I've built a competitive multiplayer version of Lemmings (2-4 players, ~3 minute matches) and need playtesters.
What it is:

Real-time competitive Lemmings gameplay
2 or 4 players per match
Short sessions (3 min per game)
Dedicated server with shared lobby

What I need:

People willing to test over the next couple of weeks
Feedback on gameplay, balance, and bugs
Ideally bring a friend (easier to get matches going)

Time commitment:

~30-45 minutes total
Can be split across multiple sessions
I'll coordinate specific playtesting windows when I'm online

How it works:

I'll send you a credential file for lobby access
Limited to 4 simultaneous games, so starting with a small group
Simple feedback form to fill out afterward

Requirements:

Current release is for Windows, but the game builds on Linux also (so let me know if you are interested in testing there)
Stable internet connection
Discord for coordination

Hi all,

I have decided to look into a new host for Lemmings Forums (and related sites) for a couple of reasons.

The first one is that I have noticed that several other comparable hosting providers (reputable ones, not dodgy no-names) provide comparable service at around half the price. While they lack some of the advanced features of DigitalOcean, these advanced features are ones that I don't actually use (some of them I don't even know what they're used for beyond vague concepts) and the sites will be fine without. Thus, by switching, I can either cut the costs, or alternatively, get a much more powerful server for the same cost.

The second is that, while I realise it's impossible to 100% avoid, especially while remaining practical, I wish to minimize any spending that funds the US (which in practice means don't buy services from US companies, as they pay tax to the US government). Moving away from a US-based host is a step towards this goal. The reasons for this are outside the scope of subjects we would usually discuss on this site, but I'm also sure you all can guess exactly what they are. It's most likely I'll go with a Europe-based option instead (partly due to most of the site's userbase being in Europe or the UK, so it makes sense to have the server located there too), but there's also one NZ-based option I've been looking at too, and I'm also open to Australian options if any good ones come up.

To avoid doubt: This does NOT mean US-based users are no longer welcome here. American people are not the problem, and are not in any way a "target" of this action. If you are welcome here today, you are still welcome here after the move (assuming you don't suddenly start spamming the forum between now and then or anything like that, of course). Nor will anyone be banned for not following the same course of action themself - this is what I am choosing to do, and I am sharing it in order to explain how it will affect the site; that's all.

No final decisions on who the new host will be or when we'll move have been made at this stage, but I tend to move pretty fast once I've decided on something, so don't be surprised if it happens within the week.

In terms of impact on site use: You can expect a small amount of downtime, but that's it. As this will be a 100% planned move, unlike the last one that occurred due to problems with the server, it should go a lot more smoothly than the last one. This also means that for a significant portion of the move, instead of the site being completely down, it should be able to remain online in "read-only" mode.

Quote from: Proxima on September 17, 2025, 03:33:20 AM... vast worlds to explore, and I love the feeling of exploration and discovery, not knowing what's around each new corner, and gradually piecing things together and building connections...

Hollow Knight was sure a great game, I'll also play Silksong when time comes.

Your words above appeal to the Souls series, I may sound dumb by asking this but have you tried this series already ? If not, I definitely recommend giving them a go ; Demons' Souls and Darks Souls are very good entries in there.
Hollow Knight borrows many things from those games, to the point that on my first run of Hollow, I felt like I was playing the best 2D Darks Souls ever.

I apologize if any work on my projects is slow, I might be prioritizing lets plays until ideas start flowing again.
I'm trying to make some levels that serve the purpose of prepping for a final level in a rank. My vacation...and Sonic Racing Cross Worlds might have thrown things off for me. Life tends to be that way.

Even if things seem difficult, You'll have to pull yourself back up one way or another. Slow Progress is still progress after all.

I will be away during the long weekend here in germany until sunday evening.

Quote from: Simon on October 02, 2025, 01:50:23 PMWelcome to the forums!

Sure, feel free to link directly to your blog/forum 2600 Wizards: https://woodgrain.taswegian.com/

I had known about the commercial Atari ST port of Lemmings, but you're targeting Atari 2600 from the 1970's, and yes, that makes a difference. You'll have to reduce Lemmings even more than what they did for the NES. Looking forward to see what you'll do with it!

-- Simon

TY. Modern '2600 developers can use an ARM chip on the cartridge to do extra legwork. The graphics are still limited by the TIA chip on the original machine, but memory limitations are eased.  The display, although just 40 pixels and a single colour per scanline, can be tweaked to produce apparently colourful graphics.

Welcome to the forums!

Sure, feel free to link directly to your blog/forum 2600 Wizards: https://woodgrain.taswegian.com/

I had known about the commercial Atari ST port of Lemmings, but you're targeting Atari 2600 from the 1970's, and yes, that makes a difference. You'll have to reduce Lemmings even more than what they did for the NES. Looking forward to see what you'll do with it!

-- Simon

Hello all. I'm a new member of the forum.

I found the forum in a search for Lemmings-related data - in particular, tilesets and sprite sheets.  I'm in the very early stages of researching a Lemmings port to the Atari 2600. 

I'm a well-known and extremely experienced Atari 2600 programmer. In fact my background is as an OG games developer back in the 80s for various platforms that were around back then. Nothing special; I'm just a run of the mill programmer - but programmer nonetheless.

I've done Boulder Dash for the '2600, which was a big challenge, but it came out beautifully. From that I have an engine that effectively does tile-based graphics on the machine. I'm interested in seeing how Lemmings would work using that engine.  For reference, up to 256 characters in the character set, and each character is 5 pixels wide x ~10 deep (can be adjusted). There are "8" colours available including black. It's complex, but just go with those specs.

Anyway, I'm happy to see this forum here - and I'll try and mine it for information about tilemaps for the original game, and maybe sprite sets (although I have a few that seem suitable already).  Very very early days and I have my own forum/section where I'm blogging the development nearly every day. 

I've just completed a proof-of-concept to determine if I can display "hundreds" of lemmings onscreen at the same time. I can - sort of. Due to the extremely low resolution graphics (just 40 pixels horizontally x 66 vertically), things look rather large and will have mostly a zoomed-in feeling. But that's half the fun/challenge of this part of development; seeing what I can do within the limitations.

Here's a video of the latest "stress test". There's a link to my forum in the blurb there - not sure if I'm breaking forum rules mentioning it; hopefully not.

I hope to make friends here on this forum, and I particularly welcome those who might be interested in helping me ensure that I'm as true-to-the-original as possible. Drop me a message anytime.


Andrew Davie

Quote from: Guigui on September 29, 2025, 09:23:34 PMI dont have much time to play the game those days, but this thread had me wanting to try this pack by IchoTolot who helped me a lot with mine.

I must say the remixed original music are a pleasure to hear !

Here is a slightly different solution for Disturbance In The Matrix. Still uses the climber turns away if a single pixel bumps its head thing, but it saves a climber on intended. No need to make that many climb at the beginning I guess 

That is an acceptable alternative solution! 

Great job. 

Quote from: GigaLem on August 26, 2025, 02:42:56 AMinclude presets via a dropdown menu if you're worried about those spending time in the options

This is probably the way to go with this. I'm thinking 3 colours:


Original Pink


Baja Blast Teal (good suggestion, GigaLem)


Banana Yellow

And, another possible alternative for a slightly darker colour that should still contrast well:


GameCube Purple

Another option would be to simply have a toggle that switches between two shades of pink:


Original (left) and Dark (right)

This could keep things simple whilst providing a solution.

Quote from: Simon on September 28, 2025, 08:47:13 PMLook at who's using the editor the most: That's Giga, and the other pack authors, and the other authors in the level design contests. The bug priority opinions of serious long-term users carry weight.

It's always a possibility to bluntly implement whatever roughly fits the requirement, ship it, and then reinvestigate

Agreed. Let's decide on which option to go with (3 colours, or a Light/Dark toggle), and then implement it for the next RC.

---

Hm. Something to keep in mind is that trigger areas are already darker where they overlap with terrain or other trigger areas. I'm hoping that this is dealt with in code by auto-adjusting the original FF00FF shade by some value. It probably is, but just making a note of this concern here in case it becomes relevant.