Pac-Man Evolution

Classic arcade rules with evolving ghost intelligence.

Pac-Man Evolution is a C++17 game built with the CRM64Pro GDK, combining classic and procedurally generated mazes with neural-network ghost AI trained through genetic evolution.

C++17
CRM64Pro GDK 0.80.0
Procedural mazes
Neural network AI
Windows, Linux, macOS
zlib license

Overview

Pac-Man Evolution is a modern recreation of the classic arcade game featuring intelligent ghost AI powered by trained neural networks. It combines genetic algorithms and neural networks to create adaptive, cooperative ghost behaviors.

The game offers two player-facing modes: Standard mode uses built-in mazes and classic ghost behavior rules, while Evolution mode combines procedurally generated mazes with neural network-driven ghosts trained over 400 generations.

Trademark notePac-Man is a trademark of Bandai Namco Entertainment.
This is an independent game inspired by the original concept and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bandai Namco.

Screenshots

Features

Game modes

Standard: built-in mazes with traditional ghost behavior rules.
Evolution: procedurally generated mazes with cooperative, neural network-driven ghosts.

Visual presentation

Top-down view with rounded maze corners and neon wall glow.
Experimental orthographic view with elevated walls, depth shading, ambient occlusion and floor-anchored actor shadows (disabled by default).
Level-based wall colors in both views.
Power-pellet sparkle bursts and smooth interpolated movement through maze corners and tunnels.

Neural network AI

4 trained ghost agents with distinct behaviors and strategies.
400 generations of genetic algorithm training.
Cooperative hunting patterns designed to corner the player.
Customizable ghost brains stored as ghosts.xml inside neuralnet.cdc, with external XML fallback.

Procedural generation

Built-in static mazes in Standard mode.
Procedurally generated mazes in Evolution mode.
Maze algorithm adapted from Shaun LeBron’s JavaScript implementation.

Classic gameplay

High score tables for both player-facing modes.
Power pellets, vulnerable ghosts and combo scoring.
Faithful movement and gameplay mechanics.
Pause and resume support, with gameplay simulation stopped while paused.

Technical foundation

Modern C++17 codebase using CRM64Pro GDK.
Hardware-accelerated top-down and orthographic rendering.
60 FPS rendering target with a fixed 40 Hz gameplay update rate.
A* pathfinding and feedforward neural networks trained through genetic evolution with roulette-wheel selection and elitism.
Complete source code available under the zlib license.

Developer Workbench

The Workbench is an optional internal developer tool, not a player-facing game mode. It runs PacBot-versus-ghost evaluation matches, can write their scores to CSV and provides a separate developer path for neural-network training.

PacBot uses tunnel-aware shortest-path routing, multi-ghost avoidance and prediction, strategic power-pellet use and frightened-ghost pursuit.

Configuration and controls

Configuration

Pac-Man Evolution uses the CRM64Pro ConfigSetup feature for video, audio and special game settings. Selecting enableDebug makes the F1 debug interface available, and the startup log reports whether debug access is enabled.

The debug interface includes controls for rounded corners, wall glow and the experimental orthographic view, which is disabled by default.

Controls

Arrow keys: move Pac-Man.
Space: pause or resume the game.
Escape: abort the current game.
F1: open the debug interface when enabled through ConfigSetup.

Operating systems supported

Cross-platform

Windows 10 and 11 on x64.
Ubuntu 20+ and RHEL 8+ on x64.
macOS universal binary for Intel x86_64 (macOS 10.15 or later) and Apple silicon arm64 (macOS 11 or later).