes:
>>dmb@rice-chex.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) writes:
>>>neil@cs.hw.ac.uk (Neil Forsyth) writes:
>>>>One thing about the real Pacman was that the ghosts only made decisions when
>>>>they reached a junction. I don't think they ever doubled back along the same
>>>>path
>>>
>>>I suspect the arcade Pac-Man used a much simpler algorithm, but it's
>>>true that the ghosts can't ever double back.
>>
>>Not that I'm a big Pac-Man fan, but I just have to correct this.  At
>>(pseudo-) random intervals, all four ghosts suddenly reverse direction.
>
>I seem to remember from playing the original arcade game that the green ghost
>would reverse and run away from you if it was chasing you, then you reversed
>direction and headed straight for it!
>
>A cowardly ghost?
>
>----
>  Gordon Henderson
>

I also remember that each of the four ghosts had his own personality.

"Pinky":  The Pink ghost was extremely fast.  Pinky wasn't very smart,
but if he saw PacMan, PacMan was dead.  However, if he wasn't too close,
he was pretty easy to shake.

"Blinky":  The Red ghost was slower, but extremely tenacious.  He would
not ever lose the trail of PacMan once he found it, but he hardly
ever found it.

"Inky":  The Blue-green ghost was the one Gordon describes.  He had
a blind spot, and could not tell he was being followed.  Almost as fast
as Pinky, but not quite.

"Clyde":  The Orange ghost was the smartest, but he was very slow.  
Clyde would try to lay traps for PacMan by working with the other ghosts.

These descriptions were from what I remember of a "How to beat" book
on PacMan.  However, it was no less than ten years ago when I read it.

cpk

PacMan and the names of the ghosts are copyright by Bally-Midway.  =)

Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer,rec.arts.int-fiction
From: eric@telebit.com (Eric Smith)
Subject: Re: Don Woods stamp in Zork
Organization: Telebit Corporation
Date: 31 Aug 92 22:16:49

>>On Mon, 31 Aug 1992 19:10:55 GMT, johnf@apollo.hp.com (John Francis) said:
> Looking into any one of the palantirs showed you the location
> of a specific one of the other palantirs.

There was a fun bug in the first Apple II version of Zork II, back before they
started using the release date as the serial number (my Zork II was serial
UG3AU5, anyone else have a different one?)

They would the palantir look-through recursively, so if you had all three
palantirs in one place, it would recurse until the interpreter's stack
overflowed.

Also in that version, you could give commands to the aquarium!!!  You could
say "aquarium, take lamp", or "aquarium, go east.go east"  In the latter case
it would tell you that you have moved into a dark place, and then that you
have died, when actually it was the aquarium that "died".

Additionally, you could pick up objects that were supposedly immovable by
reading them, and it would say "Taken.  How can you read a <whatever>."  For
instance, you could "read" the palantir stands, and then do an inventory,
and it would say that you were carrying a ruby stand, firmly bolted to the
table.

Cheers,
Eric
From: cat@wixer.cactus.org (Dr. Cat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Console games
Date: 25 Aug 92 14:42:15 GMT
Article-I.D.: wixer.1992Aug25.144215.13640
Organization: Real/Time Communications


   Well, I've worked on a couple of cartridge titles, one for the NES, one
for the Gameboy (the latter should be hitting the stores any day now).
Generally the docs & development tools aren't available for people that just
want to tinker, companies developing products have the stuff & are usually
under non-disclosure agreements for it.  Anyway, I'd be happy to answer any
questions about cartridge game systems I can.

                                  Dr. Cat

P.S. Have something to say that's not about how to make games? Please don't
post it here. See someone else posting such and want to complain? Please
don't post your complaint here either - send it to them in email!
From: grey@bnr.ca (Bryan Miller)
Subject: Re: Question: Rotating a small bitmapped image?
Reply-To: grey@bnr.ca (Bryan Miller)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 20:01:12 GMT

In article <1992Aug26.165601.8756@sbcs.sunysb.edu>, neilb@scs.leeds.ac.uk (Neil Bowers) writes:
|> In article <17ga9eINN221@chester.ksu.ksu.edu> sdoran@chester.ksu.ksu.edu (Steven Marcotte) writes:
|> >
|> >mucds@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Corey D. Stinson) writes:
|> >
|> >
|> >>	Could someone help me with a problem.  I have a small sprite
|> >>(bitmapped) and when animating, instead of re-drawing the picture over
|> >>and over to repesent the rotation stages I would like to develop some
|> >>algorithm to rotate the image.  And suggestions on one that would not
|> >>degrade the image?
|> >
|> >	Wouldn't the idea be the same as rotating a point on a screen
|> >except instead of moving a point on the screen you are moving a point 
|> >in an array?  Say you wanted an image rotated in 6 different directions.
|> >You would start out with your source bitmap, then apply the rotation
|> >function (which I don't remember right off hand, but it should be in
|> >any trig book) to all points in the array at intervals of 60 degrees.
|> 
|> This solution can result in `holes' in the destination image.  To prevent
|> this, take every point in the destination image, and perform the reverse
|> transformation back to the original image to determine the value for
|> the dest. image.
|> 
|> -neilb

And now you have doubled pixels in place of holes. If this is
satisfactory, fine. If you want something a little more gradual,
use the smoother I suggested.

Grey
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: mucds@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Corey D. Stinson)
Subject: Question: Rotating a small bitmapped image?
Organization: Educational Computing Network
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:29:39 GMT

	Could someone help me with a problem.  I have a small sprite
(bitmapped) and when animating, instead of re-drawing the picture over
and over to repesent the rotation stages I would like to develop some
algorithm to rotate the image.  And suggestions on one that would not
degrade the image?  Thanx for any help you can offer :)
					Corey

Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: Ross Ridge <ross@zooid.guild.org>
Subject: Re: Pacman Ghost logic
Organization: ZOOiD BBS
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 06:03:22 GMT

Jerry Shekhel writes:
>I got away with a really fast and really dumb technique in my Chomp game.

James Hague <exuhag@exu.ericsson.se> writes:
>"Dumb" is the way to go.  To connect this with the computer-controller
>players thread, I find all the talk about genetic algorithms and neural
>networks to be a major overestimation of what is necessary to create
>a formidable opponent (for action games anyway).

dmb@rice-chex.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) writes:
>Also, regardless of how easy it is to make an overly difficult game, it's
>still hard to make computer opponents that aren't very predictable.  If
>you play any current Pac-Man game long enough you'll get very good
>at anticipating the ghosts' "decisions," because when it comes down to
>it they're all canned.  Throwing in some randomness doesn't help a
>whole lot either; a ghost whose movements are random enough to be
>unanticipateable is usually (in my experience) too "dumb" to be a
>threat in practice.

Well that would depend on exactly how much of a disadvantage to the
ghosts the player anticipating the ghosts is.  In the original Pac-Man
it was possible to predict the ghost movements accurately enough to
for books to be published with the exact path to follow through the maze 
to guarantee a victory.  Essentially this means the pridictableness
of the ghosts was terrible disadvantage for them.  Adding a just a bit
of randomness, enough to distrupt any preplaned path, but without
making the ghosts too "dumb" may not be a bad idea. 

							Ross Ridge

-- 
Ross Ridge - The Great HTMU					     l/	 //
								    [OO][oo]
ross@zooid.guild.org						    /()\/()/
uunet.ca!zooid!ross						     db	 //
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
From: cat@wixer.cactus.org (Dr. Cat)
Subject: Re: Network Interactions
Keywords: network, novell
Organization: Real/Time Communications
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 08:10:34 GMT


   If you contact Galacticomm, the publishers of Major BBS, you can get a
copy of their developer kit for doing multiplayer games on a multiline BBS
using their Flash protocol.  There's no charge for the info, you just have to
sign one of their non-disclosure forms.
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: ads@harbor.mitre.org (Alexas D. Skucas)
Subject: Seeking info on Nintendo practices / game copiers / etc.
Organization: Mitre Corporation, McLean, VA
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:43:25 GMT


  I have to write a paper for school and am considering
discussing Nintendo's often questioned practices
regarding how it deals with game developer's and 
distributor's of its products.  If anyone can point
me to any good articles or legal cases discussing
these practices, please e-mail me at the address below.

  An alternative paper would deal with the "game copier"
question and its current legal status. There has been
much discussion lately about what everyone thinks the
law should say, but I want to do research on what the 
law is and perhaps what it should be changed to be.

  My request boils down to this: I have to write a long
(> 25 page) paper about some unresolved or controversial
legal issue surrounding the video game industry.  ANY
suggestion, opinion, or reference to help me get started
would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

Alex
ads@gateway.mitre.org
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: SNES shooters
From: tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu (Tim Dunn)
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 23:37:06 GMT
Organization: California State University, Chico

John Emmer writes:
>So far, the best shooter I've played for the SNES is UN Squadron.

Is it similar to the coin-op? Better question: is it a faithful copy
(holes, glitches and all) or is it an 'adaptation?'

-- 
Fairy Tale, n.:
	A horror story to prepare children for the newspapers.
From: dauria@csa.bu.edu (David DAuria)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: SNES a/v pin-outs wanted
Date: 1 Sep 92 01:16:01 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Computer Science Department, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
Originator: dauria@csa

Does anybody out there have the pin-out for the super nintendo's
a/v port.  I know that they were posted quite some time ago so 
if somebody has them could you please e-mail me them.
Thank You

David D'Auria
dauria@csa.bu.edu

Newsgroups: rec.games.video,comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: dave@admiral.uucp (Dave Litchman)
Subject: Re: Video Games Superior on Consoles
Organization: The Admiral's Unix System & The Grid BBS
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 02:44:15 GMT

In article <34410@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes:
>In article <1992Aug16.081706.12035@news.columbia.edu> stc7@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Steven T Chiang) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug16.073410.10682@utstat.uucp> philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough) writes:
>
>>>Nintendo appears to want to broaden its software base from one which is 
>>>just games' oriented, and that is a good thing in my opinion. It is this
>>
>>	This brings up a good and interesting point.  Apparently, in
>>Japan, the NES (original) was marketed as a home computer, not as  a
>>game machine.  I guess some people had the NES connected to phone
>>lines to monitor stock prices.
>
>Well, that's at least partially true.  When I was in Japan in '85 they had 
>Nintendo "Family Computer" boxes for sale all over the place.  However, they
>didn't do anything but play games, at least back then.  I think it was just
>a marketing thing -- in Japan, you could get away with calling a game 
>machine a computer, in the US, you could not.

In Japan, the NES is called the Famicom, which is a contraction of FAMIly
COMputer. And the SNES is the Super Famicom. So evidently Nintendo is STILL
marketing game consoles as computers.


-- 
"Dammit Jim, I'm a free man, not a number!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Quick, man! Cling tenaciously to my buttocks!" -- Powdered Toast Man
From: spielman@pender.ee.upenn.edu (Terence P. Spielman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Strategies/Special Moves for Street Fighter 2
Date: 1 Sep 92 15:19:59 GMT
Reply-To: spielman@pender.ee.upenn.edu (Terence P. Spielman)
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

Hey netland:

Could somebody (anybody) mail me a strategy guide and o special-move
list for Street fighter 2?  I bought the SNES version and usually play
as Chun Li (sp?).   I've seen people play her in the arcade and have her
literally LAND (hop) on (off) peoples heads.  I've done this once by
accident and could not repeat it.  Couls anybody tell me the proper way
to do this?  In particular, I am interested in strategies/moves for
Chun Li, but any and all other info would b appreciated as well.

Please email me because
1) I don't often read this group and don't have time to search through it
for a response
2) I'm sure this topic has been covered before, and would probably waste
bandwidth with repeat info.

Thanks!

Terence
spielman@pender.ee.upenn.edu
From: nugget@genesis.nred.ma.us (Ralph Barbagallo)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Capcom, Strider, & Genesis.
Keywords: what about Strider
Date: 2 Sep 92 05:04:42 GMT
Organization: Genesis Public Access Minix  +1 508 664 0149

In article <1290@tecsun1.etl.army.mil> carleton@tecsun1.etl.army.mil (Daniel Carleton) writes:
>
>	If CAPCOM is not supporting genesis, why was Sega able to have 
>Strider.  The title screen says 'Reprogrammed by Sega'.  What's to stop
>Sega from liscencing SFII and Final Fight?
>

  Capcom.  If Capcom doesn't want them to make a conversion, they won't offer
them the rights.
 _____________________________________________________________________
(                              (                                      ) 
 )  Ralph A. Barbagallo III     ) Co-Editor of                       (   
(         -----                (                M I N D  S T O R M    )     
 ) nugget@genesis.nred.ma.us    )                                    (   
(                              (  THE Newsletter for high-end gamers! )  
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 MindStorm-9474 Fallson Ct., Blue Ash, OH  45242   (ed. Aaron Buckner)

  
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: vgriscep@wam.umd.edu (VGR (Craig Pell))
Subject: Re: real game controllers
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 02:49:26 GMT

In article <1992Sep1.000906.10800@otto.lvsun.com> joe@otto.lvsun.com (Joe Barger) writes:
>	What is the deal with the home systems today I mean when you
>	look back at the Atari 2600 you could get any type of controller
>	you wanted (I.E. Joystick, Paddle, Steering, Trackball) 

    Actually, Atari never lost sight of this.  As late as 1989 (maybe later),
they were making Atari 2600 games that used the paddles and the Trackball.

    I'm quite surprised there isn't a facsimile of the Paddle around today.
It was truly unique in that it allowed you to move instantly, quite unlike
a joystick (or "plus").  I guess games that require such skill have dwindled
severely.

  VGR
From: tominatr@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Code to play bosses in SF2 for SNES??
Date: 23 Aug 92 18:51:25 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Is there a code which allows you to play thye bosses in the
SNES Street Fighter 2?

If so, e-mail me please!

        - Tom N.
Newsgroups: rec.games.video,alt.games.lynx,comp.sys.atari.st
From: jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke)
Subject: Re: Lynx Batman 2 MILLION SELLOUT!!!! 
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 16:59:36 GMT

Atari may have sold 2 mill. Batman Returns carts, but they did not sell to
Joe Schmo, they sold them to game distributors.  Every store that carrys
Lynx games that I know of (about 9 or 10) has lots of copys of B.R. in stock.
So, it shows that the distributers were confident in it, but it doesn't
say anything about how well the game has sold.  I would really like to know
how well it is selling to the consumer.

Steve
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: rnakhwa@us.oracle.com (Rajesh Nakhwa)
Subject: [SNES] Magic Sword Wanted
Organization: Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores CA
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 16:39:35 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.


I would like to purchase a used copy of SNES Magic Sword.  If yours is in
good condition, please e-mail your price to:	rnakhwa@us.oracle.com

Thankx!

"I am so happy"---The Ren & Stimpy Show

Xref: sparky rec.games.video:17779 alt.games.lynx:527
From: rusbasan@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Bob Rusbasan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video,alt.games.lynx
Subject: Re: Electronic Games
Date: 31 Aug 92 21:29:46 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Purdue University

In <la2mojINNjaq@aludra.usc.edu> rjung@aludra.usc.edu (Robert A. Jung) writes:

>In article <9208302859@genesis.nred.ma.us> nugget@genesis.nred.ma.us (Ralph Barbagallo) writes:
>>BTW, how much is Electronic Games?  Does it have a large fandom section?

The premiere issue has a two-page fandom section comparable to that in
_VG&CE_.

>  I paid $3.95 + taxes for my copy. I'm not sure what you mean by a "fandom"
>section, but most of the magazine is video/computer game reviews, a collection
>of science-fiction games, and a few interviews. Best way to view it is a
>slightly slicker-looking version of VIDEO GAMES & COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT.

I picked up _Electronic games_ today, and overall I found it disappointing.
The paper is about the only thing slicker about it.  My first thought
upon flipping through it was that it looked like a poor man's _VG&CE_.

The content is much the same, with almost a one-to-one correspondence
between _VG&CE_ columns and _EG_ columns, including the feature article
on a certain type of games (science fiction, in this case).  I always
thought that was _VG&CE_'s worst feature, by the way.  Changes from
_VG&CE_ including adopting an ugly, EGM-style layout.  It's not quite
as bad as EGM's, but it's not as clean as _VG&CE_'s.

I had hoped _EG_ would be like _VG&CE_ with _EGM_'s timeliness.  It's
hard to judge the lead time by the first issue, but I don't think the
quality is as high as _VG&CE_ in many ways.  As I said, this is their
very first issue, and I haven't read it through yet.  If the writing
is good, and if they work on improving it, I think _EG_ could turn
out to be a great magazine.

What I really like is their philosophy of providing a magazine for
adults who are into video games.  Video gaming is a fun hobby, and
I'm sick of it being treated as "kid stuff" by most of the magazine
industry.  I was disappointed that they said all of the non-EGM-family
magazines were aimed at kids, since Kunkel, Katz, and Worley just
came from _VG&CE_, which is very similar to the _EG_.  It's really
a slap to _VG&CE_'s face, especially considering the nice little tribute
they wrote to Kunkel, Katz, and Worley when they left.  Despite that,
I'd recommend that people check this magazine out.

I would also recommend that people check out _VG&CE_.  They haven't 
rolled over and died since Katz, Kunkel, and Worley left, and they
seem to be changing the content of their magazine to focus more on 
video games -- in the past one of their major flaws was treating 
video games as inferior to computer games and deserving of 
less coverage.  Their last issue, the first without KKW, was also
one of their best, in my opinion.

-- 
   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  / Bob Rusbasan                  |     Dance to the tension       \
 /  rusbasan@expert.cc.purdue.edu |      of a world on edge         \
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
From: exuhag@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Atari Corp. posts another loss
Date: 2 Sep 92 13:30:27 GMT
Reply-To: exuhag@exu.ericsson.se
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Richardson, TX

Michael L. Kaufman writes:
>
>conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Conty III) writes:
>>For those unfamiliar with them, Atari Corp. (the one losing millions) is
>>the company that manufactures the Lynx, and has announced the mythical
>>Falcon and Jaguar machines.
>
>Are you sure? Electronic Games says that Atari Corp does the coin-ops and 
>Atari Games does the Lynx, mythical Falcon and Jaguar.

Conty III is right, the Game Doctor in EG got it wrong.  The Doctor also
talks about a 386/30 chip...

BTW, does anyone else think that the EG rating system is overkill?  Is there
that much of a difference between an 82% and an 84% score?  And I couldn't
help but notice that the LOWEST rating in the magazine was 75% (as was true
in VG&CE).  It's good to know that all games are well above average...

--
James Hague   
exuhag@exu.ericsson.se
From: skwood@acsu.buffalo.edu (The Man in Black)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: SNES "Upgrade"
Date: 4 Sep 92 20:23:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: acsu.Bu2LzA.7vv
Organization: The Servants of Cthulhu


     It seems that nearly everyone who has ever played the SNES has complained
on more than one occasion about game slow-down and flicker thanks to Nintendo
putting a "wonderful" (insert sarcasm here) processor in the machine.  Anyways,
I've got a couple questions that hopefully someone can shed some light on:

	1)  What exactly is the processor that is in the SNES?  I remember
            it being something like 65816 or something like that.  What
	    clock speed does it run at and an what corportation manufactures
	    the chip (Motorola, Intel, etc.)?

	2)  Is it not possible to replace the current processor in the SNES
	    with the same type, with a faster clock speed?  I seem to remember
	    from some other discusssion that provided the instruction set in
	    the "new" chip incorporates all of the instructions in the  "old"
	    chip in the same way, and that the clock speed of the "new" chip
            is an integer multiple of the original clock speed, (i.e. if the
	    "old" chip ran at 2 Mhz, the new chip would have to run at 4, 6,
	    8, etc. Mhz) there would be little or no compatability problem.

      	3)  If such an "upgrade" described above is feasable, would it be
	    of any help to the slowdown problem prevalent in varying degrees
	    on nearly ALL SNES games?

	I'd like to hear any comments anyone has on this.  

-- 
                                                   Scott
         My good friends call me this ->  skwood@acsu.buffalo.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
From: fox@rei.com (Fuzzy Fox)
Subject: Genesis on Amiga Monitor, How?
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 01:19:26 GMT
Organization: Recognition Equipment, Inc.

If I were to purchase a Sega Genesis console, I would want to be able to
connect it to my Amiga's 2002 RGB monitor.  I do not wish to connect it
to a TV set.

Since I want to rent the Sega system before buying it (to see how I like
the games), I would like some advice on what I will need to do to
connect the system to my monitor.  I doubt that the rental system will
contain full instructions for this purpose.

-- 
#ifdef TRUE         | Fuzzy Fox                  fuzzy@netcom.com
#define  TRUE   0   | a.k.a. David DeSimone      an207@cleveland.freenet.edu
#define  FALSE  1   |
#endif              |         How's my posting?  Call 1-800-ALT-FLAME