Pac-Man Kill Screen Explained

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
  • You may have heard about Pac-Man's game-ending kill screen, but have you ever wondered what actually causes it? It's all explained right here.
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ความคิดเห็น • 1.6K

  • @wariolandgoldpiramid
    @wariolandgoldpiramid 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3289

    Wow. You're the first person to actually explain HOW it happens.
    Everybody else just said "256 wraps around to 0", and that's it

    • @groszak1
      @groszak1 6 ปีที่แล้ว +201

      I agree. The 255+1=0 thing alone doesn't explain the messed up stuff on the right side, but this video does.

    • @yarde.n
      @yarde.n 6 ปีที่แล้ว +94

      It isn't so simple to understand that it relates to the level counter.

    • @cubah1
      @cubah1 5 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      It's Y2K literally. Wraps to zero and everything goes haywire

    • @neilisbored2177
      @neilisbored2177 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@cubah1 Except it happened

    • @3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7
      @3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7 5 ปีที่แล้ว +87

      @@neilisbored2177 Y2K did happen. But every programmer and company saw it coming from miles away and braced themselves to handle it gracefully.

  • @Ersanio
    @Ersanio 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2273

    Coincidence or not, saying 256 at 2:56 is pretty amazing

    • @azetac_
      @azetac_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      Devon Hayden He does not, unfortunately.

    • @kinghotcoc0
      @kinghotcoc0 5 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      It seems like he said hundred fifty six, but ehh he says 256 so you're right

    • @icenesiswayons9962
      @icenesiswayons9962 5 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      @Ersanio That was a coincidence, like back in the day, we'd watch TV with the volume off and the stereo wide open and hear things that matched the TV screen. Sometimes it made more sense! Lol.:-)

    • @mackback319
      @mackback319 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@icenesiswayons9962 you sound like a boomer

    • @favoritemustard3542
      @favoritemustard3542 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@mackback319... you sound like a sooner

  • @LexEllis
    @LexEllis 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2883

    Interesting fact: Namco Classics for the Nintendo DS has an option in the settings to fix the 256 level bug, allowing the game to continue :)

    • @AtKiba
      @AtKiba 6 ปีที่แล้ว +210

      An option?? You would expect them to just fix it without asking.

    • @LexEllis
      @LexEllis 6 ปีที่แล้ว +756

      They did fix it without asking, but it is in the options menu of the game you can fix the level 256 glitch or leave it as is if you want to witness the glitch for yourself.

    • @BillehBobJoe
      @BillehBobJoe 6 ปีที่แล้ว +177

      AtKiba Canal i don't remember when the last time you played pac man but surely you remember level 256 is no easy feat

    • @zingodoom
      @zingodoom 6 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      If they do something of their own volition like that, then why would they?

    • @LasagaMan
      @LasagaMan 6 ปีที่แล้ว +80

      actually they did but only skilled pac-man players can get to level 256 with the fix on.

  • @nin10doadict
    @nin10doadict 6 ปีที่แล้ว +963

    Oh, the havoc a simple integer overflow can cause. It never stops being entertaining.

    • @fukkthisnewupdate8882
      @fukkthisnewupdate8882 6 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      nin10doadict you might want to check out stryder7x for more glitches. He only does Paper Mario though, so you might not be interested.

    • @DaniPaunov
      @DaniPaunov 6 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      and an integer underflow in that game can cause a softlock in every room with enemies

    • @tattersthebat6253
      @tattersthebat6253 6 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      In other words, playing Pac-Man crashes Paper Mario.

    • @nin10doadict
      @nin10doadict 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Actually I've been subbed to stryder7x for quite a while now. :D

    • @加州猫主席
      @加州猫主席 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Link8304 - Gaming in Hyrule
      Is this a meme?

  • @tarquinnff3
    @tarquinnff3 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1491

    3:50 That falling 1 is so sad. :(

    • @UberMun
      @UberMun 6 ปีที่แล้ว +228

      don't worry, the carry flag will catch him

    • @superstarstudio8994
      @superstarstudio8994 6 ปีที่แล้ว +51

      *R.I.P 1*

    • @IammeoramI
      @IammeoramI 6 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      F

    • @gabrielandy9272
      @gabrielandy9272 6 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      the love on the animations are so cute :O

    • @pete91
      @pete91 6 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      This is so sad
      Can we hit 2 likes

  • @AnOfficialAndrewFloyd
    @AnOfficialAndrewFloyd 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1483

    The reason this bug exists at all is due to the programmer not thinking anyone would ever max out the machine and reaching the 256th level. And because of that, he never tested his 8-bit code for that contingency. At least now people can burn a fixed eprom for this problem if they so choose.

    • @Asterra2
      @Asterra2 6 ปีที่แล้ว +136

      There's a fix for Ms. Pac-Man's (rather more involved) kill screen as well. Gotta be impressed when people find a way to shove a bugfix into the tiny bit of rom used by a 35 year old game.

    • @keiyakins
      @keiyakins 6 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      In this case wouldn't it just be a reordering? At the start of the level, draw the fruits, then the maze. Then leave them (as I assume the maze is being done already for the dots' sake) until the next new level.

    • @GoronTico
      @GoronTico 6 ปีที่แล้ว +100

      Probably somebody did realized this back then, but the team said "Nahh, they wont get past level 255" and so it wasn't worth fixing it

    • @NintendoSunnyDee
      @NintendoSunnyDee 6 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Asterra2 Is there a video explaining Ms Pac Man's?

    • @ghost_ship_supreme
      @ghost_ship_supreme 6 ปีที่แล้ว +75

      It was originally designed for arcade cabinets right? They probably thought no one would ever stand there for ~3 hours doing it, not getting bored, and not loosing once...

  • @Kosmicd12
    @Kosmicd12 3 ปีที่แล้ว +117

    Fascinating. Extremely well done video!

  • @joeclifford2896
    @joeclifford2896 6 ปีที่แล้ว +839

    I love how people think glitches as something that’s wrong with the game, but that far from the truth. The game continues to try and do its job even when one thing is out of place, making an almost always entertaining mess. Great video as always mate, look forward to the next one.

    • @ShaunDreclin
      @ShaunDreclin 6 ปีที่แล้ว +203

      Yep this is a good example of computers doing *exactly* what they're told to do, even if it doesn't make any sense

    • @renakunisaki
      @renakunisaki 6 ปีที่แล้ว +123

      1980s error handling: "what error?"

    • @vuurniacsquarewave5091
      @vuurniacsquarewave5091 6 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      Yep, it's perfectly possible to add a special exception to prevent the level counter byte from ever being 255, but it's not worth wasting those extra bytes when your ROM space is limited.

    • @joeclifford2896
      @joeclifford2896 6 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      VuurniacSquarewave well in the later Pac-Man machines, they introduced a bored which if someone did get to level 255+ an integer overflow would occur. Just like donkey kong, nibbler and countless other games.

    • @XaneMyers
      @XaneMyers 6 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      If only computers nowadays handled errors and giltches like this instead of protecting memory and throwing an error message up then quitting.

  • @Rainbocrescendo
    @Rainbocrescendo 6 ปีที่แล้ว +270

    There is an endless version of Pac-Man Called ‘Pac-Man 256’. It’s an app where you are in an endless Pac-Man with a scrolling screen being chased by glitches. I always wonder why the number 256.
    It all makes sense now...

    • @lisacamarillo8744
      @lisacamarillo8744 5 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      its basically crossy road

    • @thisissaah_3536
      @thisissaah_3536 5 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      @@lisacamarillo8744 but PACMAN. 256 pacman. Even the teaser says it's inspired by the 256th level. Unless you knew that.

    • @Flarefin
      @Flarefin 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@lisacamarillo8744 So basically Frogger

    • @lokyinng5155
      @lokyinng5155 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      if pac man 256 level kill screen land move dot are lower

    • @sigmythesign3509
      @sigmythesign3509 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@thisissaah_3536 *Pac-Man

  • @philrod1
    @philrod1 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2324

    For anyone left wondering why the tiles are drawn in such a weird order, I'll have a go at explaining. I think it's a really clever solution, but some might find it boring, so...
    As Pac-Man is an 8-bit machine, it is only capable of counting up to 255, but the display resolution is 224×288. In order to get pixels beyond 255 for the height, some are taken from the sides and put at the top and bottom of the screen. In practice this means that the tile map in memory is 32×32 tiles, where each tile is 8×8 pixels, but the tile map is displayed as 28×36 on the screen. The maze is still 32×32 tiles, but columns 0 and 1, and 30 and 31 are not visible. This is the reason the characters disappear when the go through the tunnels.
    The reason the main part of the screen is drawn top to bottom and right to left is that the whole screen is rotated 90 degrees to be in portrait aspect ratio. The cabinets just used standard 4:3 CRT screens turned on their sides.

    • @RGMechEx
      @RGMechEx  6 ปีที่แล้ว +476

      That is actually really interesting!

    • @lolyouyouutoo967
      @lolyouyouutoo967 6 ปีที่แล้ว +64

      You deserve a like, my friend.

    • @Burn_Angel
      @Burn_Angel 6 ปีที่แล้ว +94

      Huh, and I thought the game writes the graphics from top to bottom and from right to left because it's japanese.

    • @stevanthewise7240
      @stevanthewise7240 6 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      That actually makes sense!

    • @smh4771
      @smh4771 6 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Then, what is with the classics made in 2016? Bandi Namco created just "PAC-MAN" for the mobile version allowing a classic mode, through all the advancements for 38 years caused better and advanced stuff, having an advantage of removing a problem of a kill screen caused long before at 1980. So really, it can be hard to do in the mobile version, so right now, the kill screen is possible to fix.
      Saying goodbye to the level 256 38 years ago.

  • @DenkyManner
    @DenkyManner 5 ปีที่แล้ว +221

    "now let's get into the more technical stuff"
    But I haven't understood anything said so far.

    • @imissjokesonpurpose
      @imissjokesonpurpose 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Lol

    • @peterp2153
      @peterp2153 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Heh heh. Know what you mean. That said, just using my brain for a general understanding of the matter, it essentially has to to do with the limitations of the coding based on the data available to write coding that basically equates to “if x then y”. 255 being the maximum number, once you hit 256, those “if x then y” formulas start to make no sense.
      Or another way to look at it, the algorithmic coding of the day allowed for 255 levels of fun gameplay, which was more than enough for 99.99999% of the arcade visiting public. Which was more than enough to compensate for the fuckery that starts when you roll over to Level 256 (aka Level 0).

    • @arfansthename
      @arfansthename 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I have.

    • @thepianokid9378
      @thepianokid9378 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      DenkyMan then does that mean that you did not understand “seven”?

    • @fierymoth4330
      @fierymoth4330 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Frr

  • @FairPlay137
    @FairPlay137 6 ปีที่แล้ว +185

    Dig-Dug has a kill screen which also happens at Level 256! The level layouts vary in Dig-Dug, however, so "Level 0" loads garbage level data, placing an enemy right on top of the player.

    • @IbiActive
      @IbiActive 6 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Same happens with mario vs donkey kong arcade lvl 22

    • @locutus442
      @locutus442 6 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      There's also a kill screen in Galaga, but it's effects can vary depending on the difficulty setting (some machines will load a normal level, while in others the game will crash).

    • @SpearM3064
      @SpearM3064 6 ปีที่แล้ว +50

      +Another Anime lover Unlike Dig-Dug or Pac-Man, however, Donkey Kong does not have a glitched screen at level 22. Rather, it has a glitched timer that doesn't even give you enough time to get past the 2nd girder.
      It's another integer overflow. The timer is calculated by taking the level number times 10, plus 40. There is a check at the end of the code to prevent the timer from exceeding 80. If the level number is stored in B, and the timer is in A, then this would be the equivalent code in BASIC (I'm translating to BASIC for anyone reading this who isn't familiar with Z80 programming)
      A=B : REM Set the Accumulator to the level number
      A=A*2 : REM The Accumulator is now twice the level number
      A=A*2 : REM ... and now it's four times the level number
      A=A*2 : REM ... eight times the level number
      A=A+B : REM ... nine times the level number
      A=A+B : REM ... ten times the level number
      A=A+40 : REM and now A=B*10+40 as intended
      IF A>80 THEN A=80
      Note that the *only* error checking is done *after* the math. The problem is that A is an 8-bit number, so it can only hold a value between 0 and 255. So what happens when you hit level 22? (22*10)+40=260, so A wraps around to (260-256)=4. Since 4 is less than 80, the error checking doesn't catch the problem, and you start level 22 with a timer of 400.
      The unusual thing here is that the game checks the level to make sure that if you ever get past level 100, it forces it back down to level 99. So they *did* anticipate that players could make it to level 100, but somehow they overlooked the timer bug, and you can't get past level 22 without patching the ROM.
      What was *supposed* to happen is that if you are on level 4 or higher, the timer will always start at 8000 (which is the reason for the IF A>80 THEN A=80 at the end). The patch is simple and fits in the existing space. You just add an error check before the math, and remove the IF statement at the end.
      A=B
      IF A>=4 THEN A=4
      (everything else is the same, but remove the IF A>80 at the end)

    • @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823
      @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@SpearM3064 not sure if you're really smart, or just a huge geek, lol

    • @servantofaeie1569
      @servantofaeie1569 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      FairPlay137 minecraft limits at 256 too

  • @DJCosmicLatte
    @DJCosmicLatte 5 ปีที่แล้ว +125

    Can I just say, aside from being really interesting and well-articulated, your videos are *very* aesthetically pleasing. The way everything is laid out and animated is just on point. You need to be in web/app design or gaming or something lol

  • @333Rich33
    @333Rich33 7 ปีที่แล้ว +197

    A great explanation of the Pac-Man Kill screen! I never knew what was going on, but now it makes a whole load of sense! Thanks for making another great video!

  • @Zeiru
    @Zeiru 6 ปีที่แล้ว +298

    Okay, I have a theory I'd like you to try out if you can... These pellets return on a respawn, yes? Simple, can we hack in Infinite Lives and continue to eat those respawning pellets to reach the 244 pellet counter, and then see what happens?

    • @RGMechEx
      @RGMechEx  6 ปีที่แล้ว +320

      I did this while recording the gameplay footage--you go back to level 1 (just a cherry), but the enemy difficulty still behaves as if you were on level 257 (fast ghosts and they don't turn blue when you eat a power pellet).

    • @Zeiru
      @Zeiru 6 ปีที่แล้ว +83

      Thank you! That's kind of what I suspected would happen (since the only variable causing an issue here is the level icon) but it's wonderful to have it confirmed. I wonder if a ROM hack could be made that adjusted for this, or if one already exists...

    • @XaneMyers
      @XaneMyers 6 ปีที่แล้ว +51

      Interesting, but why do the ghosts stay at faster speeds? I assume a second variable has to be responsible for that if it isn't the level number variable.

    • @7thDylan
      @7thDylan 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Chris Waegelein

    • @Cube8
      @Cube8 6 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      What? The ghost speed variable is 16-bit???

  • @DontTurnAround
    @DontTurnAround 6 ปีที่แล้ว +80

    Loved this!

  • @JBall7
    @JBall7 6 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Excellent video. Like that you put in the work to reverse engineer the exact output of level 256 instead of just leaving it at "register overflow"

  • @SuperViperT302
    @SuperViperT302 6 ปีที่แล้ว +65

    I've known the specifics of this glitch for years now, but never seen a video on the specifics. Really nice to see one, finally. Hoping to see some for games like Galaga and Dig Dug in the future. :)

    • @Qtheman3456
      @Qtheman3456 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Galaga and Dig Dug? You wouldn't happen to have read Don Hodges' old website posts about this stuff, would you?

    • @SuperViperT302
      @SuperViperT302 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yep.

  • @emanueleborghini3186
    @emanueleborghini3186 6 ปีที่แล้ว +133

    This is so well made and explained, keep it up!

  • @onedeadsaint
    @onedeadsaint 6 ปีที่แล้ว +294

    this was perfectly executed! flawless video!

    • @Kapin05
      @Kapin05 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Ironic, as it's a video about the game being imperfectly executed

  • @Kersplat
    @Kersplat 6 ปีที่แล้ว +217

    Awesome technical breakdown of what happens. The "glitch" is actually very ordered, and your explanation makes a lot of sense. What software are you you using to create your animations within the video? Very nicely done!

    • @timothymclean
      @timothymclean 6 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      Everything computers do is ordered. It's just that some happen to ruin the intended function.
      (Technically, everything everything does is ordered, thanks to the laws of physics.)

    • @ender_scythe2879
      @ender_scythe2879 6 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It's still a glitch, an unintended consequence of an oversight is still unintended.

    • @Pablo-V
      @Pablo-V 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I think that by order the OP meant “in order”, not “giving an order”

    • @RGMechEx
      @RGMechEx  6 ปีที่แล้ว +69

      I use After Effects for pretty much all of the animations.

    • @anthonylosego
      @anthonylosego 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Retro Game Mechanics Explained you sound familiar...

  • @Dhalin
    @Dhalin 6 ปีที่แล้ว +65

    One thing I would love if you did, was deconstruct the "Hidden World" in The Guardian Legend. Though, such a project would be freaking huge I suspect. It's a NES game that uses a map coordinate system, and if you use the password system to spawn yourself outside of the intended map, the game starts creating rooms using random data in the ROM and you get lots of glitchy messes (a lot of which will crash the game). It would be interesting to see what is going on in the game's RAM, and such.
    But I suspect that would be a huge project to analyze all that data...

    • @RoddyDev
      @RoddyDev 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'd love to see that.

  • @danielstephenson7558
    @danielstephenson7558 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    That animation running through the code and drawing the glitch is one of my favourite things to watch on this channel.

  • @timothymclean
    @timothymclean 6 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    This doesn't relate to anything important in the video, but "Dave Race" is a great name for a speedrunner.

    • @rickelmonoggin
      @rickelmonoggin 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I wonder what his fans are called?

  • @tmcttf8087
    @tmcttf8087 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    0:07 Ah, the *256 Glitch.* I love how both Bandai Namco and Hipster Whale teamed up to make *"Pac-Man 256",* a game that's literally based on the 256 Glitch. It's incredible.....

    • @hotpockethumorDL
      @hotpockethumorDL 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      if only Nintendo did the same...

  • @ct88910
    @ct88910 6 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    That transition at 10:46 is GOD-TIER HOLY MOLY

  • @icenesiswayons9962
    @icenesiswayons9962 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Beautifully explained! Even in the 1980's I figured that it was something like this happening. I was just starting to learn computer programming and figured is was like a stack overflow, but that didn't make much since either because in a stack loss, there is data loss which usually means a fatal error then crash, but here it does a type of flip flop but using current running data to overlay old data the not used anymore as it was just needed once to load and draw the game screen values for initial game play. Great work!

  • @Ze_eT
    @Ze_eT 6 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    Finally someone that doesn't uses the excuse "There was not enough space left left for the other half"

  • @GenXGrownUp
    @GenXGrownUp 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    What a spectacular video! Full of engineering data, retro game data, nostalgia, and some of the best and most descriptive infographics I've ever seen on TH-cam! Absolutely to notch -- thanks for your efforts! 💯

  • @simonrodgers8902
    @simonrodgers8902 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I heard a large prize was offered for anyone who could complete level 256 the way it was but it was never claimed.

  • @Acoha7
    @Acoha7 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Your channel is extremely well detailed and polished. Nobody else comes even close!

    • @SONICBUMGAMES
      @SONICBUMGAMES 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Acoha This is guy is fantastic! Have you ever heard of RetroAhoy? His videos are great too c:

  • @thomaskaldahl196
    @thomaskaldahl196 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    i really appreciate the technical accuracy but also the smooth animation

  • @lutyanoalves444
    @lutyanoalves444 6 ปีที่แล้ว +85

    9:32
    So much hard work OMG

    • @b3kstudio
      @b3kstudio 6 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Hopefully he used a script... Hopefully

    • @XaneMyers
      @XaneMyers 6 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I think I recall reading he uses scripts in After Effects to show technical things within the videos.

    • @hopechr
      @hopechr 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      9:44 draws a pac-ler

  • @davesworld7688
    @davesworld7688 6 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Impressive video, you definitely did your homework on the subject and presented the info perfectly.
    A++

    • @tatos529
      @tatos529 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nah, A+++

  • @miksterias
    @miksterias 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love how well you explained this. I’m very unfamiliar with how memory addresses and all that kind of stuff work, and you made it all easy to understand. Love this

  • @NothingBurgerTwo
    @NothingBurgerTwo 6 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    And that, my friends, is why you use zero indexing.

    • @fredhenry101
      @fredhenry101 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      And bounds checking

  • @Mezgrman
    @Mezgrman 6 ปีที่แล้ว +41

    Saw this video, thought "oh I know what causes that."
    Well I was wrong. Great video, as always! :)

    • @MarioFan587YT
      @MarioFan587YT 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Mezgrman
      Aw, you should have told us what you thought. I'm interested.

    • @urchin62
      @urchin62 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Glad u like it, I did

    • @SSM24_
      @SSM24_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah that was exactly my thought. "It's because reaching level 256 rolls over the counter and screws things up, right?"
      Yes, that is in fact what happens, but it doesn't tell anywhere close to the full story.

    • @user-ru4kb2ri1b
      @user-ru4kb2ri1b 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING A YEAR LATER!?!???

  • @bubbles8871
    @bubbles8871 5 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    "Now let's take a look at the more technical stuff."
    Me: Ok, I wanna see if I can understand this part.
    *big numbers and strange images*
    Me: *I FAILED MATHS FOR A REASON*

  • @ruadeil_zabelin
    @ruadeil_zabelin 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I love your explanations. There's always that "aha" moment where it makes complete sense. Awesome!

  • @Deniii4000
    @Deniii4000 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I'm never this early to your vids so I never get a chance to ask you anything.
    What I wanted to ask, is actually a suggestion: take a small break between talking and showing something. If you do both at the same time, people can't focus on both things simultaneously.
    A good example is at 6:09: you are showing the different valid memory positions for the fruit while explaning the consequences of accessing wrong memory addresses.
    Like with a slideshow presentation, if people are focusing on the visuals, they won't pay attention to what you are saying.
    Explain something, stop talking while showing a visual example of the explanation and then continue with the next explanation.
    Anyway, thanks for another nice upload.

    • @RGMechEx
      @RGMechEx  6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you, I'll consider it for future videos!

  • @GuineaPigDan
    @GuineaPigDan 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember reading a website by Don Hodges years ago explaining many arcade kill screens in Pac Man and Donkey Kong, and how to patch them. Nice to see a video explain Pac Man's kill screen with visual aids easy to understand.

  • @PETRIXXXX
    @PETRIXXXX 6 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    i thought the galaxians were lemon flavored ice cream sundaes

    • @somerandomguy6268
      @somerandomguy6268 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Me & my dad call them sundaes, and we thought the bell was a gold nugget lol

  • @MrKenJammin
    @MrKenJammin 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Your videos are amazingly well produced and explained. They must take ages to edit. Fantastic work. Also btw there’s something about your voice that i find extremely soothing.

  • @carealoo744
    @carealoo744 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    0:40 That's what the fruits meant? I was always so confused! I was thinking maybe they were fruits that I gathered, but they clearly weren't!

  • @andrewtableau7390
    @andrewtableau7390 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video. I always know I can expect quality information and entertainment when I see RGME in my feed.

  • @greenknight9000
    @greenknight9000 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The way this is also animated, it makes it SO much more awesome!
    What about Ms.Pac-Man and the upside-down maze?

  • @flatfingertuning727
    @flatfingertuning727 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is the nicest description I've seen about this bug. It might be useful to mention that the monitor is turned sideways, so that the score and fruits areas are actually drawn top-to-bottom, and also perhaps mention that having addresses increase by a power of two each row is easier than having them increase by some other amount. Using 32 bytes per "row" would have required making the game board four tiles shorter; using 64 would have used up more RAM. It was likely cheaper to have some "columns" count by one while others count by 32 than it would have been to make them all count by some number like 36.
    Also, another thing people forget about this issue is that Namco's customers' were arcade owners, and from their perspective, the real bug wasn't that it was impossible to get past level 256, but rather that it was possible to play long enough to get there on a single quarter. If the game abruptly ended after level 30 with "YOU WIN--NEXT PLAYER PLEASE", that would have been better than letting people play another 220+ levels.

  • @DTmg_
    @DTmg_ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    "There are pellets that respawn after you die" People with infinite lives cheat:
    *interesting...*

    • @NoriMori1992
      @NoriMori1992 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      If you do that, I wonder what happens when you reach level 257…

    • @gordontaylor2815
      @gordontaylor2815 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@NoriMori1992 You just go back to Level 1, but the game is still at its maximum difficulty. (You don't even need to cheat to prove this - use the "rack advance" feature either in MAME or an actual arcade machine to see it.)

  • @danielevans7439
    @danielevans7439 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A perfect and complete description yet again. I’m glad to see you making videos again.

  • @ExEBoss
    @ExEBoss 6 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    They should have just treated the level number as zero based instead of one based and then integer overflow would just take you back to level one instead of level zero.

    • @groszak1
      @groszak1 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      With adding 1:
      actual 0 -> shown 1
      actual 1 -> shown 2
      ...
      actual 254 -> shown 255
      actual 255 -> shown 0
      Without adding 1:
      actual 0
      actual 1
      ...
      actual 254
      actual 255
      actual 0 (back where we started)
      ...
      They chose the former one, because they didn't think about overflow and they wanted to start with 1.

  • @eskaigarcia
    @eskaigarcia 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Wow, this explanation was incredible. Thanks for going into so much detail and graphically showing everything that was happening!

  • @gurnoordhaliwal3389
    @gurnoordhaliwal3389 5 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    This is kinda creepy. Imagine if this was real life and half of the world was just a glitchy mess.

    • @diacosiapentacontahex
      @diacosiapentacontahex 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This is why we die faster at larger age numbers, the world is trying to stop us from getting to age 256 and glitch out half the universe

    • @Francoist_Spain_was_based
      @Francoist_Spain_was_based 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      R.I.P Japan, Created Nintendo And Was 256 Years Old

  • @ChantingInTheDark
    @ChantingInTheDark 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    5:41 - "Now let's get into the more technical stuff" - Yes, because all that stuff before was so easy! :D

  • @tealversace
    @tealversace 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thankyou Game Grumps for bringing me here, and thank YOU, RGME for enlightening me and explaining so well. This is kinda rad.

  • @koalbent
    @koalbent 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    "we have to take a look at th- *ad plays* "

  • @wanderingmechanics5403
    @wanderingmechanics5403 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you so much for these videos! I've been coding a retro-style video game for years now as a hobby, and understanding some of the mechanics behind these games helps a LOT with inspiration and development. Thanks again!

  • @chakalabradores
    @chakalabradores 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Excellent Video.
    And thus, Namco and Hipster Whale made a game called Pac Man 256, and this game was inspired by 256th level kill screen. 👍

  • @RealDreadmania
    @RealDreadmania 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That first win was the most close death I've ever seen.

  • @vaendryl
    @vaendryl 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    awesome explanation as always!

  • @BlueSpadez
    @BlueSpadez 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    *At "We have to look at the tile map"*
    *Ad appears mid-sentence*
    Ah yes, we have to look at the ad of course!

  • @plantelo
    @plantelo 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Does the stage only render once? The pellets are obviously restored, but the walls never change, so...
    Would it "fix" the glitch if drawing the new pellets on-screen only happened after the level counter has been drawn? Sure, the stage walls would become corrupted, but hey, it's better than nothing!

  • @BryndanMeyerholtTheRealDeal
    @BryndanMeyerholtTheRealDeal ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Does this affect other versions of the game?

  • @torin1006
    @torin1006 5 ปีที่แล้ว +133

    This is actually a lot easier to understand than I had expected.

    • @imissjokesonpurpose
      @imissjokesonpurpose 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Liar

    • @torin1006
      @torin1006 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@imissjokesonpurpose no u

    • @imissjokesonpurpose
      @imissjokesonpurpose 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@torin1006 uno reverse card

    • @torin1006
      @torin1006 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@imissjokesonpurpose You've activated my trap card! Your reverse card got sent to the shadow realm.

    • @mateuszszulecki5206
      @mateuszszulecki5206 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@torin1006 *ye well ur mom got sent to the shadow realm becuz of me*

  • @somefreshbread
    @somefreshbread 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is my favorite video of yours so far. Excellently detailed explanation - thank you!

  • @avi8aviate
    @avi8aviate 6 ปีที่แล้ว +119

    Wish I had $4000 or $4400.

    • @newagederpderp
      @newagederpderp 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      'Course you do.

    • @RodBeauvex
      @RodBeauvex 6 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      I wish I had $FFFF

    • @vegetafan9922
      @vegetafan9922 5 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      @@RodBeauvex When you're so broke that you cause an interger overflow in your bank account!

    • @ariescobar1346
      @ariescobar1346 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Wouldn't you being poor cause an integer *under* flow?

    • @thisissaah_3536
      @thisissaah_3536 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@RodBeauvex $6666 is what you meant? F=6

  • @jakenALABAMA
    @jakenALABAMA 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    i still have no clue what you are explaining but i just cant stop watching, you are keeping my interest pretty well.

  • @quinn7894
    @quinn7894 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    2:37 Wouldn't that last key be used for the fruit in the middle of the level?

    • @manioqqqq
      @manioqqqq ปีที่แล้ว

      Ahh yes, key fruits

    • @quinn7894
      @quinn7894 ปีที่แล้ว

      Never mind. I found out later that the fruit in the middle of the level is the same as the last fruit of the counter.

  • @roscianyt
    @roscianyt 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I was around when Pac-Man was first released and those are not melons; they are hand grenades. Namco got flack for that and then started to say they were grapes. I never heard of them being called melons.

  • @keiyakins
    @keiyakins 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    You know what's kinda funny? if they'd drawn the level AFTER the level counter, there wouldn't have been a problem: the status line would be corrupted and the level area would have junk on it, but then that junk would be overwritten with the map that's supposed to be there and everyone could go on their merry way going to level '1' next.

    • @thetoontastictoon1720
      @thetoontastictoon1720 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wow, I just realized you're right. Wow. That's truly amazing right there---

  • @castperthewolf3426
    @castperthewolf3426 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The problem is that fruit/object #0 doesn't exist, so the game is like: Ok, I'm confused. Are we on Level 255, 256 or 0? Also I think I am having a memory overflow.

    • @MTP2nd
      @MTP2nd 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      so 0?

  • @HeatmanMKIII
    @HeatmanMKIII 6 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    This explanation is foolproof

    • @Dargonhuman
      @Dargonhuman 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I am the fool, they have the proof.

    • @RyanFaeScotland
      @RyanFaeScotland 6 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      For now perhaps, but the world is constantly making better fools.

  • @rebeltinaschannel6240
    @rebeltinaschannel6240 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Probably the best description of a video game glitch I have ever seen. Thanks!

  • @randumvidz8731
    @randumvidz8731 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    1:14 if u blur your vision it looks like pizza

  • @seamuskills
    @seamuskills 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    amazing 10 of 10 would watch again this explains alot

  • @zeropointer125
    @zeropointer125 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I've wanted this forever. Can you do something similar with other kill screens?

  • @inphanta
    @inphanta 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    These videos are immensely fascinating. Who would’ve guessed a simple game like Pac Man would have so much depth to it?

  • @楓颯-p7m
    @楓颯-p7m 5 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    看啾啾鞋才過來的+1

    • @小小綠小綠綠
      @小小綠小綠綠 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      +1

    • @ultimater8700
      @ultimater8700 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      看完啾啾鞋之後,youtube總是推薦這種影片給我

    • @楓颯-p7m
      @楓颯-p7m 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      ultimater haha~這也太搞笑了

  • @LucaioSuper
    @LucaioSuper หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I just discovered that in the original Japanese Puckman, the last few glitch tiles are empty because there was no "BONUS" text string in that space originally.

  • @Obstagoon862
    @Obstagoon862 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    0:50 Wait, aren't those oranges?

    • @GamerJP30
      @GamerJP30 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      They are, but I used to think they were peaches too.

  • @Eventlesstew
    @Eventlesstew ปีที่แล้ว +1

    8:18 For those wondering why there can be a Key offscreen, Pac Man has 16 extra pixels on the left and right sides of the screen each which goes past what can be shown on the sideways 4:3 screen, hence why you cannot see them. This is done so Pac-Man and the ghosts can move past the left and right screen bounds when going to the left/right exits or during intermissions without causing any animation compromises or issues on the other side of the screen if those compensations aren’t made.
    This is all just what I came up with from my knowledge about how games like Pac-Man run so take my answer with a grain of salt.

  • @benjaminbrady2385
    @benjaminbrady2385 6 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    Luv ya dots!

    • @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823
      @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      I find it interesting that the simple 8 bit stuff sucked up.WAY WAY more hours than way more advanced games that came later. At least for me...

  • @zintendo1995
    @zintendo1995 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    If you're looking for interesting future glitches worth explaining, I would absolutely love to see an in depth dissection of either the Donkey Kong Country 2 Castle Crush glitch and/or the Sketch Glitch from final fantasy 6. Both of these glitches have such (seemingly) random effects and have very little documentation out there.
    Thanks for making the amazing content you do - it's amazing to see such thorough and easy to grasp breakdowns of some of gaming most amazing glitches.

  • @horstkretschmer
    @horstkretschmer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    If you could get enough lives to get past level 256, aka you can collect the extra pellets generated by the glitch enough times to clear the level, I'm guessing you would be back at level 1 and could continue the game all the way to level 256 again, at which point I'd think you're now actually out of lives. What would the highest pacman score be in this scenario?

  • @andersonjerome
    @andersonjerome 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    well explained, keep it up!

  • @李建軒-n4r
    @李建軒-n4r 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    有人是看了啾啾鞋才來看的嗎

  • @ace942
    @ace942 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for the explanation. I thought it was a programming error with an 8 bit machine not accounting for numbers higher than 255. Glad to see that there was more to it.

  • @AmalgamJiena
    @AmalgamJiena ปีที่แล้ว

    I'm pretty sure this is the first video i saw from you. And i was immediately hooked

  • @honmasudoesthings5335
    @honmasudoesthings5335 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This was a cameo on crossy road(if you play as pac chicken or Pacman) and Pacman 256

  • @jtveg
    @jtveg 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I just love your detailed in-depth explanations.
    Thanks so much for sharing. 😎👌🏼

  • @FlameyClockspeed
    @FlameyClockspeed 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Video: *stuff*
    My peanut sized brain: cheese ball

  • @Darxide23
    @Darxide23 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    I get excited to see another Retro Game Mechanics video and it's something that I 100% understand. >_<
    Keep 'em coming. Love this channel.

  • @adrianau5231
    @adrianau5231 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I never thought that a key is a fruit.
    (that spaceship though.)

    • @mariodykstra6555
      @mariodykstra6555 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Neither of them are fruits

    • @arfansthename
      @arfansthename 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Galaga was also a Namco game as well.

  • @siggestive2797
    @siggestive2797 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    I know this video is quite old but I just wanted to let you know that this was an awesome video. Very well visualized and explained to the viewer.

  • @gracecckids
    @gracecckids 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    3:55 *OOF*

  • @EndyMX
    @EndyMX 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I felt like I was sitting in math class but couldn't walk out. Super entertaining, even if too mind blowing.

  • @alexislondon139
    @alexislondon139 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Toru: *We did this on accident*

  • @bandysc
    @bandysc 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks God I've found your videos, they are amazing and those all animations are so cool that I am still impressed by them! Hats off!

  • @JustWasted3HoursHere
    @JustWasted3HoursHere 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    As usual, extremely well put together and easy to follow (even though the subject matter can be complicated). Nicely done!
    How about a "behind the scenes" video on how you put these together?

  • @SuperFilmNerd
    @SuperFilmNerd 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    8:29 Uh oh.....

  • @thingsiplay
    @thingsiplay 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very good presentation. I am even more impressed about your presentation here, than about the topic itself (which is very interesting).