Rusty Pong 🎮

A classic Pong implementation built with the Bevy game engine and Rapier physics. Created as a holiday learning project during Christmas 2024, focusing on creating a complete game loop in the most rusty way possible.

Play it here!

Game Overview

Two paddles, one ball, endless possibilities. This minimalist take on Pong emphasizes smooth physics-based gameplay with a clean aesthetic. The AI opponent provides a challenging experience by predicting ball trajectories in real-time.

Looking through the lens of Essential Experience:

• The core experience is that moment-to-moment tension of anticipating where the ball will go and positioning your paddle just right
• Clean visuals and physics-driven ball movement keep the focus purely on that core gameplay tension

Through the lens of Fun:

• The satisfaction of perfectly timing a return
• The mounting excitement as volleys get longer
• The strategic depth of choosing shot angles and positioning

Features

• Smooth, physics-based gameplay using Rapier2D
• AI opponent with predictive ball tracking
• Modern scoring system with deuce handling
• Pause functionality
• Background music toggle (M key)
• Clean state management flow:
  • Splash screen
  • Active gameplay
  • Pause menu
  • Victory/defeat screen

Controls

• Player movement: W/S or Up/Down arrow keys
• Pause: Space
• Music toggle: M
• Start new game: Space (from victory/defeat screen)

Technical Stack

Built with:

• Bevy 0.15.0 - A data-driven game engine
• Rapier2D - Modern physics engine providing realistic ball movement and collisions
• Efficient state management for clean game flow
• Component-based architecture following Bevy best practices

Build and Run

Make sure you have Rust installed, then:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/rusty-pong.git
cd rusty-pong

# Run in debug mode
cargo run

# Or build and run in release mode for better performance
cargo run --release

Design Philosophy

Through the lens of Project Focus:

• Built in a few concentrated hours
• Emphasis on completing a polished game loop rather than feature creep
• Minimal but complete - every element serves the core experience

Through the lens of Elegance:

• Clean separation of concerns in the codebase
• Focused gameplay mechanics that work together harmoniously
• No unnecessary complexity - every feature supports the core game loop

Development Roadmap

This project was created as a learning exercise to understand:

• Game development with Bevy
• Physics integration with Rapier
• Game state management
• Audio handling in games
• AI behavior implementation
• The state of WASM game development with Rust

License

MIT - See LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• The Bevy community for their excellent documentation and examples
• Classic Pong for providing timeless gameplay inspiration