So yes - as you've probably gathered, I'm adding some minor online capabilities in the next update. No, no multiplayer - I have no plans for that - but rather, for content acquisition.
Eventually, I hope to have a proper NeoLemmix content database, which can be accessed directly through NeoLemmix itself rather than needing to be manually viewed via a web browser. However, the initial capabilities will simply be - 1) download missing graphic sets, and 2) check for (but not download) updates.
Currently, I have two configurable settings relating to online functionality - whether to enable online functionality at all, and whether to run the update check on startup (specifically, it runs the first time during each use that one views the menu screen - leaving the menu screen then returning will not trigger a second check; only exiting NeoLemmix completely will reset the "checked" status). This popup could get annoying, and it also causes a slight lag upon loading the menu screen - however long it takes your PC to download a ~300 byte text file from neolemmix.com (it's noticable, but not long enough to be annoying, on my machine; it could be quite problematic for those on slow connections). So - with this in mind - should the Check For Updates option be on or off by default? To be clear - the update check does not actually download updates, it simply checks if one is available, notifies the user if there is one, and asks if they'd like to go to the NeoLemmix website to download it.
In regards to enabling online functionality at all, the main concern here is that some users have expressed in the past that they're somewhat on the paranoid side, and I was thinking that they may not feel comfortable with any functionality that auto-downloads anything. Outside of this, there is no huge disadvantage to having it on - the style check is only triggered when a style is missing, and the situations where it would cause lag (while the file downloads) are ones that, in the absence of this functionality, would cause the game to crash altogether anyway.
What are your thoughts on this matter?