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What is Pacman?

Pacman is a faithful recreation of the classic arcade game, developed in C using SDL 1.2. This implementation brings the nostalgic gameplay of the original Pacman to Linux systems with modern conveniences like automatic display resolution restoration and multi-monitor configuration support. The game features four colorful ghosts with distinct AI behaviors, power pellets that turn the tables on your pursuers, and progressive difficulty levels that challenge even experienced players.

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Key features

SDL 1.2 graphics engine

Classic 2D rendering with hardware-accelerated graphics and audio support

Automatic resolution restoration

Intelligently saves and restores your monitor configuration when exiting the game

Multi-monitor support

Handles extended desktop setups with proper position and primary display management

Authentic gameplay

Four ghosts with unique AI behaviors, power pellets, and progressive difficulty

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Display management

One of the standout features of this Pacman implementation is its sophisticated display management system. Built for Linux with X11, the game uses a combination of GLFW and xrandr to:
  • Capture your current screen resolution and refresh rate before launching
  • Generate a restoration script at /tmp/restaurar_xrandr.sh that preserves:
    • Resolution for each connected display
    • Relative positioning between monitors
    • Primary display designation
  • Automatically restore your desktop configuration when you exit
This means you can play in fullscreen mode without worrying about your carefully configured multi-monitor setup being disrupted.
The restoration process typically takes 1-2 seconds, especially with multiple monitors connected.

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Ghost AI personalities

Each of the four ghosts has its own hunting behavior:
  • Red Ghost (Nagosia): Directly targets Pacman’s current position
  • Blue Ghost (Beltzak): Follows Pacman’s previous position with slight delay
  • Yellow Ghost (Azkar): Switches between aggressive pursuit and random wandering within a 9-tile radius
  • Gray Ghost (aMoK): Similar behavior to yellow, providing unpredictable gameplay
When you collect a power pellet, all ghosts enter “scared” mode and flee to random positions, giving you a chance to hunt them down for bonus points.

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Get started

Quickstart

Get playing in under 5 minutes

Installation

Install dependencies and set up your system

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Technical stack

The game is built with classic Linux development tools:
src/main.c
#include "SDL.h"
#include <GLFW/glfw3.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    // Command-line options: -f (fullscreen) or -w (windowed)
    while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "fw")) != -1)
        switch (ch) {
        case 'f':
            sdl_flags = (SDL_SWSURFACE | SDL_HWPALETTE | 
                        SDL_DOUBLEBUF | SDL_FULLSCREEN);
            break;
        case 'w':
            sdl_flags = (SDL_SWSURFACE | SDL_HWPALETTE | 
                        SDL_DOUBLEBUF);
            break;
        }
    
    guardarResolucionOriginal();
    init_gfx();
    stargame(&fan, &pc, COMENZAR);
    restaurarResolucionOriginal();
}
This game requires X11 and is optimized for Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux distributions. The xrandr utility must be installed for automatic resolution restoration to work.

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Project structure

The codebase is organized into modular components:
  • src/main.c - Entry point and display management (src/main.c:160)
  • src/gfx.c - Graphics initialization and rendering
  • src/movefant.c - Ghost movement and AI logic
  • src/mov_fig.c - Pacman movement and collision detection
  • src/teclado.c - Keyboard input handling (src/teclado.c:17)
  • src/sprites.c - Sprite loading and management
  • data/ - Game assets including sprites, sounds, and fonts
The game uses a traditional Makefile build system with GCC compiler optimizations for performance.

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