Glomph Maze

A modern Python rewrite of MyMan, an unofficial text-based clone of the classic Pac-Man game. Terminal-only, no GUI.

🐍 Python Rewrite (v0.1.0 - In Progress)

This branch (python-rewrite) contains a complete rewrite in Python 3.11+ with clean, maintainable code.

Why Python?

• Maintainable: ~1,500 lines vs 11,399 lines of C
• Modern tooling: Type checking, testing, formatting built-in
• Clean architecture: Natural separation of concerns
• Same assets: All 655 mazes, tiles, sprites, and sounds work identically

Quick Start (Python Version)

# Install uv (modern Python package manager)
brew install uv  # or: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Install and run
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"
glomph

Development

# Run tests
pytest

# Format and lint
ruff format .
ruff check --fix .
mypy src/glomph

# Run game (when implemented)
python -m glomph.main

See AGENTS.md for complete development documentation.

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🎮 About Glomph Maze

A revived and modernized version of MyMan, preserving 655 public domain game assets (mazes, tiles, sprites, sounds) while providing clean, maintainable code.

History

• 1998: Original MyMan by Benjamin Sittler—742 lines, public domain
• 1998-2009: Expanded to 11,000+ lines, 40+ backends, BSD license
• 2025: Glomph Maze fork—Python rewrite for maintainability

Dual Implementation Strategy

This project maintains two implementations:

Feature	C Version (main branch)	Python Version (python-rewrite)
Status	Preserved as historical artifact	Active development
Lines of Code	11,399	~1,500 (target)
License	BSD 2-Clause	MIT
Purpose	Legacy, C learning resource	Maintainable, modern, extensible
Assets	✅ Same 655 files	✅ Same 655 files

Assets are CC0 Public Domain and shared between both implementations.

Features

• Text-mode rendering using curses
• 655 game assets: 259 mazes, 44 tile sets, 44 sprite sheets, 19 sounds
• Multiple variants (Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and many more)
• Color support (toggleable)
• Audio support (MIDI music via pygame/SDL)
• Command-line options for customization

Installation

Python Version (Recommended)

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/michaelborck-dev/glomph-maze.git
cd glomph-maze
git checkout python-rewrite
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .
glomph

C Version (Legacy)

git checkout main
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build
./build/glomph

See CMAKE_SETUP.md for detailed C build instructions.

Usage

# Run the game
glomph

# With options (when implemented)
glomph --maze pac --size large

# Help
glomph --help

Controls (in-game)

• Arrow keys / HJKL: Move (left/down/up/right)
• Q: Quit
• P/ESC: Pause
• C: Toggle color
• S: Toggle sound
• ?: Help

Project Structure

glomph-maze/
├── src/glomph/          # Python source code
│   ├── loaders.py       # Asset loaders (✅ complete)
│   ├── terminal.py      # Terminal abstraction (TODO)
│   ├── game.py          # Game logic (TODO)
│   └── renderer.py      # Rendering (TODO)
├── tests/               # Test suite
├── assets/              # 655 game assets (CC0 Public Domain)
│   ├── mazes/          # 259 maze files
│   ├── tiles/          # 44 tile sets
│   ├── sprites/        # 44 sprite sheets
│   └── sounds/         # 19 MIDI files
├── docs/                # Documentation
└── pyproject.toml       # Python project config

Development Status

✅ Completed

• Project structure (pyproject.toml, modern tooling)
• Asset loaders (verified working with all 655 assets)
• Test suite with 89% coverage
• CI/CD ready (ruff, mypy, pytest)

🚧 In Progress

• Terminal abstraction (curses wrapper)
• Game state management
• Entity system (player, ghosts)
• Rendering engine

📋 Planned

• Complete game loop
• Ghost AI
• Audio support (pygame/SDL)
• PyInstaller packaging (~15MB standalone binary)
• Homebrew distribution

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Documentation

• AGENTS.md - Development commands and guidelines
• docs/language_analysis.md - Why Python? (C vs Python comparison)
• docs/python_packaging.md - Distribution strategy (PyInstaller)
• docs/ship_of_theseus.md - Philosophy behind the rewrite
• README_ORIG.md - Original MyMan documentation

License

• Python Code: MIT License
• C Code (main branch): BSD 2-Clause License
• Game Assets: CC0 Public Domain (from original MyMan project)

See LICENSE for details.

Credits

• Original MyMan: Benjamin C. Wiley Sittler (1998-2009)
• Python Rewrite: Michael Borck (2025)
• Inspired by: Pac-Man by Toru Iwatani (Namco)

Original MyMan Sources

• Author's homepage: https://xent.com/~bsittler/geocities/#myman
• SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/myman/
• GitHub mirror: https://github.com/kragen/myman

Acknowledgements

This project preserves and modernizes the original MyMan game (1998-2009) by Benjamin C. Wiley Sittler. The Python rewrite maintains 100% asset compatibility while providing clean, maintainable code for modern development.

Special thanks to the original MyMan contributors for creating 655 public domain game assets that make this project possible.