in the preview screen). And of course one could add other notes. Maybe just have a one line field so it wont take about much space on the preview screen.
Should overlapping multiple hatches, such that it simulates a non-standard spawn order, be considered "unfair"?
most arguments in favor of it are "because I'm recreating... DOS / Amiga"
I would, however, consider it an issue to stack 20 hatches on top of each other so you can spawn 19 floaters and make lemming 20 splat/glide/whatever
then stacking the hatches is preferable to slightly moving one to create a visible but very weird-looking double hatch (as in WillLem's suggestion for Havoc 12, over in the Redux thread).
hatch order is always hidden information and the player is encouraged to let the level play a little to see what the order is. ... We could change this with order indicators: "A", "B", etc... I wouldn't say that such indicators are a top priority or something we need, but they seem to be a good idea
Quote from: DullstarI would, however, consider it an issue to stack 20 hatches on top of each other so you can spawn 19 floaters and make lemming 20 splat/glide/whatever
That's not a bad idea! :P
Maybe we can prevent such cases of hatch stacking though by making it easier to modify the limited-number hatches.
That would prevent the author needing to stack 20 hatches to get this result, but they would still need to stack two, and they would be doing so for the explicit purpose of deceiving the player.
One could certainly make the case that each and every hatch should always display the number of remaining lemmings inside, for consistency and visual clarity.
Also, "one could make the case" is weasel words. If you think a case could be made, then do so; otherwise you've added nothing to the debate.
Quote from: WillLemThat's not a bad idea! :P
The reason Dullstar brought that up I think is because it has already been used on a level :P .
Maybe we can prevent such cases of hatch stacking though by making it easier to modify the limited-number hatches... If all you want to achieve is "I want the 70 lemmings from hatch A to come out first, and then at the end the 10 lemmings from hatch B"... then it would probably be best to have a box you can tick that chooses between "alternating hatches" and "successive hatches".
That would prevent the author needing to stack 20 hatches to get this result, but they would still need to stack two, and they would be doing so for the explicit purpose of deceiving the player. I'm on board with many use cases of stacked hatches being legitimate, but not this.
On the other hand, I can see legitimate puzzle potential in wanting 70 lemmings from hatch A to be released, followed by 10 from hatch B, if A and B are visibly separated -- so there could be discussion about such a feature
However, this is a general problem. One could certainly make the case that each and every hatch should always display the number of remaining lemmings inside, for consistency and visual clarity.
I disagree. To me, this would mean "I do not support this idea personally [this could imply either "against" or just "neutral"] but I could understand how there could be support for it".
An interesting point: it's currently possible to stack a limited hatch above a regular hatch, so maybe all hatches should display the number of lems yet to appear. This info could then be removed from the panel in favour of something more useful, perhaps.