Second-semester project (Master)
Duration: 5 Months
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Genre: Singleplayer top-down twin-stick shooter
Rogue Deserter is the project I did for my second semester of the game design master course at HTW-Berlin. It is a top-down twin-stick shooter. You control a combat mech, fighting enemy vehicles and other mechs.
I worked on this project alone. All features and 3D Models were made by myself. No Asset Packs were used. I did however use some premade Materials and VFX that came with the base version of Unreal Engine 5.
Ingame Screenshot from the first level
Keyboard and Mouse Controls
The player uses WASD or the left thumbstick to move the mech around.
The torso and Weapons of the mech orient towards a crosshair. This crosshair is moved using the mouse or the right thumbstick.
The mech’s left and right weapons are fired using the left and right mouse buttons, or the left and right triggers on the game-pad.
Mechs
Every mech consists of five parts. Legs, torso, left weapon, right weapon, and cockpit. Each part has its own health pool and can be destroyed individually. When a weapon gets destroyed it can no longer be fired. Destroyed legs inhibit the mech from moving. If the Torso or Cockpit gets destroyed, the mech is considered destroyed and can not perform any actions.
The parts of a mech
Enemies
There are three different types of enemies. Vehicles, Turrets and Mechs.
All vehicles, turrets, and mechs in the game
Vehicles are the most common enemies. They move towards the player when he gets within detection range and attack when close enough.
The player fights against tanks and is shot at by artillery
Turrets behave much like vehicles but remain stationary. Their damage, range, and armor penetration are generally higher than that of vehicles.
The player engages a laser turret
Some bigger vehicles, like Landcruisers, have turrets mounted on them.
Fight against a Land Cruiser that carries a laser turret and a missile turret
Enemy mechs are made from the same parts as the player’s. Different mechs have different behaviors.
The Combat Mech strafes around the player while shooting his auto rifle and laser. These weapons inflict little damage but a lot of heat.
The player engages a Combat Mech
The Sniper Mech tries to keep a high distance between himself and the player. His Railgun will inflict major damage.
The player gets hit by the Sniper Mechs Railgun
The Assault Mech dashes towards the player and fires his shotgun up close.
The player gets hit by the Assault Mechs Shotgun
Destructible Environment
Almost every structure in the game world can be destroyed in some way. When a mech walks into a building, it collapses.
Structures are also destroyed when they receive enough damage from projectiles.
The player walks through a building
Levels
There are three levels in the game. Each level has a set of objectives. When all objectives are completed, the player may continue to the next level.
Top view of first level
The first Level is a port with an adjacent residential area. The standard enemies are mostly tanks and armored vehicles that are easy to defeat. There is only one enemy mech. The single objective is to capture Position A on the left side of the map.
Top view of second level
The second level features an industrial district. The enemies are significantly more challenging. They consist of artillery, helicopters, and a land cruiser. The objective is, to defeat the sniper mech to the left and the assault mech to the right of the map.
Top view of third level
The third and final level is a Space Port. With its large open ground and the surrounding buildings, the level resembles an arena. Enemies will attack from all sides. Every enemy type in the game is used. The first goal is to survive four waves.
After the last wave is defeated, the final boss of the game, the Heli Cruiser, will spawn and attack the player. When the Heli Cruiser is downed, the game is won.