This is an issue I was aware of a long time ago, but forgot to fix. Added to the bug list.

Nope; all exits should be enterable from the ground (with the obvious exception of midair exits in Sky graphic set levels, but that's only relevant in fanmade levels as the Sky set is a custom one originating from Lemmings Plus III). I'll look into this tomorrow and make sure it's fixed for the next update; thanks for letting me know.

Not currently; but that is how it'll work from the next version onwards.

Updated the original post with instructions on how to do the conversion using the new NeoLemmix Graphic Set Tool. Although it's probably not really much simpler than doing it with LemSet (not that it was difficult to do with LemSet in the first place), this tool will probably feel a lot friendlier.

It's known that cheat mode can do some weird things on levels with save requirements over 100%. The skip-level button is most likely going to be removed in a near-future update (since from the next version, the cheat code unlocks all levels anyway), so I see little point in fixing such a minor issue relating to it.

Also, just a tip - use PNG rather than BMPs for large-size image attachments, as it results in much smaller files without any loss of quality.

Alright, some things I'm considering for the next contest (and possibly future ones, depending on how well it works out), based on existing feedback etc - feel free to discuss these, as they aren't "finalized" until the contest begins.

1. Lix
If there is nothing inherent in the criteria that would prevent a Lix level from meeting it, single-player Lix levels will be allowed in addition to Lemmix / NeoLemmix / Lemmini / SuperLemmini. In the case that rules make reference to the "original 8 skills" in any way, the non-flinging bomber is the one that counts as part of this. Unless contest rules state otherwise, Lix-exclusive features/skills are permitted. Multi-player Lix levels are not permitted, unless the contest rules specifically state otherwise.

2. Revision of levels
Revised version of the levels will be allowed during the playing phase, and the playing phase will most likely be extended to account for this. How this will work is that during the playing phase,  there'll be several extra "deadlines", and at each of these, if updated levels have been received, they'll be posted (along with an announcement that updated versions are available). You can submit as many updates as you like until the final update deadline has passed (which will be at least a few days before the voting phase starts); the newest one prior to the deadline will be uploaded as each deadline passes. Once the final deadline has passed, no further updates can be submitted - the level will have to enter the voting phase as-is, though as usual you're free to update it again once the contest has ended.

3. Custom graphics, VGASPECs
This is more just a change in formatting than anything else; but from now on, it will not be explicitly mentioned that these are allowed. Instead, it will only be explicitly mentioned if they're not allowed - if nothing is mentioned about them, assume they're fine. The rule still stands that if using a custom graphic set, you must provide a copy of it with your entry, unless it's included by default with the engine (eg. if you make a NeoLemmix level using one of the Lemmings Plus graphic sets, you don't need to include that, as NeoLemmix includes the LP sets by default).

4. Closing dates
There'll be a minimum closing date, which will be a similar timeframe to in the past (about two weeks). However, on top of this, even after this date passes, entries will not close until 72 hours since the last entry was received (or one week since the last entry was received, if there are less than four entries so far).

5. Minimum number of entries
Entry period will no longer extend if the contest has not reached four entries. The contest will immediately be cancelled if only one or two entries have been received. If three entries have been received however, it will proceed as normal, except only first place will get a prize (instead of both first and second).

I'm fine with that.

FWIW, as-is I found Crystal Math to be an excellent level that would fit very well into a mid-difficulty (or even early-Mayhem-type) rating.

Of course! The Lemmings Plus styles (and the Horror style) are there on a "do whatever you like with them" basis. This is generally true of any content I make, apart from levels, which I prefer not to be re-used in any way while they're still new (but am fine with it once they're a bit older).

That being said, if you're distributing the style files with NeoCustLemmix packs (rather than Flexi-based packs), you might want to use unique names/numbers for them rather than replacing the existing ones, as a matter of convenience for anyone playing it. You can either give them an unused number, or use a naming scheme similar to:

ground15o.dat > g_dynalem_sky.dat
vgagr15.dat > v_dynalem_sky.dat

If doing so, note that the name of the style (the part between the g_ / v_ and the .dat extension) cannot be longer than 16 characters, and cannot start or end with a space (but it can contain spaces in the middle). You should also avoid any character not in the ASCII character set - if you're not sure what that means, just stick to numbers, letters and common punctuation(eg: spaces, _, -, etc), and you'll be fine. You should also avoid naming them the same as any current graphic set's internal name (in most cases their internal name is the same as their listed name in the NeoLemmix Editor; the one exception is that the Christmas style's internal name is "xmas").

Both the player and the editor can recognize these kind of filenames.



For this task of moving objects between graphic sets, while definitely already possible, it's not very convenient to do so at the moment. Needless to say, it'll be made far more convenient in future updates. Also, there's no need to worry about palette issues, as this tool always saves graphic sets as RGB-based ones (it can most certianly load non-RGB ones, of course).

Our third contest has ended, and as such, we have two winners! Only a first-place level prize for this one, but that's still two winners due to the nature of the contest as a tag-team one.

1st Place
T=0K
Terrain design: DynaLem (Prize: New NeoLemmix gimmick)
Object / stats: IchoTolot (Prize: US$10)


This contest was quite clear - T=0K was significantly ahead of the other levels in both rounds of voting! However, I do have to say that at least in my opinion, all three levels in this contest were amazing!


As the contest is now over, you are free to discuss the levels anywhere you like, and to upload backroute-fixed / alternate / etc versions of them. Thanks for participating, and be sure to enter the new contest when it's up!

That's awesome!

Okay, well, it's at a state where I feel like I can release something now. Please be advised that (as you can tell) this is a very new tool.

Do not try and do stuff you're not meant to do (such as open invalid files), unless you're intentionally doing it to test for issues and don't have anything important open at the time.
Keep regular backups of anything you're working on with it. The best format to use for the backup is the Full INI/PNG format (Export -> INI / PNG -> Full).
Do not try to open any graphic set format that's not yet supported. Those that *are* supported are LemSet source files (and this tool's own extended version of such), DOS / Lemmix / NeoLemmix graphic sets, and extracted Cheapo graphic sets. Lemmini graphic sets are NOT supported yet,  though they almost certianly will be in a near-future update.
If you encounter any issues, especially if you know exactly how to reproduce them, report them to me. Unless there's a very good reason not to, please report them in this topic, not via PM / IRC / etc - it's easier to keep track of them this way.
Expect issues. This is the first time I've seriously attempted to write a GUI application from scratch*, and as such, there's bound to be problems somewhere that I haven't noticed.
When using the "Import" and "Export" buttons to load/save graphics for terrain pieces or object animation frames, ONLY PNG IS SUPPORTED so far. Support for BMP (and probably GIF) will come later.
Most importantly of all, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT IT.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lbd48x520cqu08h/GSTool_0.7_Beta.zip

Source code (Delphi 7) available on request; I'll publicly publish source code (rather than the on-request) system once more of the core features (such as other formats) are added, and I've tidied up some of the messier parts. ...or more likely, just added the features, and not tidied up the messiness.

* Unless you count NeoLemEdit, but that wasn't using true GUI components as such, and ran on an underlying system intended for games, not applications. And if you've checked the source code, you'd know it's one of the kludgiest things in history. xD

I decided to make the pieces list a bit more descriptive...

Remaining features before a first release are just adding/removing frames from objects, and reordering pieces.

A lot of the levels have no time limit; I'd guess in the traditional Lemmix version he just set a really high time limit for them (I can't say for sure as I only downloaded the NeoLemmix version).

EDIT: Had a look. The missing level is the 5th one, "Pillar of Lemkind". I'm not sure why it's missing; it wouldn't even be the infinite time thing as it's the only level in the pack that does have a time limit in the NeoLemmix version.

So, I decided to make the object/terrain display a bit tidier.

Now, it centers it in its display area (rather than snapping to the top-left corner of it), and also automatically resizes it. It won't give oddly-proportioned resizes that distort the image or even make it unclear; resizes are always proportional. When downsizing (extremely rare) it always does so by factors of 2 (eg, half size, or quarter size, etc), while when upsizing it always does so by whole number multiples of the original size (so it could go to double, or triple, or quadruple the original size, but never, say, 2.5x original size).

Trigger area display is now also semi-working; semi in that I still need to make it blend with the original image rather than blatantly overwrite it.

At this point, everything you see here is functional, except the "Add" / "Delete" buttons under the terrain/object lists, the "Use Current" buttons next to preview/key frame inputs, and the 6 buttons directly underneath the preview image.

(The loaded graphic set in the screenshot is the Circuit style from LPIII, if anyone was wondering.)

Another kinda neat feature I added: When saving (or loading) Ground/VGAGR pair files, obviously, this means two files. While it still gives you full control over what the input/output file names are, if it can recognize the first filename as either "groundXo.dat" or "g_xxxx.dat", the second save dialog will have "vgagrX.dat" or "v_xxxx.dat" as the default name.

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EDIT: Hey, look in that second screenshot. Look what option not only mysteriously reappeared on the panel, but now works too!

Also, now, everything works except for the add/delete buttons (for both frames and pieces) and the Import/Export graphics buttons (ie: you *can* navigate through frames now, and use the "Current Frame" buttons for preview / keyframes).

I've also changed the displayed (and input) frame numbering to be 1-based instead of 0-based. This may slightly annoy the more tech-junkie types (including myself), but it's a minor thing and will probably make a lot more sense to the average user.