Sylora · Behind the Scenes

Who is behind the world

A student from Escola Secundária de Mem Martins who decided to create a complete game as a Professional Aptitude Test, with everything that implies: code, story, art and web infrastructure.

11 months active 1 developer 1 Greek world PAP 2025/2026
Project

The project so far

11
Months of Development
Since September 2025
1
Playable Acts
Act I playable
~16k
Lines of Code
Site + game combined
12+
Systems Implemented
Game and site
Author

Who I am

MS
Márcio Sousa Creator · Game & Full-Stack Developer
  • Game mechanics, combat and enemy systems (GameMaker / GML)
  • Level and island design and balancing
  • Pixel art, sprites and animations (Aseprite)
  • Narrative, dialogue and Sylora world-building
  • Full-stack backend: database, APIs, authentication and cloud saves (PHP / MySQL)
  • Frontend, interface and UX (HTML / CSS / JS), i18n, SEO and deploy (Docker / Railway)
GameMaker GML PHP MySQL JavaScript Aseprite Docker Git

Samuel Meixieira worked on Sylora while it was being developed as a Professional Aptitude Test. After the PAP ended, he chose not to continue, and since then the project has been developed solely by Márcio Sousa.

Development

Our journey

  1. September 2025

    Initial idea and start

    We decided to develop a game as our Professional Aptitude Test. The ambition was clear: a narrative RPG set in Ancient Greece, with its own story, combat and exploration.

  2. October 2025

    Choice of GameMaker

    GameMaker was chosen for its accessible learning curve for 2D games. We quickly discovered that its features have limits that forced us to rethink several initial objectives.

  3. December 2025

    Support website

    In parallel with the game, a complete website was developed: account system, profiles, avatars with crop, story page, game area and cloud saves. The workload multiplied, and learning full-stack web development too.

  4. March 2026

    Iteration and polish

    Features that seemed simple turned into technical nightmares. Systems we imagined implementing in days took weeks. We learned to adapt, simplify without losing essence, and find creative solutions within the engine's limitations.

  5. Today

    On the way to delivery

    The Sylora project represents more than a PAP. It's proof that two students can, with determination and many hours of work, build something from scratch, from narrative to code, from pixel art to database.

Technologies

Tools used

GameMaker Studio 2 Game engine, logic, physics and 2D rendering
GML GameMaker's native programming language
PHP & MySQL Website backend, authentication, database, profiles
HTML / CSS / JavaScript Website frontend, interface, animations, interactivity
Aseprite Sprite creation and pixel art animations
Git & GitHub Version control and collaboration
Reflection

What we learned

This project taught us that software development rarely goes as planned, and that this is not a failure, it is part of the process. Each technical obstacle became an opportunity to learn something that books don't teach.

We learned to work as a team under pressure, divide responsibilities, communicate problems and make difficult decisions about what was feasible within the available time. Above all, we are certain that we chose the right field.

Contact

Get in touch

Escola Secundária de Mem Martins · PAP 2025/2026 · 20/20

Sylora: Echoes of the Gods began as a Professional Aptitude Test in the Professional Course of Management and Programming of Computer Systems. The PAP was presented and defended with a grade of 20/20, the highest possible. With the assessment complete, the project is no longer tied to school and continues as an independent personal project, under ongoing development.