Lix Community Level Set

[ccexplore]

Okay, here is the dxdiag file.

Thanks.  The information in the file indicates that you do not have the correct video driver installed on your computer.  It is using the system fallback generic VGA driver which only provides rudimentary graphics support.  It's likely why neither the Cheapo editor nor Lix is working for you, in fact I'm rather surprised that Cheapo the game still manages to run.

The information indicates the graphics card on your computer is of the Intel 845 chipset, which appears to be an older model that was only supported up to Windows XP.  Since you are apparently running Vista, it may explain why only a generic driver was installed.  The old XP driver may still work for you though.  See if you can find a download for the driver through your computer manufacturer's website.  If not, you can try the download here from Intel:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=9034&lang=eng&OSVersion=Windows%20XP%20Home%20Edition*&DownloadType=Drivers

Unzip the downloaded zip file and run the "setup" program.

[EDIT: JUST IN CASE...you may want to read below in case changing the video driver did more harm than good and you need to revert afterwards]

[ccexplore]

Unzip the downloaded zip file and run the "setup" program.

Because there's always a small chance of video not working after changing the driver, and it sounds like this may be your only computer, I have some instructions below to help you revert the change, shall it render your computer unusable afterwards:

1) reboot the computer
2) before the computer starts booting into Windows, press F8 repeatedly (in fact, you can probably start doing this while the computer is rebooting)
3) The F8 should get you to an "advanced options" boot menu for Windows that should include a "safe mode with networking" option.  Select that one with the keyboard arrow keys and press ENTER.
4) You'll notice Windows boot into sort of an ugly version, but should still function mostly.  This is Safe Mode.  I think you can still even launch IE or whatever web browser you're using to get back to this post, shall you need it.  (Though maybe not a bad idea to print this post out beforehand?)

(You can skip 1-4 if your computer is still usable [ie. has video etc.] and you just want to revert the driver change for whatever reasons.)

5) Open the Start Menu and type "Device Manager" in the search box to find and run Device Manager.
6) Find "Display Adapter" in the list, and click on the little triangle to the left of it.
7) The list expands with at least one item under "Display Adapter".  Right-click on it and select "Update Driver Software" from the popup menu.  (If more than one item under "Display Adapter" just use the first one.)
8.) Click "Browse My Computer for Driver Software" (2nd option at bottom)
9) Click "Let me Pick From a List..." (option button at bottom)
10) You are presented with a list of drivers ("Model").  Find the one that says "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter".  If not found, uncheck the checkbox that reads "Show compatible hardware" and VGA should show up in the list on the right.  Select it and click "Next" button at the bottom.
11) At this point it should start installing the driver.  When it finishes, click "Ok" or "Close" or whatever button to finish.
12) If you are in Safe Mode (ie. did steps 1-4), reboot to go back to normal mode.  Otherwise you're done and can continue using your computer without rebooting.

Again, this is just in case, hopefully you won't need it.

[ccexplore]

By the way, is it possible to have in the editor a guideline tool for death drops, bridge lengths, bomber holes, etc?

Here's a start towards this.  Unzip and put the files/folder somewhere under the "bitmap" subfolder of Lix.  You get the build bridge, the bomb hole (for both non-flinging bomber as well as flinging bomber), the cube, and maximum safe fall distance.  Many of these objects come in "terrain" and "decoration" versions, accessible via "Add Terrain" and "Add Decoration" respectively.  The reason they come in two version is, as I explained before, currently Lix doesn't quite have proper support for guideline-type objects.  Decorations are not terrain and therefore don't interact with lixes, which means you can leave them in the level without interfering (perhaps even aiding sometimes) with your private playtesting, because they leave the terrain unchanged.  On the other hand, decorations are always drawn behind terrain, so may not be suitable in some cases.  In particular, the bomb-holes only have terrain versions because obviously you need them to be drawn in front of terrain to be useful.

Also let me know what other guideline objects you think should be added.  [edit: added a glaring omission--the platformer]

[geoo]

Nortaneous: I saved 17 in The Pit basically using Clam's approach, just with a digger instead of bomber at the end. I haven't figured out the intended solution yet, though if you say it involves saving some from the pit, I reckon you'll still want to change the levels a bit. I put it on the list anyway (if you don't mind).
As for your other level, even with the current solution, I think it's perfectly fit for the first difficulty rating; though of course you can also add something more to the solution if you want. Perhaps the design could be extended a little still, then again it looks nicely clean right now though. Oh and of course, it still needs a name.

thick molasses: Not sure what you intended for TM3, but Nortaneous' and my solution (attached below) seem a little simple considering the bottom part of the level layout (unless that's the misdirection you were referring to). I quite like TM2, solved it using no diggers and only one basher. Though the wraparound is kinda pointless in this level, just annoys when scrolling around the level. But yeah, there have been made some levels making use of this (some of Clam Spammer's levels), and it is also used extensively in multiplayer to get balancing.
One major gripe I have with your levels though is the design. They just look like a random bunch of pieces thrown together. If you're using blocks, I recommend to align them to the grid (click the button with the 16, and if you're moving around terrain pieces then, they'll be aligned), and avoid pieces that just float in air. When using terrain pieces from different styles, also make sure that the result looks consistent. As for the background color, I feel that black usually looks best (though the dark blue in TM2 looks fine as well).
Perhaps you can rework the levels a bit in this regard, because apart from this they look pretty promising.

ccexplore: The new design of your level sure is...interesting. I noticed the terrain hint (when I first saw the brazier I was wondering what it was supposed to do there ), though of course, it depends on where you start building the second set of bricks. I think the best hint to estimate where to start mining would be using a fine-grained (e.g. 8x8) block grid in this area, so you can count blocks and can estimate where to have the miner start pretty precisely depending on where the bridge ends up. Of course, it'd be at the cost of looks a bit, and your block misalignment would make it a bit harder to do than necessary, but I just checked and it really makes it easy to get the precise starting point of the miner.
I uploaded the current version and added it to the list, but I encourage you to add something like this fine-grained grid to aid miner placement.

finlay: I put up "It's a long way up" as well, but feel free to tell me a new name to rename it to, or still change the level/tell me to change something.

Ok, 3 levels have been added to the list.

[Proxima]

ccexplore, thanks for trying to help. It really means a lot to me that you're willing to go to so much trouble for my levels. Unfortunately I don't know whether we can get this to work I tried the setup program from the link you gave me, but it just said my operating system is not supported, and exited. I also tried the manufacturer's website, but I wasn't able to find anything. Of course, I mainly use my computer for writing and browsing the web and I know very little about the technical aspects, but if I've understood correctly what their website is saying, it seems this computer isn't meant to support Windows Vista in the first place (no idea why everything else works, if that's the case). I'll have to blame the chaps at the computer shop for that, but I don't really want to go back and complain to them when everything else I want to do except run Lix is working perfectly. I could try starting up the computer I used before my previous one, but moving everything around and getting it set up would take a long time, and from what you said previously, it probably wouldn't be any good anyway. So I may have to give up....

[Simon]

Proxima, have you tried -w, as I mentioned earlier?

geoo and me have spend much of the day in Mumble. I made another level for the lixlfpack, Mice in the Pipeline. Both of us played the level multiple times. We need other people's opinions about its difficulty, geoo noticed rather much of its design process.

I tried Alien Invasion and, since I haven't solved it yet, I made fun of the spaceship design. geoo commented that only aliens were allowed to have spaceships like this, mixing two incompatible level styles and using upside-down thrusters. He plans to build a second part of the level where you have to rescue the treehouse-invading aliens back into the ship.

geoo found a challenge in the level, you have kill 118/120 lixes in the thrusters on top of the ship. It's allegedly very technical to execute.

I solved Tribute to Benny Hill in 29:25 minutes, and the whole level offers 30 minutes of time. I backrouted the Steve level where you must platform all across the top, and geoo amended it a little.

Some of Steve's levels have strange names, not relating to the level at all (Boss on parade, Get Hype, Well OK then). geoo commented that Steve chose these names based on what he was (unrelatedly) thinking about or listening to at the time. I believe this is problematic, at the very least I can't remember the name of the level I mentioned above.

Nortaneous asked in this thread whether the time limit on his level was too harsh, and cc answered that geoo and me didn't like unnecessary time limits. We didn't find the time limit necessary and scrapped it altogether. (Set a time of 0 in the lix editor.)

geoo had ramen for lunch and pondered for almost an hour whether to make artificial beef flavored ramen, or green curry ramen. He watched sumo wrestling while eating.

The lixlfpack levels are very hard right now. We need more flower levels, for the girls.

-- Simon

[geoo]

The lixlfpack levels are very hard right now. We need more flower levels, for the girls.

No flowers, but how about this one, called "Land of Rainbows and Unicorns"?

[ccexplore]

I tried the setup program from the link you gave me, but it just said my operating system is not supported, and exited.

It's also possible to change the video driver using Device Manager.  However, probably good idea first to check and see if "-w" works for you or not, as Simon suggested:

1) browse to the folder where the Lix program is located.
2) right-click on it and select "Create Shortcut" from the menu.  A shortcut is created in the same folder.
3) right-click on the shortcut just created, and select "Properties" from the menu.
4) In the popup window, in the field that says "Target", add a space followed by -w to the end of the text.
5) Click OK to save the changes.

Now launch the game using the shortcut and it will run Lix with the -w option.

Unfortunately I don't think there's any analog of this workaround that will help with the Cheapo editor.

=================

To change the video driver using Device Manager instead of the setup program.

1) open Start Menu
2) type "Device Manager" in the search box and press ENTER.  Wait for program to launch.
3) find "Display Adapter" in the list, and click on the little triangle to the left of it
4) the list expands with at least one new item under "Display Adapter", that should read "Standard VGA graphics adapter" or similar, based on the dxdiag info.  Right-click on it and select "Update Driver Software"
5) Click "Browse my Computer..." (second option button).
6) Click on the "Browse" button at the top-right of the page
7) In this 2nd popup window, find the folder you unzipped the contents of the zip file to.  (Little triangle left of a folder entry means you can click on the triangle to expand and see all the sub-folders inside the folder.)
8.) Select the folder, then click OK.
9) Back to the main popup, click "Next".
10) If all goes well, Windows should find the driver somewhere under the folder you selected, and installs it.

Between steps 9 and 10 if it is trying to change the video driver, the screen may flash for a bit, but should eventually settle down into working video when installation finishes.  If it ends up settling into a black screen, try pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.  That brings up the logon/user switch screen and can usually clear any transient black screens.  If that doesn't work, force reboot the computer and see what happens.  If video remains unusable after reboot, follow the steps given in the previous post to revert the change (including use of Safe Mode).

========

it seems this computer isn't meant to support Windows Vista in the first place (no idea why everything else works, if that's the case). I'll have to blame the chaps at the computer shop for that, but I don't really want to go back and complain to them

It's not that unusual to try to run an OS on a computer that the manufacturer hasn't necessarily tested the OS on, so I don't think I'd go so far as to blame and complain, especially since as you said, almost all of what you need to do with the computer is working.  Also remember that the computer manufacturer has more incentive to get you to buy a newer model than trying to squeeze every last ounce of working out of an older model.

it probably wouldn't be any good anyway.

Not sure where you got that from, just because it's older doesn't necessarily mean it's worse.  In fact you may have less problems with compatibility on older OSes.  I wouldn't rule out trying the old computer, but yes, no guarantees either.

[ccexplore]

Some of Steve's levels have strange names, not relating to the level at all (Boss on parade, Get Hype, Well OK then). geoo commented that Steve chose these names based on what he was (unrelatedly) thinking about or listening to at the time. I believe this is problematic, at the very least I can't remember the name of the level I mentioned above.

Coming up with reasonable title that also relates to the level can be tricky.  I suppose if you think you can do better in the titling department, you could ask the original level author to see if they are okay with a title change.  Steve's titling method is really just keeping in tradition of how they titled levels for the official Lemmings games.

No flowers, but how about this one, called "Land of Rainbows and Unicorns"?

Hmm, needs more unicorns.

[ccexplore]

ccexplore: The new design of your level sure is...interesting.

  To be clear I'm myself about the current ceiling design.  Other possibilities include using sawblades to create the text instead.  Or forgo the text and maybe have some sort of steam coming out of a regular ceiling.  There's also simply making a relatively low and thick ceiling but I didn't think it'd look very good.  Ditto with reducing the level height.

I will work on a few alternate ceiling designs and show you in IRC.  Also feel free to provide your own suggestions.

I uploaded the current version and added it to the list, but I encourage you to add something like this fine-grained grid to aid miner placement.

Okay, I'll look into that too and see what I can come up with.

[Clam]

The lixlfpack levels are very hard right now. We need more flower levels, for the girls.

Am I doing it right? (level attached)


edit: Added another level (not a flower level)

[Clam]

And here's a third level in one day. (Wow, I'm on a roll! )

[geoo]

Hmm, in Clones the lix could at least dress like unicorns...
I think the unicorns are just hiding in the vortex.

To be clear I'm myself about the current ceiling design.  Other possibilities include using sawblades to create the text instead.  Or forgo the text and maybe have some sort of steam coming out of a regular ceiling.  There's also simply making a relatively low and thick ceiling but I didn't think it'd look very good.  Ditto with reducing the level height.

I will work on a few alternate ceiling designs and show you in IRC.  Also feel free to provide your own suggestions.

I think the ceiling design isn't bad per se, it's just that it almost touches the towers and that looks at bit messy. Attached is a suggestion with a separating line below the text, and the water removed to get some more vertical space (a platform with two towers floating slightly above the water surface looked a slight bit odd anyway). Also tried to incorporate the fine-grained grid and made the level more symmetric. Tell me what you think.

Clam: Solved your levels, I think I also found the intended solution to "Inside the Fourth Wall" now, without jumping over the steel block. Pretty tough and very clever level.

[Proxima]

To change the video driver using Device Manager instead of the setup program.

Thank you!  This actually worked, and now I can run both the Cheapo editor and Lix on Natsuki. (Haven't tested the Cheapo game again after making the change... should do that.)

There's just one oddity. At the same time I bought this computer, I bought a new monitor, a widescreen one, but since my video driver (or whatever was responsible) wouldn't support any resolution other than 800x600 or 1280x768, I left widescreen turned off. When I restarted after installing the new video driver, widescreen was turned on and the button to turn it off doesn't work. It's actually not a problem -- I was shocked at first and jumped for the button immediately, but then I realised that my desktop background image was stretched and everything else is fine, so I can just find a new image (I haven't changed it in a while, so why not?) that fits my current resolution. Still, it's just a bit odd that the button stopped working like that.

Anyway, getting back to Lix, I've had a go playing around on a couple of levels. It looks pretty good; I'll need a while longer to adjust to the controls and everything, but I'm looking forward to getting into this now

[Proxima]

Okay, here's my first attempt at a Lix level. Just a little idea I had last night -- it's probably been done already. Really I was just getting a feel for how the game and editor work.

EDIT: Just noticed something. On this level, if you make a lemming climb, then block and explode at the top-left corner of the serif, the others can't get up. You could use this technique to get up a block of the same size on the original game. It's not to do with bad object placement; I got the same result building a test level with grid snap turned on. Of course, this technique isn't needed to solve this level, and it can still be done with more than one bomb, or a bomb combined with another skill, or a smaller block... but it would still be nice if it worked as expected.

EDIT: Replaced with fixed version of the level (grid used to position terrain correctly)