So, the plan is for V12.9.X to introduce the Jumper skill. Thus, it's time to figure out how this skill will work.
Some discussion has already been had on Discord. I provided two sample images (1st and 2nd attachments here) for the width / height of the jump respectively, and asked people what their
instinctive reactions are re: what the jumper should / shouldn't be able to do.
For width - I felt that the 32px gap should be a near-miss, but others all felt it should be crossable.
For height - I felt 16px should definitely be possible to jump and land on, but 20px
maybe should not (with 24px being a definite no). There was some disagreement about whether 16px should be, but it seemed to lean more towards "yes, it should be" overall.
To avoid a 32px gap needing too much precision, 36px was proposed as the width. I like this suggestion. For reference, this is
very slightly shorter than a platformer bridge (which is 39px).
This lead to 18px being proposed as the figure for the height - partly due to being exactly half the width, and also because it's exactly between the "should be reachable" 16 and "should not be reachable" 20.
The other details that came up:
- Jumper -> Hoister transition, for near-misses with regards to height. This would allow the 20px block to be ascendable - but with a hoister transition in the process.
- Head checks. These should be similar to the builder or shimmier checks.
The third attached graphic is how a jumper assignment, based on 36px length / 18px height, would play out in various places in some of the Fun levels.
Note that while this graphic takes the Jumper-Hoister proposal into account, it does NOT take head checks into account. (You may want to open the image in a viewer tool and zoom in a bit.)
Overall, I very much like the
general nature of this proposal, but I am open to tweaks to the specifics (or even to larger tweaks, if there's enough support for them - maybe someone will suggest a brilliant idea that hasn't been considered yet, for example).
It looks like no one has a problem with the suggested 36 x 18 trajectory. Some other questions that came up:
Would a glider glide at the top of the jump arc, or after the full jump is complete?
If a climber jumps into a wall, would it start climbing, or simply fall? Can a climber jump away from a wall?
If a jumper hits the ceiling, would it be possible to transition to a shimmier?
See reply #13 for my thoughts on these.
Reply #24 has made some decisions: Jumper-Climbers grabbing and climbing a wall mid-jump will be allowed; as will Jumpers grabbing a ceiling to shimmy. On the other hand, Jumper->Walker and Swimmer->Jumper will not be allowed.
Still remaining open are:
- Should a Jumper-Glider start gliding at the peak of the jump or at the end?
- Should the splat distance be counted from the top of the jump or the end?
- If a Jumper hits a wall mid-jump, should he fall facing the same direction, or turn around (and still fall)?
- Should it be possible to assign a Jumper to a climbing lemming (to "wall-jump")?
- Should updrafts affect Jumpers, and if so, how?
As of reply #51, poll results suggest jumpers turning around upon hitting a wall is favored. A new poll has been put up to confirm whether this is "turn around and continue the jump", or "turn around and fall" - but I'll note I'm leaning strongly towards the latter.
Further polls have suggested "turn around and fall", and ruled out the possibility of transitioning automatically to a "slider".
There's significant preference for allowing wall-jumping, and gliding from the top of the jump arc.
Current status as at post #96:
- Jumper<->Climber transitions are allowed, in both directions.
- Swimmer -> Jumper transition will not be allowed.
- Jumpers cannot be cancelled with a Walker, and cannot cancel a Blocker.
- Jumper will turn around and immediately fall upon hitting a wall (unless the Jumper is a climber).
- Fall distance is measured from the point of transition to a Faller.
- Gliding begins from the top of the arc (or if the Glider is assigned after this point, it begins immediately upon assignment).
- Jumpers will not be affected by updrafts.
- Double-jump and/or Faller->Jumper transition will not be allowed.
Post #97 has a detailed list of interactions with other states:
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4656.msg80439#msg80439A Jumper experimental build has been released:
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4718.0
Remaining matters:
-
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4656.msg81196#msg81196 (loosen first frame terrain checks)
-
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4718.msg81608#msg81608 (editor pickup issue)