The application of Verilog in the development of casual games

Abstract

Verilog is a hardware description language (HDL) that is widely used in digital circuit design and simulation. Its development is closely related to computer science and electrical engineering. Verilog gained popularity in the early 1980s as digital circuit designs became increasingly complex, requiring more efficient circuit design and verification tools. At the same time, rapid advances in computer hardware also stimulated the demand for digital circuit design languages. Furthermore, the popularity and adoption of Verilog highlight the growing necessity for digitisation, automation, and intelligence in modern society. As digital technology continues to advance across various industries, the need for effective and dependable digital circuit design languages is also increasing. This paper delves into the complex process of recreating the timeless arcade classic Pac-Man on the Spartan 3E FPGA platform using hardware description and digital circuit techniques and the Verilog programming language. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and research, this study investigates the fusion of traditional game design principles with state-of-the-art hardware programming methods, demonstrating the seamless integration of software-driven game mechanics with hardware-based implementation. Through careful design and coding strategies, Pac-Man's basic functionality, such as maze traversal, ghost AI, and pellet consumption, is faithfully replicated using Verilog modules customized for the Spartan 3E FPGA board. By bridging the realms of game development and hardware engineering, this paper not only showcases the versatility of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology in entertainment applications but also underscores the interdisciplinary nature of modern computing endeavours.