Please note the 2nd rule in the
Bug & Suggestions Subforums Rules.Anyway:
1. This is definitely an interesting point. Climber obviously has no purpose being turnable with the walker skill. A floater or a disarmer, could be argued that they should turn once they finish what they're doing, but have no reason to turn while they're working. Gliding is the most similar to Swimming, though the key difference is that - in terms of real life logic - the lemming would not really have much control over where they move while gliding; they would while swimming (like they would with walking, where they will turn around if told to do so (via a Walker skill)).
Should this behaviour be changed? I think that's something that needs to remain open to discussion rather than making a decision right here and now. If it does - should it be changable by a Walker skill (which one would expect, if the lemming is not already walking, changes it to walking - with the result being one frame as a walker before the lemming goes straight back to a swimmer; meaning the turning around as a non-walker behaviour would be inconsistent - however, a counter-argument is that swimming is almost literally just walking, but on water and with a different animation - yes, the code even is almost identical for the two actions), or by a Swimmer skill (which would be very inconsistent in terms of mechanics, considering that Swimmer is generally a permanent skill; but might be more logical in terms of plain, everyday thought, if one already knows that a Walker skill causes an already-walker to turn). The latter is also likely to be more backroute prone. I do not like the idea of it costing both skills (which would be the case if one were to compare to L3, where you use a walker but also are charged one swimmer, if I'm understanding Simon correctly).
2. I believe my thought when implementing it this way was that the water would soften the blast, therefore it shouldn't destroy anything. A secondary consideration was that often, in a level design like the one shown in the image below, the level designer has not thought to extend the water behind the terrain, and thus unusual results would occur with a bomb near the edge. This could be argued is a matter for level design, not the game, to handle; and also that the player could give rise to this situation in other ways (such as digging near the edge). Personally, I almost always extend water behind terrain in my levels, but I do recall hearing that many level designers do not. However, in a level that presents swimmers alongside destructive skills, they may be more likely to do so. Another thing to consider is that stoners, IIRC,
do act normally when used on a swimmer (except for having no "Oh No!" phase), and in all other cases, behaviour is consistent between Bombers and Stoners in every way that isn't an explicit difference between the two (namely, whether terrain is created or destroyed).
Lemmings Plus IV, Insane 4 "Ooh, Shiny!"
Yes, I know this is a poor example as the level in question doesn't actually feature Swimmers, but the kind of setup I'm referring to in terms of terrain/water layout is present nonetheless.