Pac-Man World/Development Information

This page details notable development information on Pac-Man World.
A considerable amount of information on Pac-Man World's development has been revealed by Scott Rogers, the lead designer for the game. Of particular note, Rogers held an e-mail exchange with Tim Crist (of "Totally Obsessed - Pac-Man" infamy), which, while sarcastic in tone, did reveal genuine information about the game. Additionally, many design documents and storyboards from the game have surfaced; some of these were published online by the PlayStation Museum in the late 2000s, while others were unveiled by Rogers in 2022 (following the release of Pac-Man World Re-Pac).
Note that this page does not feature information on Pac-Man Ghost Zone (which was reworked into Pac-Man World). For development information on that game, see its respective page section.
== Story ==
=== Final plot ===
In the final release of Pac-Man World, the plot of the game is that, on Pac-Man's birthday, his family is kidnapped by Toc-Man, a robot Pac-Man impersonator. Toc-Man throws his own party with the Ghosts, claiming to be Pac-Man. By the end of the game, Toc-Man is revealed to be piloted by a small ghost named Orson; who comes out crying, stating that "nobody loves a ghost". Pac-Man grabs a Power Pellet, eats Orson, and shrugs.
=== First draft ===
The initial draft of the script was completely different than the final plot. The cutscenes were to be presented in a format loosely parodying "Citizen Kane" (in fact, Orson was named after the film's director, Orson Welles). Each cutscene would feature Namco characters as news reporters, detailing Pac-Man's fame and fortune. Orson, jealous of Pac-Man, would attempt to outshine his success (such as starring in a TV show and a breakfast cereal); each attempt ending in failure.
Orson would eventually give up on his desire for stardom. He opened a Pac-Dot manufacturing plant and made a fortune, leading to him building a castle on Ghost Island. However, Orson's obsession with Pac-Man continued; leading to him wanting to become Pac-Man. Earlier drafts had Orson "enormously fat", dress up as Pac-Man, and "marry" an inflatable Ms. Pac-Man doll; this was later toned down into becoming the Toc-Man robot. This would then lead into Orson kidnapping Pac-Man's family and throwing a party; which is the only real carry-over into the final game's story.
There is one additional note about this story concept: Orson's name is not actually mentioned within Pac-Man World, and was only "officially" revealed in Pac-Man World 3. Namco has since somewhat retconned the Orson name, referring to him as "Toc-Man (Ghost)" in the subtitles of Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
=== Second draft ===
The second draft is much closer to the final release, but still contains numerous differences.
==== Opening ====
One of the initial concepts for Pac-Man World involved Pac-Man saving various Namco characters, though this concept was mostly dropped (reportedly at the last minute) in favor of using Pac-Man's family instead. Despite this, the actual storyboards are nearly identical to the final plot - save for the characters used. Characters that were originally part of the concept included (in order):
*Dig Dug - replaced with Chomp-Chomp in final.
*Valkyrie and Kurino Xandra from Valkyrie no Densetsu - replaced with Baby Pac-Man and Pooka in final.
*Mappy - replaced with Jr. Pac-Man in final.
*Professor Pac-Man - unaltered in final.
*Ms. Pac-Man and Sour Puss - unaltered in final, though Sour Puss has a much greater focus in the storyboards.
Pooka was also a carry-over from the original plan; he was reportedly left in the final game as there weren't enough members in the Pac-Man family to fill all six worlds. Scott Rogers has also cited Pooka as a personal favorite, which may have been another factor in his inclusion.
Of minor note is that Valkyrie and Xandra's names are misspelled in the storyboards as Valkerie and Sandra. In the final game, one of the locations listed on Professor Pac-Man's map in the opening is "Valkerie Memorial Park"; referencing Valkyrie and retaining the storyboard's typo.
==== Ending ====
Pac-Man was planned to say "I love you, Orson" in the ending scene before eating him. This idea was scrapped, however, as the development team wasn't able to properly decide on a voice for Pac-Man; it was ultimately decided to not voice Pac-Man at all, save for his scream in the opening intro. Rogers suggested having Pac-Man make "wakka wakka" sounds with the "I love you, Orson" line subtitled, but this was not done either.
== "Pac-Man's Pal" post ==
In October of 1999, an alleged Namco Hometek employee posted information about Pac-Man World on a fan-made forum website called "Pac-Chat". However, the developer credited themselves as "Pac-Man's Pal", making it unclear who they truly were.https://web.archive.org/web/20050409222440/http://hometown.aol.com/pacmanic/PMW.html
Despite several oddities in the forum post, much of the information present has been corroborated by more verifiable sources. In actuality, "Pal" was almost certainly Scott Rogers; as multiple claims present match later statements by him. For example, "Pal" stated that he designed Toc-Man to look like a "nutcracker"; this matches Roger's concept artwork, which was only revealed visually in 2022.https://twitter.com/mightybedbug/status/1568615313239076865 The below claims have not been widely publicized elsewhere outside of "Pal's" post:
=== Levels ===
*A "Pac-Dot Forest" level was planned; Pac-Man could shake trees to make Pac-Dots fall out of them. A known design document matches this description.
**It was also stated that there was "a lumber jack ghost with an axe"; this description sounds strikingly similar to an unused ghost named "Pierre" in the coding of the unreleased Pac-Man Ghost Zone. "Pal" claimed that the axe ghost "was given 'the axe' 'cause Japan didn't like the ghosts to carry objects"; this doesn't make much sense conceptually, though it's possible it was a request to remove the axe due to violence.
*A scrapped level where Pac-Man ran on top of a steam train, avoiding conductor ghosts. The train would reportedly "take Pac-Man from the forest to the pirate town"; this may suggest that the forest was intended to be the first level, before Buccaneer Beach.
*A level that "took place inside a fish" after the fish ate Pac-Man.
*A mechanic where Pac-Man could swim between islands, seemingly referring to the world map.
*The Funhouse world was planned to have a rollercoaster level that played similarly to the mine cart levels in Donkey Kong Country; it was reportedly cut due to deadlines.
*The Ruins world was originally going to be based around archaeology. It was planned to reference Pac-Man's history detailed in hieroglyphics; Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness would later use Pac-Man hieroglyphics, albeit not referencing anything in particular.
*"Pal" joked about adding a "Sock Puppet-Land" to the game.
=== Misc. ===
*A claim that four additional power-ups were planned: magnetic shoes that allowed Pac-Man to walk on walls, bigger gloves that let Pac-Man fly by flapping his hands, chili peppers that would let Pac-Man breathe fire, and a power-up that made Pac-Man inflate like a balloon.
*Numerous unnamed characters had internal names that were not utilized in the game. Ones of particular note include "Mehearty", "Piero", and "Kiba" - names of the pirate, clown, and "savage" ghosts, respectively.
== References ==
== Sources ==
* "The 1st Church Of Pac-Man Exclusive interview with Scott Rogers" (Tim Crist, archive.org)
* "Pac-Man World - PlayStation Museum"
*"Prerelease: Pac-Man World (PlayStation)" (The Cutting Room Floor)
Category:Game Information