Hey everyone. This is Sam here.

This post is to update my site visitors on what I have been up to since my last blog post, since I haven’t posted another one for a long while. I will try to be brief as much as I can.

Well first off, Ramadan happened. I had to work only six hours a day during the day while I was fasting. So, I tried to be as relaxed as I could in the beginning, and I wasn’t up to anything during that time. I wanted to create some blog posts unrelated to game or software development, such as the Resident Evil HD Remastered review and a rant on a certain topic, but I was a bit lazy and unproductive at that time.

However, it didn’t take long until I decided that I wanted to make a Pacman clone starting from scratch. Unfortunately, it is taking me a bit longer to make because I am figuring out the best way to make it, and I will also took a few days off next week and vacation in Dubai.

First of all, I wanted to work on the graphics design of Pacman, and I used my newly developed skill in pixel art in order to do so. I have been working on pixel art for quite a while, since regular graphics desgin is actually a lot more difficult for me to do. I have even worked on some pixel art pieces on my free time and uploaded them to Instagram. Here are some of the ones I worked one.

My pixel art of Mario

My pixel art of Sonic the Hedgehog

My pixel art of Solid Snake

You can follow me on Instagram to check out more of these art pieces at desert0gamer.

Because of my interest in pixel art, rather than download Pacman sprites from the internet, I decided to work on the Pacman sprites from scratch, and add a few details of my own such as lighting, shadows and adding 47 frames to animate its movement. I wanted to make a Pacman of my own with high quality, and this is what I came up with:

This Pacman has shadows and lighting to make it have a better look. Also, I like shadows.

Unfortunately, the graphics design has taken the most out of my time, especially in regards to level design. I have drawn and redrawn the level about two to three time because I thought of them as either incosistent, unsymmetric, or just doesn’t match the theme at all.

Secondly, I have been trying to figure out how to program Pacman right. There are many methodologies I found on the internet, and none of which worked out for me well. So, I am trying to make a good Pacman by using my own way of making it that I have yet to figure out. Once I find the right alogrithms to make it, it will be smooth sailing from here.

I am really interested to uploading the project on the site; it is the most fascinitating project I have worked on since the launch of the site. I will try to make the next post as interesting as I can, but it may take some time.

Take care.