Personal Goal: I want to learn the basics of GameMaker Studio 2 and go through the process of building a video game from the ground up. I also want to get a feel for what I can and cannot do, and how long things take. My focus is on the technical side – I want to know if GameMaker Studio is the tool I am looking for and if I am competent enough to do anything with it. Because of that, I’m shamelessly taking the design from another game that has stood the test of time, Pong.

Concept: A quick, soothing morsel of a game – the mechanics should be straightforward, the aesthetics pleasant and without pretense. A game that you can play for a few minutes or zoned out while doing other things.

Summary: A single-player variant of pong meant as a pleasant distraction. Ideally, the average “life” or game length should be around two minutes, with nothing particularly taxing. Some players may find it fun, but the overriding objective is to combine simple mechanics and aesthetics to create something engaging.

Features: PASMR uses “hand-drawn” backgrounds and simple mechanics with a low learning curve. The challenge comes from gradually increasing ball speeds and slight randomness in bounce angle, but that is almost secondary. As its name suggests, sound effects will be soothing and music relaxing.

Platform: PC right now, as that’s the only platform I can use.

Game: A single player variant of pong where everything should be obvious. The difficulty will grow slowly as the ball increase in speed over time, with a goal of around 2 minutes per gameplay loop. PASMR should never be frustrating. I liken it to spinning a top – going back to the title screen is akin to having your top fall over. It is something the player expects to happen, but they had a relaxing journey getting there.

Interface: Text-based and on the keyboard. The tactile feel seems appropriate, and I’m not confident I can get the same level of natural movement through using a mouse. I also have no way to test touch with the version of GameMaker Studio I have.

Art Style: Most of my assets come from StoryBlock, with a theme of hand-drawn objects. The player paddle is a torn sheet of paper, the ball akin to a colored pencil drawing. The wall is a scribble, and the backgrounds something out of a children’s book.

Music/Sound: PASMR’s music also comes from StoryBlock, mostly piano pieces with a passive, relaxing bent. The sounds I’ve picked – pebbles dropping in water, the tick of a grandfather clock, et cetera are all meant to be relaxing and unobtrusive. There are some exciting AI composition tools out there that might be worth using in the future.

Development Plan: The goal was to get the simple mechanics in place and finish up the back end. I wanted to avoid using GameMaker Studio’s built-in collision and physics engine and build something myself. The movement system ended up taking far more time than I thought, though I did learn a lot. I also figured out how to do things on the backend – changing buttons, resolution, volume, a title screen et cetera. I want to use PASMR as a launching pad for some other ideas, and I needed a gauge of my meager abilities and how long things might take.

I have no expectations that PASMR is going to be much beyond a toy. Still, I hope to use it as practice for polishing projects and finding a way to get it tested. I may build it again in Unity to get a feel for how different engines handle a simple idea, and which engine suits my meager skills best. Either way, I believe my next step will be going through several tutorials for GameMaker Studio and Unity.

According to GameMaker Studio, I’ve spent around 13 hours over a week on PASMR, and that includes coming to grips with the engine. Here’s a quick video of the game, and I may post some musings on a new project stuck in my head.