Charon

Charon is a third-person action rower where you play as Charon, ferryman of the Underworld, who risks a treacherous journey to help his old friend reach her lost lover in the afterlife.

My Role

I am currently the Game Design Lead on the team. I organize the rest of the designers and work with them on all the different areas of design that are relevant to the game. Of those design elements, the most prominent are combat, movement, and level design. Though, a lot of work also goes into designing enemy behavior, camera work, and much more.

Game Details

  • Made in Unity 3D​

  • Programming Languages: C#

  • Platform: PC

  • Version Control: P4V

  • Task Management Software: JIRA

  • Genre: Action-Adventure

  • Dev Timeline: March 2021 - May 2022

  • Team Size: 26

  • Made in collaboration with USC Games, The Otis School for Design, and The Art Center

 

This is a cut from the layout for the first level of Charon.

It details the following:

-Player Path

-Obstacles + Enemies Combinations

-Narrative beats

-River Speed Variations

-Scripted Events

-Experience Goals per Section

 

This is the built level of the macro you saw previously.

It seeks to give the player a wide variety of challenges and experiences by utilizing the following variations to the river:

  • River Width (narrow vs. wide)

  • Player Path (straight vs. windy)

  • Stream Speed (slow vs. fast)

  • Challenges (Traversal vs. Combat)

  • Obstacles (Stationary vs. Dynamic)

  • Enemies (Interactable vs. Non-Interactable)

 

This is a gameplay screenshot from a recent build.

Players utilize gamepad controls to do the following:

  • Forward Row (left & right)

    • Short row that slightly turns the boat, but focuses on moving forward

  • Sweeping Turn (left & right)

    • A strong row that both turns the boat and accelerates the player significantly

  • Row Attack (left & right)

    • An attack that bats an enemy away from the boat, potentially throwing them into obstacles and killing them

  • Bow Attack

    • An attack by the passenger in the back that fires at whichever enemy the camera is currently closest to pointing at

  • Anchor

    • Slows down the boat by anchoring the oar in the water

 

This is a paintover of the current build that showcases a few additional mechanics we have implemented in the game already.

The following planned mechanics that are in this paintover:

  • Grasping Hand

    • A stationary enemy that latches onto the boat, immobilizing the player until it is attacked.

  • Diegetic Lamp Health

    • The lamp light at the front of the boat will be a diegetic representation of player health, dwindling in brightness as player health decreases.

  • God Rays

    • God Rays will shine through cracks in the cave ceiling, showing the player the direction they are supposed to head towards.

  • Fog

    • An obstacle that obscures the player’s vision, enabling new player experiences by triggering the player’s fear of the unknown.

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