OK, SuperLemmini users, I need your feedback here.
I'm looking at doing a remaster of the two original games,
Lemmings and
Oh No! More Lemmings. The versions that currently ship with SuperLemmini are great, and certainly represent the games well enough, however there are one or two things which could be improved, namely:
recoloured entrances and exits for the "special" levels - these have already been done, and will definitely be included in the remaster
"well-behaved" steel - at the moment, the current setup closely mimmicks classic Amiga steel, i.e. it can sometimes be destroyed by Bombers and Bashers, and the steel "areas" extend outside the actual steel block itself. Whilst this is consistent with Amiga lemmings, SuperLemmini is
not Amiga lemmings, and has the opportunity to correct this behaviour.
To my mind, the "best behaviour" for steel is to represent it as a solid block whose area covers the exact space that the block occupies (i.e. regardless of whether or not it is behind terrain). Here's a visual representation:
The current behaviour - note how the steel area extends beyond the block itself; also "classic steel" is enabled in the SL versions of the levels, meaning that it can sometimes be destroyed depending on where the destructive skill is assigned relative to the steel block.
"NeoLemmix-style" Autosteel - this is the steel rendering method used in NeoLemmix; the steel area fits only the visible part of the steel, and, crucially, steel is always indestructable with this method. This is beneficial for knowing exactly whereabouts the steel areas are, but is inconsistent with the shape of the actual steel block (as marked by the yellow outline).
Here's what I propose - in the 1.43 editor, it's possible to make the steel areas fit the block exactly. This means that the steel blocks will be as "real world" consistent as possible, i.e. even if a steel block is partially hidden behind terrain, that part of it will still "exist" as steel.
N.B. Since posting, I have discovered that this is exactly how SuperLemmini interprets "Autosteel" anyway, so it can be described as "SuperLemmini-style Autosteel" - image updated accordinglyI will also disable "classic" steel, meaning that steel itself cannot be destroyed, but the terrain immediately surrounding it
can be.
I've added a poll to the topic to see what people think should happen with the steel areas; I'll go with whichever option gets the most votes.
no "fake" objects - in the original LVLs, some of the water and fire objects are actually fake, i.e. they don't operate as water or fire (there are also fake steel and terrain pieces, but these are invariably set to "Erase" and so are not interacted with anyway).
These fake objects are, in all cases, outside the "playable" area of the level (i.e. they are not intended to be reached by any lemming). However, when remixing or converting levels, these fake objects can sometimes cause issues, either by not appearing at all (in the case of LVL to NXLV conversion), or by simply not having the expected function (i.e. water or fire).
It's my general belief that, if an object is visible, it should perform the expected function, even if it's only for decoration. Therefore, the remaster will enable these objects as "real" rather than "fake".
Thoughts, comments and discussion regarding the above is very welcome. If Tsyu ever makes a re-appearance, I'll suggest to him that the remastered version replace the current one, so it's important to get as much feedback as possible from the community regarding the state of these levels.
If the feeling is that they should remain exactly as they are, then I likely won't even bother to go ahead with the remaster at all. If, however, people can see the benefits of the proposed changes, then it is a job worth doing.
Note that all of the above can be done relatively quickly: the entrance/exit recolourings for the "special" levels have already been done, the proposed steel behaviour must be done manually but doesn't take too long (I can change the steel for a full pack in less than half an hour), and removing the "fake" check from objects can be implemented in minutes. So, time isn't a factor here - it's important to know what people think would be best.
If I receive no feedback at all, then I'll assume that people don't care either way, and go ahead with the remaster anyway.