Mouse: a shooter that uses Unreal Engine 5 to revive rubber hose animation
In the landscape of first-person shooters, Mouse stands out not for its realism, but for its bold return to the past. This game adopts the rubber hose aesthetic from 1930s animations, a style that defined icons like the original Mickey Mouse, and transposes it into a modern 3D environment using Unreal Engine 5. The result is a visual experience that challenges current conventions 🎨.
The graphics engine as a digital brush
The technical magic behind Mouse lies in a complex system of shaders and post-processing effects within UE5. This system does not render realistic scenes, but actively processes the three-dimensional models and environments so that the player perceives them as two-dimensional, hand-drawn cartoons.
Key elements of the visual process:- Apply black outline lines around the 3D models.
- Use flat colors with textures that simulate paint and imperfect strokes.
- Integrate a controlled jitter or shake in the animations, emulating frame-by-frame animation from the era.
The film grain and calculated visual imperfections complete the illusion, making every game session feel like an old animated film projected on the screen.
Playing inside a cartoon
The aesthetic is not just decoration; it completely redefines the gameplay experience. The level design and shooting mechanics adapt to exist within this cartoonish world. The environments, although built in 3D, feature perspectives and designs that homage classic scenarios.
Integrated gameplay features:- Enemies move with the elastic and exaggerated physics typical of the rubber hose style.
- Character and object proportions maintain the characteristic cartoonish disproportion.
- Aiming and shooting becomes a peculiar challenge, as targets have unpredictable and animated movements.
A coherent fusion of form and function
Mouse achieves something remarkable: its visual section and gameplay work together coherently. It is not a generic shooter with a superimposed visual filter, but a project where the technique (Unreal Engine 5, shaders) serves the artistic vision (rubber hose), and this in turn shapes the game's rules. It demonstrates how an old visual style can find new life and offer a fresh experience through contemporary graphics technology 🎯.