Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My son and his friend are 4th graders who are using GameMaker for Mac to create a pong-style video game for the blind for their science fair project. In order to help the blind play the game, the ball will emit a sound. As the ball gets closer to the paddle, the pitch (or volume) of the sound of the ball will get higher. As the ball gets farther away from the paddle, the pitch (or volume) of the sound of the ball will get lower. We think we can create the basic pong-style video game using GameMaker for Mac; however, we are not sure how to change the pitch (or volume) of the sound of the ball as it gets closer or further away from the paddle. Accordingly, we are hoping that somebody on this forum would be willing to explain how to accomplish this task. We greatly look forward to hearing back from somebody. Thank you!

Hi Dingo925 -- I have asked other Experts here at Ask an Expert to take a look at your question to see if they can provide assistance for your son and his teammate on how to accomplish their "sound" goals for this project. In the meantime, in looking at the GameMaker forums, I found a few threads that you might want to look over. Unfortunately, this approach may not be straightforward for a 4th grade team. A workaround to the problem may be to upload separate sound files (where you've changed the pitch and saved files of the sound at various pitches or even volumes) and associate them with the location of the ball. That may be a more manageable approach for them.

But, here are a few threads. Some reference the FMOD plugin; some reference other DLLs. I am not sure about Mac-compatibility:

http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=460340
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=333705
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=465738

These resources may also be helpful. This video shows, step by step, how to import sound elements and how to associate them with specific parts of the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrVscI9y ... r_embedded#!

And here is a GameMaker page on sound, which offers a list of the possible effects: http://wiki.yoyogames.com/index.php/Sound

Amy
Science Buddies

Hi Dingo925 - I wanted to follow up again with a bit more information. I was able to talk to one of our staff scientists today about your question, about your son's project, and about the fact that they are in the 4th grade.

She agrees that importing a number of separate sounds (for which you've changed the pitch or volume) is an approach worth pursuing -- and one that they should be able to tackle as a team.

Here's some detailed info from her:

They could change the sound as the position changes, which is not difficult to do. The students can use conditional statements to do this. Making the sound more “continuous” is more difficult and may be difficult at this level. However, setting up test statements in their program, is something they should be able to do as part of their work with GameMaker. They can use the Audacity audio editor, or another audio program, to record their sounds--or to edit free sounds they may choose to use.

This site may be helpful: http://gamemaker.info/en/manual/406_01_basic. They may be able to use sound_fade(index,value,time) function and/or the sound_pan(index, value) function (sound change left to right) to make a more “continuous” sound. The test block would run when the ball object is moving. Logic: If object.y is greater than the lowest paddle then sound_fade(index, 0,time), If object.y is less than the upper paddle then sound_fade(index,1,time). Or something along these lines.

I'm hoping this info will give your son and his teammate an idea of how to approach the sound implementation. They may still have things to "work out" to get the sound in place, but I think this will put them on the right track.

If they have followup questions, please post back to this same thread.

Amy
Science Buddies