3-Player Co-op · Unity 6 · Blues Mythology
A band of three fights through a haunted Mississippi Delta to challenge the Devil in the ultimate battle of the bands — before sunrise claims their souls.
Project Overview
Delta Rock is a short, story-driven cooperative action-adventure game for three players, set in a supernatural Mississippi Delta inspired by American blues mythology. Players embody a guitarist, drummer, and vocalist — each with a distinct combat identity — and must work in concert to challenge the Devil at the Crossroads.
The game is built on a single belief: cooperation should be felt, not instructed. Every mechanic, encounter, and ability exists to generate authentic moments of communication and mutual reliance — without tooltips or tutorials forcing the lesson.
Built as a Unity 6 capstone project, Delta Rock explores how game design can carry emotional and social meaning — using musical metaphors to make role synergy intuitive and the act of playing together feel like playing in a band.
Documentation Video
Documentation Video
Swap the placeholder with a YouTube or Vimeo <iframe> embed when your video is ready.
The Band
Each player embodies a distinct musical and combat role. No class can succeed without the others — encounters are sequencing puzzles that only resolve when all three parts play in sync.
Tank · Protector
Electric Guitar — Threat Controller
Generates rage through aggression and damage taken. Commands the battlefield, dictating where enemies focus and giving teammates room to breathe. The guitarist doesn't just protect — they anchor the chaos.
Solo Ability
POWER CHORD
AoE threat spike and stagger — used to stabilize chaos. Teaches timing, not spam.
DPS · Damage Dealer
Drumsticks — Precision Striker
Builds focus through melee rhythm. Switches between close-quarters combos and a ranged arc of thrown notes. Identifies threats and commits — hesitation is punished by the enemies they're designed to face.
Solo Ability
DRUM ROLL
Sustained damage burst that scales with time — encourages mastery and deliberate activation.
Support · Vocalist
Voice — Utility & Healer
Uses mana to heal, shield, and control. A context-sensitive ability adapts to every situation from a single input — cleansing curses, interrupting casts, or applying crowd control. Healing here is proactive, not just reactive.
Solo Ability
SIREN'S SONG
Charm and crowd control on an enemy — strong, short, and strategic. Punishes waste.
Design Philosophy
"How will players know which mode they're in?" — If you're asking this, you've already gone too far. Instead ask: "Can the world state explain the outcome?"
— Delta Rock Game Design DocumentNot a cooldown lock. Not a UI warning. A diegetic consequence. Activating a new Solo immediately cancels the active one. Overlapping Solos wastes value, lets enemies recover, and costs momentum. The lesson becomes "we stepped on each other" — exactly how bands learn.
The final boss is not a DPS check — it's a sequencing test. Each phase implicitly calls for a specific Solo. Using the wrong one resets pressure. Correct sequencing creates momentum and flow. The question the Devil asks: "Do you understand each other now?"
Every design decision maps to how real bands work. Solos exist in time, not in parallel. The Shared Song — the ultimate ability — is the only moment where overlap is not only allowed but required. The music finally sounds right when everyone plays together.
Every dangerous enemy action telegraphs intent, target, or movement before it resolves. Enemies teach roles through consequence rather than instruction. The correct action is always discoverable through play alone — no tooltips required.
Visuals
Replace placeholder tiles with actual screenshots, VFX captures, HUD mockups, and level design images.
Gameplay Screenshot — Combat Encounter
Level Design — Mississippi Delta Tilemap
Power Chord VFX
Siren's Song VFX
HUD System — Three-Player Panel Layout
Enemy Design — The Devil Boss
Process
Delta Rock was developed over a capstone semester, beginning with world-building and class design before moving into iterative systems implementation in Unity 6. Each ability system was built, audited, and corrected to ensure cross-class parity and consistent 2D physics discipline throughout.
The process included designing enemy archetypes that teach through consequence, building a full HUD system with per-class health and resource bars, implementing cooperative mechanics that reward sequencing over button-mashing, and hand-composing tilemap level design from swamp and bayou sections.
The documentation journal captures the full arc of iteration — design pivots, code audits, VFX placeholder work, and the ongoing refinement of the Solo exclusivity system that became the project's mechanical heart.
The full documentation journal includes design decision logs, iteration history, code reviews, and research notes beyond what's presented here.
View Documentation Journal →Update this link before publishing.
Credits
Mali
Game Designer · Developer · Level Designer · UI/UX
Inspired by American blues mythology, the legend of Robert Johnson, and the Mississippi Delta crossroads tradition.
Capstone Program
Add your institution or program name here