Chomp champions click here to enter your scores

Download the latest compiled version here, or grab the source code here (source has random seed removed to discourage bogus high scores).

A description of the level editor is here.

History

In December 2001 VM Labs released the second version of the NUON SDK. New to this version was a game called Chomp. It is essentially a clone of Pac-man with altered graphics and sound.

Kevin from NUON Dome took that and added back the original Pac-man sound and graphics to give it that authentic feel. Stephen Anderson then took over and fixed some bugs, added a pause screen, and other tweaks. All the while Kevin added in player-created mazes to each revision.

In Feburary 2002 I began updating the code. My first modification was to make it easier for users to create custom graphics and incorporate them in the game. The program chooses random graphics each level for the walls, fruit, pills, and enemies.

With that done I dug in and started changing some core parts of the code to be more flexible. It all lead up to the eventual release of Chomp 1.3 Tournament Edition. Here's some of the changes that were made in that release:

• Added warp tunnels and slow tiles. Just like in the original Pac-man the mazes can now wrap from side to side. Also, the maze designer can designate certain tiles as "slow". These will cause enemies to reduce speed while passing over them. They are primarily used to simulate the slowing of ghosts as they follow Pac-man through a warp tunnel, but really can be placed anywhere.
• Made player/enemy positions and speeds 16.16 fixed point values rather than integers. This allows the enemies to ramp up in speed more gradually as you go from level to level, rather than making the large jumps as before. Also, the player and enemy speeds can be modified based on current playing conditions. For example, enemies now slow down when you eat a power pill.
• Added a bonus that the player gets by eating many pills consecutively. Once activated the bonus stays in effect as long as the player keeps eating pills. It gives the player a slight speed boost, leaves a trail of smoke behind, and most importantly gives a 50% bonus to all points awarded.
• Allow the randomization of levels when playing the standard arcade mode. Previously you had to play them in order which meant you often didn't even see the upper levels.
• A level select now lets you view and play any level from the arcade mode.
• Added a player select so you can choose your avatar in the game.

Of course the most important new feature is the Tournament Mode. When in this mode you compete for the high score of special Tournament-only levels. The levels have been designed to be challenging and make players figure out how to maximize their points.

But rather than just playing against yourself, you can also see how your score compares with other Chomp experts. When you beat the high score on a level you are given a code. Enter the code on the High Score page to prove to everyone how much of a master you are.

If we get a good competition going I will periodically build new releases incorporating all the current high scores from the web site. That way you can compare with everyone else as you are playing.

The next version of Chomp introduced an in-game level editor. With this you can create and test just about any level you can imagine. Tools, such as automatic mirroring, make placement of maze elements a breeze. When you're done you can change the maze graphic to their ASCII counterparts for easy transcribing into the game.

A description of the level editor is here.

Four new tournament levels and a few new graphic sets were also added to this version. So get cracking and compete for the high score on the new levels.