I know - multitasking is bad
. Humans aren't particularly good at it. But I keep getting ideas for both gimmick- and non-gimmick levels, for levels with and without fencers, for levels with and without graphic set-mixing. This tendency of mine to try out all possible combinations is probably one of the main reason why I'm usually against culling anything, because it will always lead to sub-optimal compromises in level design due to having to switch between several platforms. So I work with what I have.
For these "regular" levels, I wanted to do something with an overarching theme. The reason I felt Pit Lems was a little "soulless", despite being mechanically more challenging than my first offering, was that it lacked precisely that:
A general topic connecting all the individual levels. So I want to keep the puzzliness of Pit Lems, combine it with the allusions and humour of Paralems, as well as with the scenery-type level building style which I tried to go for with "The Death Titan" or "Face the Hydra", and which Arty has taken to perfection
.
While the idea for this pack actually came to me when the introduction of jumpers and shimmiers was announced, I know now that they will be introduced successively (first shimmier, then jumper, possibly with a couple months in between). So I thought of creating this pack for Lix, especially now that it has music, but too many of the levels I had already designed by then were relying on the fencer, which Lix doesn't have.
Depending on how quickly this thing develops, I may create just an additional rank for Lix, making this a (possibly first of its kind?
) cross-platform pack. However, since the development for this pack will probably take much longer than Paralems or Pit Lems - the reasons for which I'm going to get to in a minute - perhaps the shimmier and jumper will indeed be ready for use by then. In that case, I'll make a version for both NeoLemmix 10.13 and the new formats-version, which will be identical except for the unique mechanical features each of them has to offer:
The levels from the 10.13 featuring radiation, anti-splat pads or slowfreeze (because I keep getting ideas for these as well
) will be replaced specifically with levels which have to include either the shimmier or jumper (or limited-number exits, which are the third possible new feature). I don't want to provide any exclusive bonus stuff for either version except for levels which can only be created in that specific version. So ideally, it will be like playing original Lemmings on Mac vs. Windows, with either "Going their separate ways" or "All the 6s".
But what is this pack going to be about, you ask? Rock you like a hurricane
Indeed: Where Colorful Arty's upcoming back will be based on different artistic eras, this one is going to be music-based. And also geography-based, I guess
: The idea of a Lemmings musical ensemble touring around the world. If possible, every level should be named after a famous song, or at least clearly allude to one, and also as many famous locations as possible should be covered. Ideally, a level should do both in one
. Which means there are at least two auto-includes from my preceding two packs:
Diggas in ParisWalking in LemphisYou see the idea isn't new: I have built song-based levels in the past. However, most of the remaining ones are not really based on such popular songs. So it's questionable whether I should include them just because they "are songs, too". If I were to include them all, I'd put them into
a separate rank called "Evergreens", like Flopsy did with the MegSEBytes levels in SEB Lems. Then again, the two examples mentioned above are that famous - not as levels, but with regard to both the song and the place they refer to - that I think at least these should be part of the main pack.
But now, on to the new stuff:
Lemmings World Tour is supposed to return to the classic
30 levels per rank-structure, with
five ranks, like in Paralems:
Amateur, Professional, Diva, Rockstar, and
Legend.
These names aren't final, though. Other combinations I could think of are:
Overture, Aria, Symphony, Opera, and
FinaleWarmup, Rehearsal, Gig, Concert, and
World TourAdditionally, there will be a bonus rank in which I try to imitate signature level building styles of other forum members . This rank will either be called "
Encore", or, if we stick to the "Amateur-Rockstar-Legend" rank names, a more suitable name might be "
Groupie"
. So it's sort of like me trying to "cover your songs". The titles of these levels will probably stray from the "must be named after a song" format, though.
On to the ranks!
AMATEURYou are just learning to play the instrument called "Lemmings". So take your time, practice slowly, and remember that
It's a long way to the top...if you wanna rock 'n roll!
Timber (It's going down!)As you can see, I'm looking for creative ways to do introductory levels again
. For Pit Lems, it was "all destructive skills", "all creative skills", "all athletic skills" and so on. Now it's "all upwards-moving skills", "all downwards-moving skills", "all horizontally-moving skills", "all diagonally-moving skills" etc.
PROFESSIONALHold on, this term doesn't mean you're a master of your instrument yet - only that you have decided to do this for a living.
You're ready to live on the road, going from place to place, being spat out onto foreign ground by a hatch again and again, level after level, rather than staying in your comfortable little home known as the exit.
PompeiiDIVAPeople who make it this far are probably more likely to think quite highly of their skills. Rightfully so, perhaps? You'll have to find out.
My Lems will go onROCKSTARWhen these Lemmings go out to perform, the crowd goes crazy. Which means that ocassionally, that crowd might be pretty hard to control
.
Another brick in the wallAnd this one is sadly quite fitting to be presented to you today
. R.I.P., Angus!
Highway to HellLEGENDOnly the greatest of the greatest become truly immortal. And only the most iconic songs can be deserving of appearing in this rank.
Purple RainENCOREI've come to know that every good pack seems to have its brownnoser levels
. These levels will be my tribute to you guys, the people who have been playing my packs, doing LPs of them, and finding loads and loads of backroutes ^^. So it's only fair that this rank will require lots of "research" on my part, because I'll have to identify signature level building styles for each of the active content creators.
While many of you might be known for certain tricks they keep demanding from the player, some of you are even more famous for the type of level they absolutely hate
. So of course, I can't let that opportunity slip.
Icho chambersThat's a hard level that is!Ah, yeah, just out of curiosity, for the Nepster-style level... what's the maximum width a level can have in NeoLemmix?
The Music...will be hand-made!
Now, of course it would be nice to have each original song playing in the background for each level, and you're free to do that (pretty easy when the title gives it away, after all
). I will also write the artist in the "author" line for each level - although these bands and singers won't be safe from stupid Lemming puns, just like their song titles.
However, since I can't use the original tracks, and don't want to bore you with the standard Amiga tracks either, I've decided to go for the middle path and
record real-instrument versions of the existing lemmings music. Probably not all of them, some are pretty hard to transfer to actual instruments (like "How much is that Doggie?"), but I can replace these with some of the ONML songs.
Graphic setsYou already see the
instruments tileset in one of the example levels shown above. The main issue with this one is the high resolution required to get accurate depictions. So these levels are usually either oversized, or you only see parts of the instruments. (The exit is the sound hole of the acoustic guitar, by the way.
)
I'm also working on an Indian / Western graphic set; currently however, I've mainly just recoloured existing pieces in brown or orange ^^, added in a totem pole and a couple of bird silhouettes. We'll see how far this goes.
What's to do now?
- Collecting level titles! With the tastes in music diversifying more and more on a daily basis nowadays, there are only few songs of which I can reliably guess that almost everyone will know them. The more famous, the higher up in the ranks a title should be. This is top-down level design: Take a title, and then come up with something depicting it in some way, while also having the right kind of difficulty.
And of course, any somewhat famous song referring to a somewhat famous place in the world should be in here. Aside from those shown above, I already have on my list:
- Hollywood Hills (Sunrise Avenue)
- If you're going to San Francisco (Scott McKenzie)
- Y. Lem C.A. (Village People)
- Barcelona (Freddie Mercury)
- Lemmingrad (Billy Joel)
- Samba de Janeiro (Bellini)
- The Irish Rover (traditional)
- London Bridge (hey, fitting Lemmings music for that one!
)
- Sur le pont d'Avignon (traditional)
- Lempire State of Mind (Jay Z feat. Alicia Keys)
- Hiroshima (Wishful Thinking) - you see how I kinda do need radiation in this pack, don't you?
In case I do a cross-platform thing with additional levels for
Lix, these might include:
- Taking orders from Van Halen (guess which skill you'll have to use here
)
- The Time Warp (can you guess it here as well?
)
- Beat it! (probably also obvious)
- Telling me which of my two simultaneous projects - "Lemmicks", i.e. the pack with gimmicks, or this one - I should focus on first.