Challenges

M.O.N.O.L.I.T.H.

Some of the ideas presented here were suggested by other team members, but the group reviewed them collectively to evaluate whether any were worth pursuing.

Adapting to the Flashlight Challenge During early prototypes of the game, initially designed in the style of Worms , a lighting mechanic was introduced that shifted the concept toward a Hide and Seek approach, where players eliminated one an

Adapting to the Flashlight

Challenge

During early prototypes of the game, initially designed in the style of Worms, a lighting mechanic was introduced that shifted the concept toward a Hide and Seek approach, where players eliminated one another in a dark environment. While the idea was intriguing, adapting to such a major change presented a significant personal difficulty, as it required embracing a drastically new concept.

Action

Initially, the mechanic felt out of place because it pushed the project in a different creative direction. Whiteboard sessions were used to illustrate how it was moving away from the original vision, allowing the team to assess the impact; however, in the end, it was overruled.

Result

Player feedback during the late stages of production revealed that the new light mechanic greatly enhanced the experience. This demonstrated that letting go of an original concept can sometimes allow a game’s design to evolve into something more engaging.

Arial Light Challenge Players struggled to navigate the pitch-black environment, even with a directional light pointing straight ahead of them. They frequently collided with walls, disrupting the flow of gameplay. Action A circular aura of

Arial Light

Challenge

Players struggled to navigate the pitch-black environment, even with a directional light pointing straight ahead of them. They frequently collided with walls, disrupting the flow of gameplay.

Action

A circular aura of light was placed around each character, creating the effect of a spotlight shining directly above them when viewed from the game’s top-down perspective.

Result

The added illumination greatly improved navigation, allowing players to orient themselves more easily. They no longer ran into obstacles, such as the wall shown in the right half of the image above because they were able to see it, even during moments where they were walking backwards.

Fairness Challenge The game featured three classes with distinct play styles. The rifleman attacked from a distance, the swordsman relied on close-range strikes, and the explosives expert specialised in grenade use. Balancing these roles was mo

Fairness

Challenge

The game featured three classes with distinct play styles. The rifleman attacked from a distance, the swordsman relied on close-range strikes, and the explosives expert specialised in grenade use. Balancing these roles was monitored closely by the team, as poor changes risked making certain characters feel unfair and reducing player engagement.

Action

Risk and reward scenarios were applied to each class. The rifleman could eliminate opponents from afar but became vulnerable if a shot was missed, as a visible aiming animation left them exposed. The swordsman excelled in close combat yet was at a disadvantage against ranged attacks if spotted during pursuit. The explosives expert could disrupt groups of opponents but had to wait for a grenade to detonate before throwing another, creating a window of weakness. Grid-like testing areas were developed to measure and adjust attack ranges, ensuring each class had strengths and weaknesses that required skill to master. This can be loosely represented in the image show above.

Result

Through iterative adjustments and regular playtests, the classes became balanced and engaging. Animation speeds for attacks and cooldowns were also fine-tuned, leading to more consistent pacing and fairer encounters across all play styles.

Initial Concept Challenge Each team member was asked to pitch a two-dimensional video game idea that could realistically be developed within a few months as a mid-term school project. After all ideas were presented, the team would vote on which

Initial Concept

Challenge

Each team member was asked to pitch a two-dimensional video game idea that could realistically be developed within a few months as a mid-term school project. After all ideas were presented, the team would vote on which concept to pursue.

Action

Playing some classic games from my childhood helped refine the vision for my first team-based game creation. After revisiting some titles, Worms was included on the shortlist. The idea of making a derivative work based on this cherished childhood memory inspired new concepts to make it unique. Questions were proposed, such as how it would work with a horror theme, where it might be set from a top-down perspective, when the turn-based mechanic could be removed, and who would be guided if a timer automatically switched which squad members the player commands during gameplay. These ideas were combined into a visual presentation shared with the team. One of the slides showcased an image similar to the one above. The highlighted figures with health bars above them represent those actively being controlled by the player. Timers above the others indicate who will be managed next.

Result

The design offered a fresh take on a popular franchise. Although the vision needed further refinement, it convinced the team to select it as the project to develop.

Screen Peeking Challenge Since the game used split-screen multiplayer, players could glance at their opponents' actions to see what they were doing, which removed the element of surprise. The team noticed this and wanted to prevent cheating.

Screen Peeking

Challenge

Since the game used split-screen multiplayer, players could glance at their opponents' actions to see what they were doing, which removed the element of surprise. The team noticed this and wanted to prevent cheating.

Action

The only solution the team agreed on was to incorporate local area network multiplayer. This way, each player would have their own private display. Since production was progressing well, this seemed like an obvious choice.

Result

Local area network multiplayer was added to the final game, which solved the screen peaking problem. However, this proved to be overly ambitious for a single programmer to complete in a short time. As a result, some features had to be removed, such as the grotesque body dismemberment that was planned to occur when eliminating an enemy.

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