That’s a nice game. 
PacDasher 0.98 has been released. It contains bug fixes and extra effects. Also there are two configurations:
The classic maze with 8 levels (I thought 256 was too many), each a little faster than the last:
http://www.oranda.com/java/pacdasher/pacdasher.jnlp
… and a configuration with five different mazes, one for each level:
http://www.oranda.com/java/pacdasher/pacdasherVariety.jnlp
Try the latest version (also at sourceforge.net) and let me know if there is anything I should fix before 1.0. Has anybody tried it on Linux yet?
The comments so far have been very helpful.
James
I would try it, except you aren’t allowing any standard VM’s (webstart is setup to only allowed the as-yet-unreleased 1.5.x JVM) which kind of limits your playerbase :(.
I’ve got another machine with 1.5.x beta installed for compatibility tests (and because of compiler bugs in 1.4.x!) but only use it for compiling really so might have to setup lots of extra stuff to get a windowing system etc on there :(.
you can have 1.4 support by reweaving the class files: retroweaver.sf.net
this helps when you have used generics and iterable (for-each).
if you have used anything from the JDK 1.5 API you should wrap the functionality. eg. use System.currentTimeMillis() when system property java.version reports 1.4 and System.nanoTimer() on 1.5 only.
btw: game runs nice on linux
Thanks TheBohemian. Retroweaver seems to work pretty well. In release 0.99 of PacDasher I have a run14 script for people using Java 1.4:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/pacdasher/pacdasher_0_9_9.zip
Hope this works for Mac users like swpalmer. There is just one extra bug in the 1.4 version, to do with sound.
Version 0.99 also has fruit at each level, a classic Pac-Man feature missing till now.
Let me know of any problems. I’m afraid I won’t have much more time to work on PacDasher, as I am going back into industry soon.
James
[quote]Thanks TheBohemian. Retroweaver seems to work pretty well.
[/quote]
Uh oh, blah^3. Are you ready to give Retroweaver a try yet? 
God bless,
-Toby Reyelts
Just to be clear: I never had a reason not to try retroweaver (and indeed it’s solely thanks to me that it’s sticky in the forums).
However, there are really huge reasons why it’s exceptionally dangerous for people with businesses etc to bet the farm on such things.
Anyway, if a webstart version appears that uses retroweaver then I’ll certainl play this game ;D
Oh, I see. Nice. Apparently, I haven’t been getting notifications when posts got added to that thread. Looks like I need to do some replying.
[quote]However, there are really huge reasons why it’s exceptionally dangerous for people with businesses etc to bet the farm on such things.
[/quote]
To each their own I suppose. The majority of users that contact me about Retroweaver are using it for business purposes. They don’t seem to think they’re “betting the farm”, but they sure are happy about the productivity gains they get.
God bless,
-Toby Reyelts
[quote]Anyway, if a webstart version appears that uses retroweaver then I’ll certainl play this game
[/quote]
http://www.oranda.com/java/pacdasher/pacdasher14.jnlp
Web Start for 1.4 gives you a scarier certificate message than 1.5. Also, if the keys don’t work at first, check that there isn’t a dialog blocking things in the background. Lastly, sound is not supported for the 1.4 version.
By the way, has anybody tried the run14 script in the distro?
James
I have released 1.0 (final) of PacDasher, the free Java arcade game. It is downloadable at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=81889&package_id=83945
On unzipping the file, just execute the run script – assuming you have the latest version of Java. As always, the game can be run from the Web at http://www.oranda.com/java/pacdasher/pacdasher.jnlp.
Thanks to everybody for giving feedback over the past eighteen months and helping make this software what it is.
James
neat game! However I like how in the origional pacman if you’re moving left and you hold the stick Up, PacMan will take the first opening that appears above him. I got killed once because I was holding left to make a turn and he never did, and instead just kept going up into a ghost 
Also, the AI is nothing like what was in the origional PacMan. At one point I cleared at least 1/3 of the level because 3 ghosts were just running around at the bottom left while the last ghost ran back and forth in the little box where they spawn.
Could you try anti-aliasing the shapes for your guys? That might help them look better too.