Ms. Pac-Man Tutorial 1: Ghost Behavior

[@mano1971music]

I could have used this advice back in 1982 and saved all my lunch money (lol)

[@solonsaturngaming3727]

Them feels but in the late 90’s

[@FIXMYPACMAN]

I have been playing Ms. Pac-Man for a long time, and this is by far the best explanation of Ghost Behaviour I have ever seen. This guide is not just for beginners as you mentioned. This is a great tutorial for any player at any level. Very, Very Interesting - Great Job! "Liked and Subscribed" - Keep em coming.

[@philosophiabme]

A little Khan Academy vibe from this

[@Templarfreak]

This is true in so many ways.

[@StreetComp]

Thanks for the help, interesting that you see the Blue ghost as being Green though, it’s a lighter Blue or Cyan since this probably has 16 colors

[@MrAnningmay]

I am amazed how many people mention this. Since you were at least nice about it... I do realize that the ghost is Cyan. I chose Green (and not blue) because the ghosts actually DO turn blue when they eat an energizer, and I wanted to avoid confusion. Funny how that one "helpful" idea I had has bent so many people out of shape! If I ever do any more of these, I'll just refer to the ghost as Inky and be done with it lol

[@StreetComp]

Whoa going back almost a year since I wrote that, I must not have scrolled down very far into comments or I wouldn’t have brought up the ghost color and I certainly didn’t intend to pile on something so unimportant to the video. But thanks again for the very helpful video as I still enjoy MsPacMan 🙂

[@MrAnningmay]

Nah, no worries. It just makes me laugh how many people care so much about it. I'm always thinking: don't you care about the information?! LOL@@StreetComp

[@Lokii859]

@@MrAnningmay Damn did you just return after 10 years to answer this question? And StreetComp did after half a year? You guys are crazy

[@steveneedham13]

You are the man! Been playing for so many years and no one has put it so clearly. Top work mate. Yes I know I’m late to the party…

[@Templarfreak]

For those who are confused wtih the "green" Ghost, Inky is Cyan and Cyan is #00FFFF (0,255,255), or exactly as much Green as it is blue. This is not to be confused with Teal, which is #008080 (0,128,128), or half green and blue. These are the generally agreed upon color values for these colors, meaning Teal != Cyan as much as Red != Blue. Also, how the fuck do people know Inky's name but not know what the color Cyan is or that Inky is Cyan Lol.

[@patrickwallace3038]

Green ghost? Who calls Inky green?

[@WeWereTheStorm]

Green Ghost?

[@geektome4781]

KnightsRadiant He’s not saying green ghost. He’s saying gringos.

[@silverTabbed]

Must be blue-green colorblindness

[@shadowpersonoftheunknown6245]

Technically, Inky is teal. Green and blue

[@docnathan3959]

Light blue, not green.

[@TyG2k9]

Actually Inky is cyan which is a greenish-blue, but I still wouldn't call him a green ghost.

[@CaptainScarLeg]

Wow, calling Inky a "green" ghost made me pause the video and go down a weird colour rabbit hole on google. At first I thought, why is it we don't all think of cyan more like purple and orange? It's a secondary colour like those right? Nope, I forgot GREEN is a secondary colour (between blue and yellow) even though it's often treated like a primary colour, making cyan a tertiary colour. Other tertiary colours include vermillion (red-orange) and chartreuse (yellow-green) and how often do you think about those colours by name? Anyway, I guess my original point was that I'd never call cyan green. I've always considered it more of a light blue even though I know that's technically not true. I know it's just as much green as it is blue, even if my brain doesn't want to accept that and has decided to group cyan with shades of blue rather than green. Similarly I'd never consider chartreuse a shade of yellow. I bet there's some wacky psychological reasons why we each group colours differently in our heads. Umm, colour nonsense aside this is a great video!

[@joshymcdaniel9233]

Lmfao I commented then saw yours’ all I could think is inky = what has ink…. a pen has ink.. and what color is pen ink…? I’ve seen liar liar …… so I know the pen that I hold in my hand is BLUE! 🤦🏻‍♂️ Inky is blue Pinky is well…. Pink Leaving blinky he must be red Because we all know the odd man out is Clyde so he’s orange’ I’m ready to be asked this random trivia question on the street to win 1k dollars! 🥳

[@nicholasfisher7554]

The pink ghost is pinky and the red ghost is blinky

[@nicholasfisher7554]

The ghost that you call green is blue and the blue ghost is inky the orange ghost is Clyde

[@Vendzor]

The orange ghost is Clyde in Pac-Man and Sue in Ms. Pac-Man.

[@Yoshikarter1]

Just for the fun of it, you should have covered the AI of the ghost eyes after you eat them, where, due to their pathing, they will go circles (this is only possible in certain levels). It was the main reason why I loved this game. The ghost eyes going in circles was especially a highlight to me as kid. It always cracked me up, still does...

[@joshymcdaniel9233]

I know it’s 4 years late but he did cover it in part 2 :-) who knew there was so much work that went into ai for this game or should say for 80s it’s impressive the math/ pathing involved’ Todays standards it’s prolly “noob knowledge” lol but such a great helpful video part 2 more so on how to group’

[@Yoshikarter1]

@@joshymcdaniel9233 I didn't realize there was a part 2. Thanks for the heads up.

[@joshymcdaniel9233]

@@Yoshikarter1 u bet man part 2 way better than part 1 lol’ I never thought it was even possible to do the ps4 trophies for ms pac man and mr. Pac-man after videos and a 2 days of just playing for fun I have my platt trophies for both games’ once u learn the ai’s patterns it’s like cheating ….lol u can basically just have them follow u all the time and never get eaten’

[@kernzyp]

bloody hell David!!! that was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@BingChilling-hr1hh]

Wish I had this video back in the early 2000s

[@Pesthuf]

Excellent Video. With your explanations and the visuals, this was very easy to understand.

[@EZDoes1t]

This video was great! Great breakdown of the AI! Thanks so much!

[@VelvetRolo]

Great vids. Slow balloon level is wonderful... I need to put more effort into Jr. Pac. Just wondering what are you running here? It looked like some of the diagramming was real-time (which apparently is the javascript app?), which would mean the x,y coordinates of the players are available somehow? Seeing Inky's target move around in real time is great! But yeah, what is this running on, to offer the x,y coordinates of the ghosts to a javascript app?

[@TheWASHINGMACHINEBOY]

i once read on pac man for ipad that the ghosts randomly change from scatter mode to chase mode in scatter mode the ghosts move into the corners of the maze and in chase mode a ghost chases pac man (or in this case ms pac man)

[@fanbutton]

From my experience while playing this game, I find that the blue-green ghost is the most challenging as it seems to morph into any of the other ghost's behavior at anytime for a very short span. Just never know what it is going to do, so aside from the red ghost, I definitely try to stay away from the blue-green ghost.

[@MrAnningmay]

Indeed! The secret to dealing with Inky is to keep him close to Red whenever possible. When the two are together, they behave the same. I cover this in my second tutorial on grouping. One caveat: it's much harder to do this when Red is moving faster than the other ghosts (a thing that I never explained... maybe I need to do another tutorial at some point? 😀)

[@leia1007]

awesome ms pacman tutorial, been playing alot a few days now, noticed the ghost tendencies but this is just amazing info

[@pierogiengineering]

Very good visualizations

[@xenocore01]

Thanks for the video man. I read the website that discussed the AI for the ghost before. this is a very good video version of that. Kudos. I wonder sometimes that the AI design for 5 nights at freedy's follows a similar setup for the positioning of the chatacters. The creator i dont think will ever share, but it seems like the same kind of template was applied. The fox comes straight for you, the bunny and chicken both try to move towards the office, the bear is random. Probably a longshot, but thought I would mention it to you. Behind the scenes coding stuff is always interesting.

[@RyanJaunzemis]

Mind-blown! :) Great vid bro! Thanks!

[@morsteen]

Pretty amazing analysis here. I've always gone by instinct and feel, and have done pretty good. Awesome video. I did however keep wondering where this green ghost you are talking about is? Could never see it. There's a blue ghost though lol.

[@nolang.7443]

I think he meant mint green?

[@morsteen]

yeah i suppose that could be it.

[@theimperialempire4245]

I would call it aqua. :-)

[@peachez8610]

Maybe his color blind

[@mr-mfker2u29]

What green ghost...does he mean the blue one

[@Philsy1971]

The orange ghost is female. Her name is Sue.

[@MrAnningmay]

No shit.

[@robertlambert1440]

Great information, never knew this as long as i use to play this game in the past ☺

[@lordofthestings]

My hearing is not great and this is really hard for me to hear.

[@sle2470]

How the hell am I supposed to remember all this while I'm playing?! LOL!

[@MrAnningmay]

Practice :-)

[@sle2470]

@@MrAnningmay I know, I know. Git Gud. LOL!

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

@@MrAnningmay YOU ROCK 🎸🎸🎸🎸!

[@estesroket007]

Can you share the PC app you are using? I would love to purchase to practice, thanks

[@MrAnningmay]

@@estesroket007 Sadly, I can't! The story behind it is that a young programmer decided it would be fun (and educational) to make an app that perfectly emulated Ms Pac-Man, but also included the bells and whistles you see here (eg showing the ghosts' targets in real time, but it also allowed you to play procedurally generated mazes... epic stuff) After building it, he asked a bunch of top MsPac players to help him test it for accuracy, and we did. So what happened? Well, Namco caught wind of it and sent him a cease and desist. We were all pretty devastated by it, because his app was SO cool! 😪

[@docnathan3959]

Why does the orange ghost run away from you when you come too close? That should only work if Pac Man eats a power pellet.

[@Juxtapose1984]

That's explained starting at 9:30. He runs away when he's close to Ms. Pac-Man (about 8 dots diameter).

[@SilkySilv]

Well done video. AMAZING! broke it down beautifully! Thank you!

[@pablor.122]

What an excellent guide!. Thanks a lot.

[@Seama327]

I’m so confused. There is no green ghost. What is he talking about???

[@Seama327]

After I’ve watched a little bit more, I’ve figured out he’s talking about the blue ghost.

[@miketate3445]

Dude, that's cyan, not green! :)

[@QCJSiteB]

Inky is blue, not green...

[@GracielaVegaForward]

Cyan is both green and blue; some cultures call it grue.

[@fatalwreck9254]

Clyde kills me the most, followed by Blinky. Inky and Pinky rarely kill me. For some reason Clyde always find a way to kill me.

[@ninonook677]

how did you turn it into practice mode, i would love to know how you did that, and how to use it as well

[@knightrdrx]

that's interesting . i am too busy trying to clear the maze. so really you want to use this to stay away from who ever is in your way or approaching you. or how to decide where to go next. or trying to predict their next turn? how dyou put this all together

[@MrAnningmay]

Good question! The goal of all of this is to go one step further than merely dodging them; true mastery means learning how to group the ghosts (i. e. get at least Blinky, Pinky, and Inky as close together as possible together in one big group). Once you can do this, you have very little chance of dying, since you have effectively changed the game into a 1 on 1 fight rather than a 4 on 1 fight. I do explain the basics of this in my second tutorial here, if you want to take a look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4aaeYOoftmhnZY

[@philmcclenaghan7056]

I don't understand. It's very well knowing where the ghosts are aiming for, but how do you know the route they'll take? For example, at 7:40 why is the red ghost going past you when it's aiming for you?

[@philmcclenaghan7056]

Half of my problems is I'm getting surrounded and trying to evade out of danger and can't predict which turn they are going to take.

[@MrAnningmay]

This is an excellent question with a tricky answer, and to be perfectly honest, I can't remember if I covered this in this video! So, at 7:40, when the ghosts reach the intersection, the x and y axes of the box are equal, which is to say, the vertical distance to Ms Pac-Man is equal to the horizontal distance. When this happens, the ghosts always prioritize one direction over the other. The priority order is up, left, down, right. So... in this example, given a choice between going down and right, the ghosts will choose to go down, since down is a higher priority than right. Make sense? If you look up videos that show "hiding places" or "safe spots" or "holds," you'll find that many of them take advantage of this particular quirk of the AI. As for not getting surrounded, well... that just takes a lot of practice. :-) Eventually, you'll start to see the maze and ghost movements as a chessboard.

[@philmcclenaghan7056]

@@MrAnningmay thank you so much, that makes sense. I can only hope to be as good as you in the future. Right now I can't even get close to my previous high score and I'm hating it.

[@AoSXSilent]

Wow Man Awesome! I Know i am Posting this comment 3 Years Later But I Found A New Channel! You Just Earned A Subscriber!

[@KillerQueen55]

Inky (Kimagure) is Cyan.

[@mattkev493]

The ghost behavior described in this video seems to be identical to that of the original pacman. How was the AI changed between the games?

[@theimperialempire4245]

Instead of having a scatter mode where they go to their corresponding corners, the targets changes rapidly between the four corners until they start chasing.

[@Skazellino]

Practice mode and infinite lives...what version is this?

[@markdobs]

What version has practised mode?

[@ThomasMink]

So many don't know that cyan is equal parts blue and green. So you could get away with calling it either color because either one is both equally right, and wrong. Regardless, it was pretty neat to see Inky's targeting in a sort of live action mode here. :)

[@MrAnningmay]

Finally someone makes the correct observation! Regardless, everyone else is missing the point, which is this: the only time the ghosts are truly blue is after you eat an energizer. For me to call Inky "blue" in his default state would be confusing, to say the least. Thus, green (or cyan) it is!

[@SamaraVidZ]

It’s definitely light blue

[@anthonyezell8710]

Makes sense! I can figure out the color or it's movements! That ghost drives me crazy!!

[@Pacmau01]

I hace never ever seen such a detailed explanation of Pac-Man Ghosts behaviour until now. Gosh I wish I could have this tool to help me practice. I am a very enthusiastic Pac-Man fan. Now, Do these configurations apply to other Pac-Man related games? Like Jr. Pac-Man or recent ones like the mazes on Pac-Man World 2 or Pac-Man World Championship? Also, there were some versions of the original Pac-Man game where the AI for the ghosts was incredible easier... I wonder why.

[@MrAnningmay]

Glad you enjoyed it! To answer your questions: First off, these configurations apply to Pac-Man and Pac-Man plus, with one caveat: these games have a "scatter" mode where the ghosts each head back to their own corner. More info on this can be found in the "Pac-Man Dossier" linked above. As far as Jr. Pac-Man goes, 75% of the info is correct. The one ghost that is different is the Orange ghost (called Tim in Jr. Pac-Man); the basic idea is the same, but instead of running to the lower left corner, he runs to the exact center of the maze (note: I don't mean the screen (which scrolls), I mean the actual MAZE). I am not familiar with any of the recent games. I CAN tell you that the iOS versions get the AI wrong, even when set to "classic" mode. :-) As far as the AI being easier on certain versions of the original, well... I'm guessing this has something to do with AI characteristics that I haven't (yet) discussed in my tutorials! :-) Whenever I get around to making Tutorial 3, I'll try to address this!

[@Pacmau01]

You're a true Pac-Maniac. I admire you sir! (Also, seems like the orange ghost always has that "random" sense of direction)

[@gr3yh47]

what tool are you using? it seems like it would be fantastic for training.

[@MrAnningmay]

The tool is a javascript app written by Shaun Williams, who reverse engineered the code from the original game and employed some of us old-school gamers as testers. Unfortunately, Namco caught wind of the project and shut it down, and thus it no longer exists. :-(

[@viviengoh6786]

Theres no green ghost

[@SEGAClownboss]

Immensely helpful, thank you

[@janjansen8634]

With what emulator are you playing Ms. Pac Man in the video? Is sure is not Mame... The graphics are very polished: it's not the original arcade version. Where can we get it?

[@MrAnningmay]

+Jan Jansen No, not MAME for this one. Awhile back a programmer named Shaun Williams reverse engineered the Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man code and created a site which allowed the player to show the ghosts' AI/targetting in real time. This was a very handy thing for this tutorial! Unfortunately, Namco issued a shutdown notice once they caught wind of the project, and thus it no longer exists :-(

[@janjansen8634]

+David Manning Thanks for clearing that up! We'll rely on using Mame in the future then. :)

[@guitarwarrior69]

Excellent info great vid!!!

[@Realmasterorder]

I see 2 ghost almost same colour on these photos in the game i see a difference though :)

[@wetbadger2174]

In pacman if you follow the exact same path, the ghost will behave the same, but this isn't true in ms pacman. Is there a period of randomness in the very beginning before these AI principals take effect?

[@theimperialempire4245]

Yes, the ghost targets switch between the 4 corners rapidly before they start chasing you. It is the equivalent of the scatter mode in pac-man.

[@MrAnningmay]

7 seconds. Right up until the first reversal.

[@rumplestinksalot]

What program did you use for this vid I want to practice

[@theimperialempire4245]

The pac-man tribute project by Matt Shanuew. I don't know if it still works as it stopped working for me. :-(

[@GeoffSuttor]

Looking to watch a full legitimate (with no contiue or cheats) hundred thousand+ game of Ms Pacman online (normal speed) and cannot find one. Can anyone help?

[@MrAnningmay]

@@GeoffSuttor Start here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXeyaWp_raicqq8si=FU1A6n0DSkOwn43h While he doesn't have the ENTIRE game (cherry/strawberry missing, as well as a hundred or so repeating mazes that would likely bore you), this is undoubtedly the highest level of play you will find on KZbin. The player is Aart Van Vliet, and he is a beast! IMO, he is the best ever to play the game, possibly excepting Abdner Ashman (the current WR holder). Enjoy!

[@GeoffSuttor]

@@MrAnningmay Thankyou!

[@mungrin]

These videos are Amazing! Ive been playing these games almost my whole life and those i could score in Ms Pac is 80,000.I am sure I can beat that now.That Java scrip Prog. Whats the name of it?

[@puertoriconnect4611]

The pink and the blue ghosts are such a pain in the ass.

[@anthonyezell8710]

I totally agree! They both love to trap you! The off blue one gives me the most problems!!!

[@charliepearson1678]

Thanks for the poop . i have to see if i can use it in play .

[@jasontennyson133]

cool man!!!! Good job!

[@smartdummy5751]

does anyone know of any exercises I can do to practice the three grouping concepts David talked about? so I can apply the concepts to my techniques as I'm moving around the maze and as the behavior of each ghost changes. it is hard to make the right moves in real-time to keep the ghosts together. In the Snes port of Ms. Pac-Man sometimes I think pinky(for example) is going to keep moving forward because she/he is chasing me and her target is in front of me(according to the video) but she/he moves back away from me and seems to take the longer path. Behavior like this confuses me and I end up being killed by the ghosts. >>if requested I'd be happy to post a vid to show what I'm talking about. :)

[@MrAnningmay]

It is possible that the SNES port of Ms. Pac-Man doesn't have the same AI as the original arcade version...? I'm actually not sure about this, I've never played that version. I do know that the iOS ports of the game are "wrong" as compared to the original, even in Classic mode. My recommendation is to practice with the original version in MAME. Getting MAME running can be a bit of a chore, but well worth it. I did most of my learning in MAME with the help of save states. Alas, it all just takes time; eventually, you'll start to see the big picture and it will click. :-)

[@smartdummy5751]

@David Manning thanks David. I'm not that good at the game right now but I have been playing it for a couple of hours now and I've been having fun. it feels like a fast-paced chess game to me. ♞ thanks for the vid. 👍

[@rickrice8660]

Think of it like Galaxy Quest when they were towing miles. I typically clear out most of the dots, then start running around trying to get them to collectively tag along. Usually works well, though I am on a sped up version, not the original slow speed.

[@smartdummy5751]

@Sue Spencer hey Sue, it's been a while since I posted [.this] reply. However, I was referring to the NES port of Ms. Pacman. All I remember was that the three grouping concepts David talked about didn't seem to work with the NES port of Ms. Pacman when I was playing it at the time. I also have the gameboy port of pacman but I haven't bothered to apply the concepts in [.this] video to it.

[@grizzwith10zs78]

Thanks. I went from losing every game against my mom & sister to whipping their asses in this game. I'm talking me scoring 80/90k every game.

[@SpeedyNinja1152]

Isn't it the exact same as Pac Man?

[@Bijuklich]

awesome, thanks :)

[@SomeRandomDylan]

Wait How do you have inf. lives?

[@i_CARLYYYYY]

I have a mini machine so I need to memorize the patterns 😌

[@polymakegames]

He called Inky green to cause a ruckus. It worked! Lol

[@jolliebearforchrist5468]

MRS. PACMAN ROCKS 🎸🎸🎸🎸!

[@HenryAnimate]

This is Shanews remake of pacman

[@Philsy1971]

Inky is blue, not green.

[@MrAnningmay]

A ghost is only truly blue after an energizer has been eaten. Inky is actually both blue AND green, and to avoid confusion in this regard, I refer to her as green.

[@Theofficialgoon]

Who else got a arcade game for Christmas and tryna beat the game?

[@Blucario90]

Good video but you kept referring to the blue ghost as the green ghost. In reality the green ghost's AI is to follow the path that you took until you stop so that it can kill you.

[@CapitanFantasma1776]

Thanks!

[@scooterahlers9666]

Good video but why not call the ghosts by name instead? You know....Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde....

[@MrAnningmay]

Yes, yes, I know. I've had many complaints about this over the years. One thing, however: in Ms. Pac-Man, the orange ghost is named Sue, NOT Clyde... :)

[@jean-marconsenfoo9914]

too bad that the sound is sucking so much.

[@joshymcdaniel9233]

I honestly never thought I would watch 30 mins on pac-man logic but here I am’ thanks ps4 trophies’ only thing u drove me insane with is inky is blue! Not green 🤣 how do u remember inky…? Think of ink … okay a pen has ink and what color is pen ink…. The pen that I hold in my hand is BLUE! (Insert liar liar reference) But inky aside I loved the 2 videos’ so simple but like most I left it to chance’ Within 15 mins I got my perfect’ I never thought something so stupid could give me such a rush…. Heart racing knees weak palms were sweaty…. These 4 Ghosts better get ready cuz victory is mine!!

[@TwippyTwilight]

Links don't work anymore fyi

[@MrAnningmay]

Thanks for the heads up! The second link is still good. The first link has been moved to here: www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3938/the_pacman_dossier.php?print=1 Updating the notes now...

[@TwippyTwilight]

David Manning anytime.

[@honeylemon3734]

When he said green ghost I just about lost it

[@ronud]

thanks..!!!!!!

[@Innis1zNHerr]

Are you for real

[@liquidsword04]

thx :D

[@oldskollgamer590]

Aww hell just play the game and have fun....skip all that science

[@Helives0420]

You talk way to soft and too low. Hard to understand you.

[@TriplePProject]

Too loquacious, and awful mic technique, but nice video. ^___^