Rootin' Tootin' Robot is a fast-paced action platformer set in the wild west of the sandy desert. Play as a nimble robot fighting against robots loyal to the Lamia boss. Master your movement abilities to achieve the highest score possible. Navigate through the desert to scale the cactus tower and take on the lamia boss.

This version of the project has the unreal debugger enabled, along with a programmer showcase level that can be accessed via the main menu.

Made as the final project for Moorpark College Game Studio - Spring 25

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Controls:

WASD to move

Left-Shift to Sprint

Mouse to aim and turn

Left click to shoot scrap revolver, right click to aim down sights

Left-Control to Dash

F to use Rocket Gauntlets (quickfall/leap, air/ground contextual). Gauntlet can break through some platforms.

When not aiming down sights, Scrap Revolver can knock you back in midair.

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Credits:

Producer - Jamie Katranis

Art Lead - Roshan French

UI Artist - Kat Carreno

Concept Art - Jason Tipton, Kat Carreno

Animator - Brandon Diaz

3D Artists - Javier Villanueva, Jason Tipton, Chris Hoober, Jamie Katranis, Brandon Diaz

Design Lead - Gray MacMahon

Level Design - Victor Martinez, Jon Reeder

Game Designers - Gray MacMahon, Jon Reeder, Victor Martinez, Ryan Barabas

VFX - Gordon Leeney

Programming Lead - Ryan Barabas

Gameplay Programmer - Ryan Barabas, Luke Graham

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Gameplay Mechanics

Here is an overview of all gameplay mechanics or systems that I made within the project!

Player Mechanics:

All Mechanics that are related to the player.

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Player Opacity

The player's model becomes slightly transparent during certain actions, with transparency increasing as the camera gets closer (minimum 40%). Different actions change the player's opacity, such as aiming down sights changes your opacity to 70%

Player Movement:

Mechanics that the player can use to navigate through the level.

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Sprint Meter

Grants a temporary speed boost when the player holds the sprint key while moving. Sprinting consumes stamina. When you run out of stamina, you lose your speed boost and stop sprinting. Trying to sprint when standing still has no effect. Trying to sprint when you have no stamina prevents stamina regeneration. After releasing the sprint key, stamina begins to regenerate after a 2-second delay. Designers can customize the sprint speed boost and stamina regeneration rate.

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Dash Ability

A short burst of movement that moves the player in the direction they're facing. During the dash, the player will not take any damage. Designers can customize the dash distance and cooldown. The direction is updated based on where the player is looking, meaning they can change the direction mid-dash.

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Gauntlet

Launches the player vertically based on their current state -- upwards if grounded, downwards if mid-air. The ability only enters cooldown once the player lands. It can interact with the environment by destroying designer-tagged objects on contact. The gauntlet ability also affects enemies. Launching enemies upwards and damaging nearby enemies when the player launches upwards, while slamming downwards knocks enemies away, deals damage, and applies a stun.

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Player Weapons:

Mechanics that the player can use to defeat enemies throughout the level.

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Revolver

The main weapon of the game has two firing modes: Hip-Fire and Precise Shot

• Hip-Fire (Left-Click) - Fires in a cone from the hip. The farther the target, the wider the spread. Can hit multiple enemies but deals less damage than the precise shot
  • While mid-air, firing will push the player backward, opposite of the gun's direction. For example, firing straight down launches you upward. Each push becomes less effective (100%, 50%, 25%, etc.) until you land, which resets the effect.
• Precise Shot (Hold Right-Click, then Left-Click to fire) - Fires a single, precise shot from the barrel toward where you are aiming. Deals more damage, rewarding precision shots.

You cannot reload while sprinting, dashing, or mid-air.

The Revolver uses a unique system where shots are traced from the camera to ensure they always hit the center of the screen. To prevent hitting anything behind the player, the trace starts at the gun's position, using an offset from the camera.

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Scrapped Mechanics:

Mechanics that were fully made but were scrapped due to scope reasons.

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Lasso

Designed to be another ability, the lasso featured multiple modes, each with its own keybind. Pull mode drags the hit enemy toward the player, while Push Mode pulls the player to the enemy. If the lasso misses, it does not trigger a cooldown. An experimental version also allowed interacting with objects (Such as pulling the object to the player or pushing the player to the object), but this was not finalized.

• This mechanic still exists in-game and is available in the showcase map.

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Score

Designed to track player performance and encourage replayability by rewarding efficient gameplay. Score is earned in various ways: reaching checkpoints, which decrease in value the longer it takes, opening loot crates, or by defeating enemies. Killing multiple enemies within a single revolver clip grants bonus multipliers.

• This mechanic still exists in-game and is available in the showcase map.

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Weapon Swapping

Designed to allow players to swap between multiple weapons, this system enabled dynamic swapping between weapons like the revolver and the gauntlet, with only the active weapon being usable. Although this was later scrapped, some of the systems are still functional, but only the revolver is accessible to the player.

• This mechanic no longer exists or is no longer functional

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Melee Attack

Designed to allow players to perform close-ranged attacks that damage all nearby enemies.

• This mechanic no longer exists or is no longer functional

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Bullet Trail

When the player fires the revolver, a fast-moving object travels from the muzzle point to the impact point, simulating a bullet trail. Designers can customize the visual effects.

• This mechanic no longer exists or is no longer functional

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Interactable Mechanics:

Mechanics that are placed around the map that interact with the player in various ways. All of these are made so that designers can drag and drop them into the level and customize any numbers they may need.

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Checkpoints

The first system built during development, this mechanic lets players save progress and respawn after falling or failing jumps. Reaching a checkpoint restores health and rewards score. Each checkpoint has a unique ID that designers need to input. Two modes are supported: Free roam, where checkpoints can be achieved in any order, and Checkpoint Order, which requires sequential activation based on ID. Though originally built before the project's direction was clear, it was designed with flexibility for both linear and open-world level progression.

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Damage Box

The Damage Box is a designer-placed trigger zone that damages the player upon entry. After dealing damage, it waits a set duration before checking if the player is still inside the region to deal damage again. Both the damage value and the cooldown duration are customizable per box, allowing varied uses across different map areas.

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Jump Pads

Jump Pads launch players based on the pad's facing direction. Designers can customize the launch strength and cooldown per pad. An optional damage toggle allows pads to also inflict damage on use, with the damage being customizable as well.

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Kill Box

The Kill Box is a designer-placed trigger zone with two configurable modes. In Kill Mode, entering the region will kill the player, which will reset the game. In Respawn Mode, the player is teleported back to their last checkpoint. This allows designers to handle fall zones, stuck areas, or instant-fail conditions.

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Landmines

A simple landmine, which, when stepped on, triggers a detonation timer. If the player remains within the blast radius when the timer expires, they will take damage. This detonation timer allows players to escape and not take damage before the landmine explodes. Both the damage value and detonation delay are customizable.

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Loot Chests

Loot Chests are placed throughout the map and automatically open when the player approaches them, granting a one-time score reward. Each chest can be looted once, and the amount of score granted is customizable by designers.

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Change Scene

The Change Scene is a designer-placed trigger zone that handles level transitions. When the player enters the region, UI and controls are disabled, and a fade-to-black effect plays. Once the fade completes, the specified level loads. Designers can customize the desired level and speed of the fade effect.

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Enemy Mechanics:

Enemy Manager

A manager that tracks all enemies and their health. When an enemy takes damage, it's added to a hashmap (if not already there) with its actor and health. Damage reduces its health in the map, and if it drops below zero, the manager handles death, which removes the actor from the level.

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Enemy AI:

Gunman

A basic enemy that remains idle until you enter its cone-shaped vision in front of its head. Once spotted, it chooses between two modes:

• Firing Mode - If you are in range, it shoots from its weapon. Once started, the attack continues until it completes, even if you move out of firing range.  If you are not within range, but the enemy can not get any closer to you, it will fire at you.
• Moving Mode - If you are too far, it moves closer until you're within firing range.

If it loses sight of you, it waits briefly before returning to its starting position. If it gets stuck and can't return, it implodes and respawns at its original spot

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Trooper

A secondary enemy that patrols between set points in the level. If it spots the player, it stops and opens fire. Once the player is out of sight, it resumes its patrol.

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Hunk

A tougher, mini-boss-style enemy that shares the Gunman's vision and movement logic. It uses two attacks:

• Hook Projectile - Repeatedly fires a hook to pull the player in. Once hooked, it switches to melee mode.
• Melee Attack - Deals damage and knocks the player back if in range. If out of range, it chases the player to attack again.

If the player escapes or breaks line of sight, it resets and starts hooking again, Players can also jump on its head to launch upward.

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Rattlesnake Boss

The final and most complex enemy in the game. This multi-phase boss fight takes place in a three-floor silo, where each floor can be destroyed using the gauntlet, The Rattlesnake moves between floors through wall-mounted pipes, giving it full control of the arena.

You can damage the boss in multiple ways:

• Breaking the floor - Use the gauntlet to destroy a floor tile while the boss is above it to deal heavy damage.
• Tail Gun - Destroy the tail gun to disable its ranged attack and stun the boss for a limited time.
• Standard HP - Reduces its main health bar to win the fight, which triggers a fade-to-black return to the main menu.

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Boss Behavior

• Start Phase - Begins idle for a few seconds before becoming active
• Move & Attack Mode - Constantly moves around the arena while firing projectiles from its tail gun. Movement is randomized but avoids walls, short distances, and the player.
• Scream - At 50% and 25% health, the boss lets out a powerful scream that knocks the player back.

Every second when it's moving, there's a low chance to trigger one of three special abilities:

• Acid Attack - Fires three acid balls that land near the player. Hitting the player causes damage, and hitting the ground destroys the floor tiles.
• Climb - The boss enters a pipe to change floors. If on a different floor than the player for 15 seconds, it returns to the player's floor automatically. 
• Circle - Circles the arena, gradually tightening the radius. Moving outside of the radius causes damage over time. Escape by changing floors.

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Misc. Mechanics:

Miscellaneous mechanics that didn't fit into any category.

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Debugger

The debugger is built as a console command system, which supports testing and debugging by allowing quick access to gameplay tools and features. A spreadsheet was created to document all available commands for easy reference.

These commands are available in this build -- make sure to try some out!

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Load Level & Saving Data

Scene transitions are handled through the Level Loader Manager, which ensures data is passed between levels. When changing scenes, the system saves relevant data and communicates it to the next level, which then loads that data on start.

UIs

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Main UI

I programmed multiple core UI elements to support gameplay feedback. This includes a health display, cooldown bars that appear and fill during ability cooldowns, and a sprint meter while sprinting. I also implemented the ammo display, which racks current ammo and triggers reload animations. While I handled the programming, visual assets were made by other team members.

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Debugger UI

I also programmed the Debugger UI to display real-time important data.