I've noticed an occasional case where there's a desync between the replay and the ongame state. The desync arises after a backwards frameskip, and often the displayed state can be "repaired" simply by backwards stepping even further.

I haven't tested extensively yet, but I think it's occurring when a skill is assigned precisely on a frame where the level's state is saved to memory.

I also notice that often when this happens, the highlit lemming (if there is one) gets changed and/or unmarked (still functions as highlit, but no visible indicator of it).

Once I find the source of these, I'll release a V1.43n-B update (identical to V1.43n apart from fixes to these bugs, so no physics changes) that addresses it.

Edit by Nepster: Currently planned behavior for V1.44: Bottom, right and left edge deadly; top solid.

---

---

So - it's been discussed before but, how should the sides of the levels work? Current behaviour is that left / right / top are steel, and bottom is a bottomless pit.

Some packs have used the "Deadly Sides" gimmick on every level because the author prefers their levels to work that way.

Most likely, the Deadly Sides gimmick will be culled if the gimmick cull does go ahead, so I think this is also a good time to consider what should be the one consistent behaviour of the level sides.

So, while they seemed fun at the time - gimmicks have gotten to the point where they cause a lot of mess to the code, and most of them are fairly pointless, some even have never been used.

With that in mind - I'm wondering if it's worth culling most of them. Some of the very popular ones with simple rule changes will be kept, such as Frenzy, Karoshi and Zombies.

Likewise, secret levels tend to be avoided in recent packs, and are another feature that was exciting and fun when first used, but doesn't tend to serve much purpose anymore. So I'm wondering if they should be cut, too.

The latest player update adds a mass-replay checker (accessible by pressing F7 on the title screen then selecting a replay; all replays in the same folder as the selected one will be tested), fixes a lot of bugs, and cleans up some inconsistencies with the climber, as well as a few other tweaks. The big change is that there's no more "Prevent Direct Drop" option; all new packs will have this option applied. There is a temporary backwards compatibility for older packs; but this will be removed a few versions down the line - it is simply there to give pack creators time to adjust their levels for it, if need be. As usual, the subsequent minor updates are mostly bugfixes, though V1.43n-C introduces a new format for the save file (it is capable of loading older save files, so your progress won't be lost; but will always use the new format when saving).

V1.43n
------
* Direct drop is now always disabled; however this is (for now) not applied to packs that do not
  require V1.42n or higher.
* Swimmer and Drowner no longer have the same sound effect.
* A sound now plays when a lemming falls out of the level.
* Multiple copies of the same sound will no longer play at the same time.
* Added functionality to mass-test replays. To do this, place all the replays you want to test in
  the same folder, press F7 at the title screen, and select any replay in that folder. Replays from
  as far back as V1.03n are supported, though those from versions older than V1.35n will only work
  if they were created in a dedicated player (not if they were loaded as single levels or played
  through testplay mode).
* Fixed the following bugs:
  > A climber can climb through an overhang 7 pixels above the ground, as long as the wall isn't
    exactly 7 pixels tall.
  > A climber can climb through overhangs at 8 pixels above the ground if the wall is exactly 9
    pixels tall.
  > Climbers who hit an overhang at the same height may fall at different times, depending on the
    height of the overhang and whether or not it's at the top of the wall.
  > Single levels don't usually play music unless they have a specific track specified.
  > It's possible to open a non-existant file, resulting in a blank level.
  > When loading a replay file, the game remains paused.
  > The entrance displayed wrong in-game in some graphic sets (primarily, but not exclusively,
    Cheapo or Lemmini conversions).
  > When "Ignore Replay Skill Selections" is on, assigning a skill to a highlit lemming neither
    gets recorded nor interrupts the replay if in replay mode at the time.

V1.43n-B
--------
* Direct drop backwards compatibility has been removed.
* Fixed the following bugs:
  > Level dumping fails in packs that use oddtabling.
  > Backwards framesteps may cause a desync between current state and replay.
  > Backwards framesteps may change the highlit lemming, sometimes only visually,
    sometimes functionally as well.
  > Saved replay text files have a blank space instead of the pack's name.

V1.43n-C
--------
* The score system has been removed.
* The save file format has been replaced. New save files can be identified by them
  having the ".nxsv" extension instead of ".sav".
* Fixes the following bugs:
  > Online options configured in the config menu aren't saved even though they display
    correctly.

V1.43n-D
--------
* Fixed a bug that caused errors if a player was to pause the game (before performing
  any action recorded in the replay), change the release rate, then perform a frame
  advance without first unpausing.

V1.43n-E
--------
* The default selected level when playing a rank that has been completed
  is now the first level, rather than the last one.
* Fixed a bug that caused auto-saved replays to sometimes be empty.

V1.43n-F
--------
* Adds an option to cancel the replay following a backwards frame skip.
* The Desert graphic set's quicksand trap now plays a sound when triggered.
* Fixed the following bugs:
  > Locked exits display in their locked state (but function as unlocked)
     in a level with no unlock buttons.
   > Backwards frameskips beyond the start of the level, when Ignore Replay
     Skill Selection is on, can reset the selected skill.
   > If music is turned off then on again before it starts playing, it will
     start, then restart when it should've started normally.

V1.43n-F-alt
------------
* Disables Windowed mode and removes some code relating to it.

Generally you will want to use V1.43n-F. However, (at the cost of disabling windowed mode), V1.43n-F-alt might have slightly less problems under WINE, or with certain recording software.

Download V1.43n-F: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/NeoLemmix143n-F.exe
Download V1.43n-F-alt: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/NeoLemmixAlt.exe
NXPs of Official Games: http://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=2479.0
Source: V1.43n | V1.43n-B onwards

---

The Editor update implements a couple of recent suggestions and finally fixes a harmless but annoying bug that's been around for quite some time. The -B update likewise just implements a few suggestions and bugfixes, including one very long-awaited feature: Undo and Redo.

V1.43n
------
> Level List window has been remade from scratch. One advantage is that scrolling no longer interferes
  with selection.
> Added a "Lock Piece" selection. Locked pieces cannot be modified at all; they can still be copied.
  Lock data is preserved when saving / loading a level in either NeoLemmix or SuperLemmini format.
> Fixed the bug where one-way arrows get drawn onto objects as well as suitable terrain.

V1.43n-B
--------
> Added Undo and Redo functionality (via "Edit" on the menu bar, or Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y respectively)
> Added an option for whether or not to set No Overwrite by default on most objects.
> Removed the hotkey "H" to toggle the highlighting of selected pieces.
> Added a horizontal scroll bar in the piece selection window.
> Fixed the following bugs:
  - Right-click popup menu only works when there is no piece underneath the cursor
   - Locked pieces cannot be unlocked
   - Locked pieces can be deleted
   - Some hotkeys stop working after resizing the split panels at the bottom
   - Some S / L value setting panels may be visible when they shouldn't when sub-windows are docked
   - One-Way arrows are rendered on steel piecel (semi-fixed; it still doesn't take into account
     manually placed steel areas)

V1.43n-C
--------
> Removed the panels at the bottom of the main window
> Various improvements to window ordering
> Fixes the following bugs:
  - Input in text boxes is discarded unless another text box is selected before saving
  - Screen jumps to screen start position when undoing / redoing

Download for new users: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/neolemmixeditor143nc.zip

---

The V1.11 update to Flexi Toolkit is solely to remove the "Prevent Direct Drop" option. V1.12 adds quite a lot of nice fixes / improvements. V1.13 is just a bugfix update. V1.14 allows arbitrary filenames for levels instead of a strict system of names. V1.15 and V1.16 are just more bugfix updates. V1.17 adds the ability to track replays.

V1.11
> Removes the "Disable Direct Drop" option; direct drop is now always disabled.

V1.12
-----
> Added a checkbox on the Levels tab to indicate if a rank has a Rank Sign image or
  not; clicking it when it is unselected will allow selecting one.
> Default music rotation list for a new project is now the 17 Orig + 6 OhNo musics,
  rather than a blank list.
> Added an option to reset the music rotation to default.
> Added buttons to move levels to other ranks.
> System / lemming graphics can now be imported from GIF or BMP files as well as PNG,
  and selection of a transparent color can be done rather than having to create the
   images with transparency. Export is still PNG-only.
> Fixed a bug where deleted LVL files may remain in the output, and be re-added next
  time the project is loaded.

V1.13
-----
> Actually fixed the bug with deleted LVL files.

V1.14
-----
> Level filenames can now be arbitrary. The list of which level is which position is kept in the
  levels.ini file in the levels subfolder.

V1.15
-----
> Fixes a bug where an error may occur when attempting to open very old packs.

V1.16
-----
> Fixes a bug which may corrupt levelpacks that are saved after using the buttons to move levels
  to different ranks.

V1.17
-----
> Replays can now be tracked alongside levels.

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/FlexiToolOld.zip
Source: V1.11 | V1.12 onwards
Tutorial: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/flexitutorial.html
Resource Packs: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/neoflexi.html

---

There was no corresponding graphic set tool update here, but I'm putting the download link for the old (SuperLemmini- and NeoLemmix V1.43n-F- supporting version) so all of these can be found in one place.

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/gstoolold.zip

So, as per the discussion on climbers, it looks like we're in for some major physics changes in the next update - at least major enough that a lot of replays, and possibly some levels, will be broken.

With that in mind, I think now would be a good time to discuss any other physics changes that should perhaps take place - I'd rather get as many as possible into one version, rather than releasing multiple versions that change physics.

In particular - now may be a good time to do something about direct drop. I remember the general opinion was very in favor of removing it, but no consensus was reached on what's the best way to handle existing levels that rely on it (in particular, the Sky graphic set which is entirely designed with allowing it in mind), or edge cases such as floaters and gliders.

Status: Fixed for next update.

---

I've noticed this bug ages ago but always forget to fix it. If a replay is loaded while the game is paused, the game doesn't unpause to play it (must be unpaused manually).

This is obsolete due to the general movement towards Discord instead of IRC. The channel may still exist, but I will not be managing it and will make no effort to keep the bot active.

So, since a lot of NeoLemmix discussion tended to occur in the #lix IRC channel, Simon contacted me suggesting I set up a dedicated NeoLemmix channel. And I felt this was a good idea, so I've now set one up:

#neolemmix on QuakeNet (same server as #lix)

If you already have an IRC client, just connect to irc.quakenet.org then /join #neolemmix.

If you do not have one, consider getting one. There are several available for all major (and probably even non-major) operating systems, including Android, as well as plugins for many web browsers so that you don't need a seperate app; just use Google to help you find one that you like. Alternatively, you can use a web-based client, such as this one:
http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=neolemmix

Feel free to stop by any time, whether you want to ask questions about NeoLemmix, discuss a possible bug, talk about your / other people's projects, or just hang out.

Channel logs are available at: http://nordicbots.com/?id=73&net=quakenet&channel=%23neolemmix

Just like with the forums, I'm not super-strict on rules there either. However - one thing I will stress - be sure to make topics in Bugs & Suggestions subforum for any bugs or suggestions. You can come to the channel to ask whether something might be a bug, or to discuss a possible suggestion, but please be sure to actually create a topic as well. This is simply because I am very likely to forget if it's only discussed in the channel, unless I implement it right away - which I often don't.

Not sure if this is worldwide or only for PAL regions (Europe / Australia / NZ), but it's on the list.

If you have PS Plus membership, "buy" a copy even if you don't have a Vita, if you think there's any chance you might ever get one. You can save it and then download it later if/when you do get one.

So - I finally implemented some form of mass replay checker!

I've uploaded an experimental release that contains this feature. Note: The experimental release does NOT include the fix to the climber bug mentioned here; so the gameplay physics are identical to V1.42n. It does include the fix to single levels not playing music.

To use it, hit F7 on the title screen, then select any replay. Every replay in the same folder as the one you select will be tested. Note that, especially for large packs and/or long levels, this is likely to be very slow. It's pretty kludgey for now, but it works.

It should work with the majority of replays, even older ones (I tested it with some replays that come from as far back as V1.27n-C). However, if a replay was made with a version older than V1.35n, then it will only be testable via the mass checker if it was made with a custom-made player (not with NeoCustLemmix or testplay mode). This is because in other cases, the replay doesn't offer much in the way of determining which level it's for, outside of brute-force testing it with every level in the pack (which I thought would be going too far).


Once it finishes, it will give you a quick report of how many replays fell into each of the possible categories; for more information, it will create a text file in the same folder as the NXP which will tell you which replays fell into each category (it also groups them by category). The possible responses are:

"PASSED": This means that the replay solved the level.
"UNDETERMINED": This means that the replay could not be conclusively determined as either a pass or a fail. See note below.
"FAILED": This means that all lemmings died (or the time limit ran out, if there was one) without the save requirement being reached.
"ERROR": This means an error occurred when either loading the level or loading the replay file.
"CANNOT FIND LEVEL": This means that NeoLemmix couldn't identify which level the replay was meant to be for.

For the record, "Undetermined" is triggered if, 5 minutes (game time) after the last replay action, there are still lemmings alive, but the save requirement has not been reached. I have yet to encounter a case where this happens on a replay that eventually passes the level, but it's theoretically possible, hence why I put it as a distinct outcome.

It will also state, for each replay, what level it tried it on (in some cases - for example, if you have multiple levels with the same level ID - it may end up trying the same replay on more than one level), and whether it identified the level by its level ID or by its position.

Give it a try - let me know if you encounter any crashes / issues / etc. I know there's a lot of room for improvement in it; but for now, let's make the main focus be on making sure it works, not making sure it's optimized. (However, I have added a couple of optimizations since then - I disabled the fadeout (unnessecary for automated testing) during the mass test mode, and added code to terminate playback as soon as the save requirement is reached.)

Known issues:
- If you run the mass checker twice without exiting NeoLemmix inbetween, it crashes.

So, as mentioned in this bug report, I've noticed in general a lot of inconsistencies in regards to how climbers behave.

Essentially, these all come from two simple facts:
1. The climber checks for the top during the first 4 frames of his animation, and moves upwards on the rest.
2. Both of these have a terrain check, but they get triggered at different times.

In general - what happens is that, when a climber meets an overhang at the same height, how many frames it takes before he falls depends on whether that overhang is at the top of the climb or not. I've attached a level to illustrate this. The level has climbs with overhangs - in both "overhang is at top" and "overhang is in middle" varieties - at various heights from 7 pixels to 22 pixels.

A summary of the current behaviour, in mostly-human-readable language, and with stuff relating to the implementation of gimmicks stripped out, is:

(Keep in mind - the climber's X position is one pixel inside the wall, similar to how when walking the lemming's Y position is one pixel inside the ground.)
If the Climber animation is on frame 0, 1, 2 or 3:
>> Check for no solid pixel at the climber's X position, and (7 pixels + current frame number) above the climber's Y position
>>>> If no solid pixel is found, check for solid pixels one pixel behind the climber, and (6 pixels + current frame number) above the climber's Y position; if this is not the first cycle through its animation, also check 5 pixels above*; just remember the result for now
>>>> Move the lemming to the top of the wall
>>>> If a solid pixel was found before, move the lemming down one pixel, turn around, change to a faller, and move forward one pixel (in new direction; ie: away from the wall)
>>>> Otherwise, change to a hoister
>> If there was a solid pixel there (remember - this is the wall itself, not an overhang), do nothing except continue the animation

* Skipping this check on the first cycle is to allow them to climb through an overhang at 6 pixels from the ground.

If the Climber animation is on frame 4, 5, 6, or 7:
>> Decrease the lemming's Y position by 1
>> Check for any of the following:
      - Solid pixel 1 pixel behind the lemming and 7 above it
      - Solid pixel 1 pixel behind the lemming and 6 above it, if this is frame 4 of the first cycle*
      - A blocker or one-way-field trigger area in the opposite of the lemming's current direction, at the exact X and Y coordinates of the lemming
>>>> If any of those were the case, move downwards 1 pixel, turn around, change to a faller, and move forward one pixel (in new direction; ie: away from the wall)

* Performing this check is to prevent climbing through an overhang at exactly 7 pixels when it isn't the top of the climb


Any change here has the potential to break a lot of replays; it isn't so likely to break too many levels (but we never know - those that rely on very accurate timing may be broken). But, unless we accept this inconsistency (which I am open to as an option, but feel it needs to be discussed), some change is needed - the question is what exactly that should be.

To those who want to look at the code itself - keep in mind it has some gimmick-related stuff in there too, as well as some dud stuff like conditionals that will always be false (which I've removed now in my copy), and does not yet have the fix for the 7-pixel-not-at-top overhang in the current latest code (V1.42n's) - look at the "TLemmingGame.HandleClimbing" function, beginning at (or near) line 7090 in LemGame.pas which I've copy-pasted an up-to-date version of in this post.


EDIT: I added a second test map, with the situations described in Nepster's post in this topic.
Both test maps require the respective VGASPEC (also attached), but this aside do not require any custom styles.

Latest player update adds a handful of things, but perhaps the most exciting is that many graphic sets, if you don't have them, will automatically be downloaded from the NeoLemmix Website when they're needed. If you don't like NeoLemmix doing this, you can disable this functionality in the Config menu. There's also an option to check for updates; this has the potential to be annoying, so it's turned off by default, but if you'd like to turn it on, it's also in the config menu. Do note that in general - custom styles now need to be in a "styles" subfolder.

Replacement versions of default musics are no longer in the form of a music pack DAT file. Instead, they're just individual music files, which can be placed in a "music" subfolder. Also, music files no longer need to be renamed to have an IT or OGG extension. NeoLemmix will properly detect all supported types, with their proper extension, at last. To be clear - this change regarding music packs only affects the replacements for default musics; music packs specific to a single game still work the same way as before!

The Genesis styles are no longer built into the EXE. They are on the download selection though.

Note that there's been some major rewriting internally of how data files - especially graphic sets - are loaded. So if you encounter any bugs relating to missing stuff or crashes that didn't happen before (or even those that did, really), be sure to report them!

V1.42n
------
* The Genesis versions of the Orig styles are no longer included.
* Will check the NeoLemmix website for missing styles; this can be disabled. At the time of release, the
  styles that can be obtained are IchoTolot's L2/L3 styles and Lemmini conversions, and the Genesis Orig
  styles. (EDIT: And Gronkling's Menace, BeastII and Cyber styles now.)
* Can check if a new version is available (this functionality is disabled by default).
* Global custom musics no longer use a music pack format; instead they're individual files in the "music/"
  subfolder. Music packs for individual games still work the same way they always have.
* Now looks for addon styles in a "styles/" subfolder; this is checked both during single levels and while
  playing packs. Please make sure to move any you have there.
* Now checks the following extensions for music files in addition to existing ones: WAV, AIFF, AIF, MP3,
  MO3, MOD, XM, S3M, UMX, MTM. Custom looping timing still requires OGG or a module-based format.
* Fixed the following bugs:
  > A "Self-Referencing Oddtabling" error occurs in bait-and-switch levels.
  > Some object types have the wrong frame shown on the first frame of a level.

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/NeoLemmix.exe
Official Games: http://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=2479.0
Source: V1.42n

---

The editor V1.42n update has some bugfixes, a few new features, and lots of user-friendliness improvements.

V1.42n-B restores the "Flip" checkbox for objects, which was accidentally missing in V1.42n. Aside from this, there are no changes.

V1.42n
------
> Added an "Import Layout" option (in the Edit menu); this imports the layout of another level without
  overwriting the stats, skillset and gimmicks of the current level
> Pieces can be cloned by click-dragging, then holding Ctrl while dropping them
> The piece properties window has been tidied up
> Extra options have been added to the piece properties window to simplify settings that are
  handled via the S and L values
> Added an option of whether to set "One-Way" flag by default on new terrain pieces.
> Added options to zoom based on current center of display rather than mouse position, and
  whether or not to override this with piece position if pieces are selected
> Updated the easy music selection to conform to how music is now implemented in NeoLemmix.
> When selecting pieces, the object type will be displayed; steel terrain will also be flagged as such
> It is no longer possible to have the editor running without any level open
> Fixed the following bugs:
  - Some graphic sets - particularly those converted from Lemmini - display trigger areas in the
    wrong position
  - Popup dialogs (such as that for selecting pieces) appear in unusual places when the editor is
    used on a PC with a multi-display setup

V1.42n-B
--------
> Restores the "Flip" checkbox for objects.

Download for new users: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/neolemmixeditor.zip
Download for existing users: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/NeoLemmixEditor.exe - just replace your current EXE with this one

---

The V1.09 update to the Flexi Toolkit correspondingly accepts music files with extensions other than IT or OGG. It also fixes some issues with the Issue Checker, and removes that warning dialog about including large music files in your NXP - to be clear, I still don't recommend doing so, but the warning box probably did little other than annoy people.

V1.10 stores the levels as LVL files rather than packed into DATs, making it easier to edit, replace, etc them. Remember - just like with any other file, make sure you aren't running the Flexi Toolkit while modifying these! Note that this does not require a new player version, because they're still packed into DAT files while building the NXP. These will be in a "levels" subfolder. You do not need to extract your existing LEVELxxx.DAT files, it will still load from these, but if you are storing your level files in a subfolder called "levels", you may want to rename this folder, as otherwise it will be cleared out and replaced with the contents of the pack itself when you save.

V1.09
-----
> Accepts all NeoLemmix-supported music formats, rather than only OGG and IT.
> Fixes various issues with the Check Issues option.
> Removed the warning about large music formats. This doesn't mean it's no longer unrecommended to
  build them into your NXPs.

V1.10
-----
> Levels are now stored as single LVL files in a "levels" subdirectory. They are still built into
  DAT files when actually building the NXP, so no new player version is required to support this.

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/FlexiTool.zip
Source: V1.09 | V1.10
Tutorial: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/flexitutorial.html (Note: This is currently based off V1.08)

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?

Status: Fixed for next update.

---

Levels that use the bait-and-switch gimmick falsely trigger the "Warning: Self-referencing or circular oddtabling" error when attempting to leave the preview screen and start playing. Leaving the screen to exit or go to another level works fine.

I'm making some changes to the internal code that handles music packs (and single music files, in the case of test mode / single levels), and I'm wondering something about prioritization.

Current priority order (from highest to lowest) is:
>> Individual file (if test mode / single level)
>> Pack's specific music pack
>> Global music packs
>> NXP's contents
>> Internal music files
>> Silence

I'm wondering - should this be swapped around, so that the global music packs are below the NXP? On one hand, this would mean that a filename collision between a track in a music pack, and a track in an NXP, where they're two different files (especially if generic names - possibly from older packs - like "track_01" are being used, although it'd be pretty bad practice to put anything like that in a global music pack). On the other hand, there may be users who re-use tracks in multiple packs, and want to release a single global music pack to cover all of them rather than releasing a music pack for each game with the same contents.

I'm somewhat leaning towards keeping it as it is, though - on the grounds that I think, ignoring generic "track_XX" names (which is, for obvious reasons, strongly discouraged for new packs), it's unlikely we'll run into two different tracks with the same name; and the use of the same tracks across various packs is much more likely. For example - Original Lemmings, Extra Levels and Doomsday Lemmings all share the non-default tracks used in L1's special graphics levels. Lemmings Reunion, Revenge of the Lemmings and MobiLems II also have a couple of tracks shared across them. Perhaps we do need to come up with some kind of naming convention for music tracks - especially those that we're likely to reuse - but I do think this leans a bit in favor of keeping the global music packs (or rather, global music files - I'm ditching the use of music pack format for global things in the next update) prioritized over the NXP's contents.


Also, current order of priority for formats (if multiple exist within a single layer - which should never happen anyway) - is OGG first, then IT. With these changes, I've finally made it so that it looks for other supported extensions, rather than requiring renaming them to one of those. The priority order for these is much less important - since as I said, conflicts shouldn't occur anyway - but if they do, does this priority order sound reasonable?
>> OGG
>> WAV
>> AIFF / AIF
>> MP3
>> MO3
>> IT
>> MOD
>> XM
>> S3M
>> MTM
>> UMX

(I believe those are all the BASS.DLL-supported formats.)

When creating graphic sets you intend to publicly release - please give them useful, unique names. These guidelines (except the 16-character limit and the no spaces at start or end) are currently not enforced in any way by NeoLemmix itself, but this may change in the future. However, I won't add graphic sets to the auto-downloadable list if they don't comply with this, except for graphic sets that pre-date this convention and are widely used.

Remember, firstly, that graphic set names cannot currently exceed 16 characters, and cannot start or end with a space (but they may have spaces in the middle). The length limitation will change in the future, but it's how things are for now. For the record, this does not include the .DAT extension.

The recommended naming scheme is for the name to contain firstly the creator's username (or an abbreviated form of it), followed by an underscore, followed by the a descriptive name; all in lower-case. A pack name, in cases where the graphic set is strongly associated with a specific pack, is also acceptable instead of a creator's name.

For example, if I were creating a set called "pwnage", a good name for it would be "namida_pwnage". If it was for Lemmings Plus 100, then "lp100_pwnage" would also be acceptable. Just "pwnage" would not be in line with this convention, and just "graphicset5" would be worst of all.

Alright. Here we are. Seven levels, from four different authors, remain. Which one will be crowned the best level of 2015?

The voting has been changed back to the normal system - so vote for the levels you want to keep.

The first two sets will eliminate two levels each, which will bring it down to three remaining levels. After this, the remaining levels will be eliminated one at a time until we have our winner! In each set, the number of votes will be such that you can vote for one level less than the number intended to survive (for example, if there are 5 levels, and 2 are being eliminated, you will be allowed 2 votes). <--- I will probably change this in the last few rounds, actually.

In the case of ties, the following rules will apply (and the structure of subsequent rounds may be adjusted as appropriate):
1. If exactly one more level than the target will be knocked out, then all tied levels get knocked out (unless this would knock out every remaining level, of course).
2. Otherwise, if it's a round where two would get knocked out, and only knocking out one is possible without any ties having to be accounted for, then only the one will get knocked out.
3. If all else fails, some kind of tiebreaker set will occur.

I'm starting to wonder if we need this, now that the number of projects is getting larger and larger. We have the Fangame & Modification list for finding actual games, but then there's also graphic sets, and likely in the future graphics packs, etc. I myself had trouble finding a topic when I was wanting to link someone off-site to it.

So I'm wondering if we should have a subforum, probably with stricter organisation rules (eg. combining related content into a single post except for maybe recently-released stuff), for completed works only?

Lemmings Plus V

Lemmings Plus V has now been released; see the release topic.

Lemmings Plus V is an in-development continuation of the main-series Lemmings Plus games, developed (as usual) for NeoLemmix. It will consist of five ranks - Blissful, Touchy, Edgy, Unruly and Outrageous - consisting of 15 levels each. As usual for a main-series Lemmings Plus game, Lemmings Plus V is also bringing four new graphic sets.

Difficulty-wise, Lemmings Plus V is shaping up to be perhaps the hardest Lemmings Plus game yet. That's not to say it's on the same level as Lemmings Reunion or NepsterLems - I doubt I could ever achieve that - but it is saying that yes, it's going to be harder than Lemmings Plus III was.

As it is unclear when the new NeoLemmix version will be ready, Lemmings Plus V is being developed for the current stable version of NeoLemmix; however, changes being made for the experimental version are being taken into account, and it is very likely it will convert much more smoothly to the new version than the older Lemmings Plus packs will.

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Graphic Sets

Lemmings Plus V brings four all-new graphic sets to the table - and they're far from just palette swaps of one or two central ideas; each graphic set is unique in some way (at least in comparison to each other).

Abstract
The Abstract graphic set is reminiscient of Lemmings Plus II's Psychedelic set, though much easier on the eyes. The pieces don't represent any specific objects; they're simply shapes in various colors. In contrast to the colorful terrain, the objects are very dull-colored, which in their own way makes them stand out. The Abstract set is almost exclusively a straight-edged graphic set.

Preview

Honeycomb
The Honeycomb graphic set is best described as a graphic set half way between straight edged and rough edged. The primary terrain is hexagonal honeycombs, with some less-common pieces of both the straight and rough-edged variety. Despite the simplicity of the graphic set, some very interesting level concepts have come out of it. Oh, and who doesn't love bees harmlessly flying around in the background... or in some cases, trying to sting you?

Preview

Mineshaft
The Mineshaft graphic set is basically the "generic, classic style" graphic set of Lemmings Plus V. Featuring primarily rough-edged terrain, but with plenty of straight-edge to go around too, the Mineshaft set's strength is in terrain versatility; objects tend to be few and far between.

Preview

Machine
The Machine set is unique not just among Lemmings Plus V's graphic sets, but perhaps among all graphic sets, in that it is primarily steel. Aside from the occasional bit of rusty machinery, Machine levels tend to be entirely steel - a concept that has seen use before on the scale of individual levels, but not on the scale of an entire graphic set. Expect a high focus on constructive and permanent skills here, and beware of preassigned permanents.

Preview

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Ranks

Blissful
As expected, things start off easy-ish. There's levels to introduce the graphic sets, a few levels to refresh the player on some key concepts, and some fairly simple puzzles. However, don't expect much of the old X-of-everything kind of level - there's a few, but they're the minority here, in favor of simple puzzles.

Touchy
The difficulty starts to ramp up quite quickly here. Still, the levels should be well within most players' ability to solve, given some effort.

Edgy
This is where it gets really serious. The puzzles tend to get quite hard around here, though for the most part remain fairly short.

Unruly
The puzzles here not only keep getting harder, but in some cases start getting longer as well. And a couple of new tricks show up...

Outrageous
At this point, we're talking "harder than Fierce". These levels will be, for the most part, brutal. I'm nice enough to give you a couple of breathers, though. Sort of.

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Demo Downloads

All demos are designed to be played on the stable version of NeoLemmix; ie: V1.43n-F should be used. However, they should work on the V1.47n experimental as well.

Demo 1 Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/mypacks/LemmingsPlusVDemo1.nxp
Contains 9 levels.

Demo 2 Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/mypacks/LemmingsPlusVDemo2.nxp
Contains 5 levels.

Although there's a few others, the primary change in the player itself is that MAIN.DAT support has been dropped completely. This in turn means that some fixes could be made to the lemming sprites that were not possible while simultaneously supporting both MAIN.DAT and PNGs, and ultimately, that custom lemming sprites can now be used (which is not listed on the changelog because nothing outright prevented using them in the previous version, there were just issues that needed fixing and I didn't want to enable support in the toolkit until they were fixed).

That aside, it's mostly just fixes.

V1.41n
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* MAIN.DAT support has been dropped completely; old packs that relied on it will revert to default graphics.
* Since MAIN.DAT is no longer supported, the option to dump system graphics from it has been removed.
* Fixed various issues with the lemming sprites.
* Fixed the following bugs:
  > Swimmers who swim past a partially-submerged exit will say Yippee but won't exit.
  > Self-referencing or circular oddtabling causes a crash.
  > Right-facing Santa lemmings immediately disappear without an animation when splatting.
  > Fallback to default music rotation didn't work in most cases.

Note: If you're intending to download the editor for the first time as well, it comes with a copy of the latest version of the player, so no need to download it twice.

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/NeoLemmix.exe
Source: V1.41n
For NXPs of the offical games and the NeoLemmix Introduction Pack, see this topic: http://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=2479.0

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The editor has not been updated. The latest version remains V1.40n, which can be downloaded here:
http://www.neolemmix.com/old/neolemmixeditor.zip (For new users)
http://www.neolemmix.com/old/NeoLemmixEditor.exe (For existing users with older versions)

The New Users editor download also includes a copy of the player, to enable playtest mode. You can safely replace this copy of the editor with an updated one when updates are released; if doing so causes playtest mode to stop working, please see the "How do I make the Play This Level option work" section near the bottom of this post.

If using the latter link, and you get regular lemming sprites (instead of Santa ones) when playtesting Xmas set levels, download the updated copy of Xmas.dat and put it in your /styles/NeoLemmix folder: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/neolemmix/xmas.dat

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The main change in the Flexi Toolkit is allowing custom lemming graphics via PNG files, similar to how the previous update allowed custom system graphics. That aside, it also adds an option to more-conveniently mass edit the system texts.

Note that this version (semi-)intelligently detects whether to mark an NXP as requiring V1.41n or being compatible with V1.40n, depending on whether or not custom lemming graphics are used; so you don't need to stick with V1.07 just to avoid having your pack flagged as not compatible with V1.40n even if it is.

V1.08
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> Supports PNGs of custom lemming sprites (at this stage, only regular and Xmas, not custom labels)
> Added an option to mass-edit system texts

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/FlexiTool.zip
Source: V1.08
Tutorial: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/flexitutorial.html (Has been updated for V1.08)

If you're after some pre-made custom images (or the defaults, to use as as starting point) for your pack, check out the Flexi Toolkit page on the NeoLemmix website.

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The Graphic Set Tool and Talisman Tool have not been changed since their previous newest versions.

Graphic Set Tool V1.03: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/gstool.zip
Talisman Tool: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/lemtools/TalisTool.exe

I've put this topic up as a place to find links to - and current versions of - the NeoLemmix conversions of the offiical Lemmings games, as well as Copycat Lemmings and the NeoLemmix Introduction Pack.

As many of you would already know, the NeoLemmix conversions aren't simply just "take existing level, put into NeoLemmix format" in most cases (Copycat Lemmings is an exception, because that literally is how it was done). Often they're tweaked to feel more "NeoLemmix-y" - removing unused / purely-decorative area at the sides, often if a level has blockers solely to position bombers they'll be removed, etc. Some may also have other minor changes to ensure they remain possible to complete under NeoLemmix. Additionally, where there's a difference (and where possible to do so), the NeoLemmix conversions of the games tend to be based off the Amiga versions rather than the DOS versions.

With all new updates (from the time I made this topic onwards) to these packs - no matter what the reason; whether it's fixing some levels, or just updating the file formats in the NXP file - I'm adding a version number, and increasing it with each new release. Those that have not been updated since making this topic will not have a version number; for those that do, it should appear within the first few messages on the scroller (if you get to the "Thanks to..." part, you've either missed it, or have an NXP that doesn't contain the version number text). This only applies to the official games' conversions; I make no guarantee that the version number will be there (or present at all) on any fan-made content, including my own.

The versions that existed at the time this topic was made will be considered "V1.00", and updates will increase the version from there.

(V1.06) NeoLemmix Introduction Pack  http://www.neolemmix.com/old/neolemmix/NeoLemmixIntroduction.nxp
(V1.07) Lemmings                     http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=33
(V1.05) Oh No! More Lemmings         http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=34
(V1.06) Xmas Lemmings 91 + 92        http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=35
(V1.07) Holiday Lemmings 93 + 94     http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=36
(V1.06) Covox Lemmings               http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=37
(V1.05) Prima Lemmings               http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=38
(V1.11) Extra Official Levels        http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=39
(V1.05) MazuLems                     http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=40

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(V1.01) Copycat Lemmings             http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=41




Due to a heavy reliance on features that are removed in newer versions, Copycat Lemmings is not going to be updated to work with newer versions of NeoLemmix. You will need V1.43n-F to play it, permanently.