RBE104TC C Programming Language
Group Project — Pac-Man (Text-Based, Standard C Only)
Contribution to the Overall Marks: 35%
Issue Date:
Submission Deadline: (to be announced)
Assignment Overview
Develop a text-based Pac-Man game in standard C, playable in the terminal. The game uses ASCII characters to display the maze, Pac-Man, ghosts, and pellets. No graphics or external libraries are required beyond the standard C library. The project is group-based and should demonstrate sensible modular design, clear rules, and thorough testing.
Core Requirements
1) Map & Rendering
• Represent the maze as a 2D char array (e.g. up to 25 × 40). Use ASCII symbols: # = wall, . = pellet, O = power pellet (optional, see Extensions), P = Pac-Man, G = ghost, space = empty.
• Render the board to the console each tick. Keep the display simple (print lines top to bottom).
• A single fixed map embedded in code is sufficient. (A separate map loader is optional.)
2) Controls & Game Loop
• Turn/tick based loop: each tick, read player input (W/A/S/D to move; Q to quit).
• If the intended move hits a wall, Pac-Man stays in place (no move).
• After Pac-Man moves: eat pellet (increase score), then each ghost moves once.
• Print updated board and brief status (score, lives, remaining pellets, tick).
3) Ghosts (Simple AI)
• Start with G ∈ {1, 2, 3, 4} ghosts. Each tick, every ghost chooses a random valid direction among {up,down,left,right} that is not a wall. If multiple are valid, pick uniformly at random.
• Optional rule of thumb: avoid reversing direction unless no alternative (reduces jitter).
4) Collisions, Score, Lives
• Pellets: Pac-Man earns +10 points per pellet. (Remove the pellet from the map.)
• Ghost collision: If a ghost moves onto Pac-Man (or vice versa) while ghosts are normal, Pac-Man loses one life and respawns at the starting cell; ghosts return to their starting cells. The current pellets remain eaten.
• Lives: Start with 3 lives. When lives reach 0, the game ends (lose).
• Win: The player wins when all pellets are eaten.
5) Timing & Determinism
• The game is tick-based; you may simply wait for user input each tick (no real-time timing needed).
• Randomness (ghost movement, optional fruit, etc.) should be reproducible by allowing a user-specified seed (e.g. CLI argument).
Suggested Data Structures
• struct Pos { int r, c; } ;
• struct Entity { struct Pos pos; struct Pos start; int dr, dc; } ; (for Pac- Man and each ghost)
• struct Game { int rows, cols; char board[25][40]; struct Entity pac; struct Entity ghosts[4]; int ghostCount; int score; int lives; int pelletsRemaining; unsigned int rng seed; } ;
Example Minimal Map (embed as char array)
(P and G positions will be overwritten at runtime by entities; spaces represent corridors. You may adjust rows/cols to fit your array bounds.)
Teamwork Structure (Recommended)
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Role
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Responsibilities
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Map & Rendering
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Board representation; ASCII rendering; pellet counting
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Player Control & Rules
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Input handling; movement; pellet eating; win/lose logic
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Ghost Logic
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Random movement; valid move selection; collision with Pac-Man
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Game State & Testing
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Score/lives; seeds/config; test scenarios; integration
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Constraints & Notes
• Use only standard C headers available on the lab machines (e.g. stdio .h, stdlib.h, string.h, ctype .h, time.h).
• Keep builds simple: e.g. gcc * .c -o pacman.
• Clear screen is optional; a simple print-each-tick is acceptable.
• Ensure input validation (ignore invalid keys; do not crash on EOF).
Optional Extensions (for higher marks)
• Power Pellets: O turns ghosts “scared” for T ticks; Pac-Man can eat ghosts for bonus points. Eaten ghosts respawn at start after a delay.
• Simple Ghost Modes: Alternate N ticks of “chase” (bias towards Pac-Man) and M ticks of “scatter” (bias towards corners) using heuristic moves (still standard C).
• Fruit Bonus: Occasionally spawn a bonus item for extra points; expires after a few ticks if not eaten.
• Multiple Levels: After clearing pellets, load a second hardcoded map with more ghosts or denser walls.
• Map Loader: Read a map from a plain text file (optional if allowed by staff).
Testing & Reporting
• Provide at least two deterministic runs (fixed seeds) demonstrating: (1) win condition, (2) losing a life to a ghost, (3) pellet counting accuracy.
• Report should include: data structures, state diagram/flow, how collisions are handled, and evidence of testing (screenshots or console logs).
Submission Guidelines
• Submit as a single .zip.
• Include: Report (PDF), Source Code, and a short build/run guide.
• File naming: GroupID PacmanC.zip
Marking Scheme (Summary)
• Design: 15%
• Coding Implementation: 45%
• Robustness: 10%
• Testing: 25%
• Report Quality: 5%