So - this is something that might actually end up being developed fairly soon, so let's discuss what it should be like.

Would you like to see something similar to the existing (DOS L1-like) menu, but expanded to support better level selection and multiple games (as well as non-game content; ie: small CustLemm-type level packs, and even individual levels)? Or would you prefer a more typical Windows GUI type menu? Or somewhere inbetween, or something else entirely?

Should packs (especially full games) be listed with a logo, or just a text name? And what about ranks within those games?

And, anything else in general anyone would like to suggest for the main menus (by this I mean not just the title screen, but also configuration screen; basically, everything in the player outside of preview/postview screens and actual gameplay).

So, in regard to musics... we all know there's several versions of a lot of tracks out there, especially the Orig ones. And we probably all have our favorite versions - which might not be the same for every track (eg. some people might prefer the Amiga version of Track A, but the DOS version of Track B and the Master System version of Track C).

With this in mind, I'm considering allowing multiple versions of the same track to be installed, and allowing the user to select their preferred version, which would be played on any level that uses that music (whether as a result of the general rotation, or because the level in question specifically is set to that track).

The current way I envision this working is that, for each track (not just each set, but each individual track), the user can choose their preferred version out of all installed versions of that track. They'll also have an option of how strictly to prefer that track - either "Allow a level to override the version selection", or "Force this version".

What's that mean? Well - at the same time, levels could either specify in general "just use this track, whatever version the user prefers", or "use a specific version of this track if available". So the user option would affect whether or not the level can override their preferred version.

So let's use "cancan" (from "orig") as an example. Let's say there's three versions - Amiga, DOS and SMS (of course there's way more than this, but just for the sake of an example...). The user in question has the Amiga and DOS versions installed, but not the SMS versions.

Case 1
User has "Amiga" set as their preference, but has not selected to outright force that version.
Level specifies "orig.cancan" as the music but doesn't specify any version of it to play.
> The level plays the Amiga version of orig's "cancan".

Case 2
User has "Amiga" set as their preference, but has not selected to outright force that version.
Level specifies "orig.cancan" as the music, and specifies to play the DOS version.
> The level plays the DOS version of orig's "cancan".

Case 3
User has "Amiga" set as their preference, and has selected to outright force that version.
Level specifies "orig.cancan" as the music, and specifies to play the DOS version.
> The level plays the Amiga version of orig's "cancan", since the user has chosen to override the level's version specification.

Case 4
User has "Amiga" set as their preference, but has not selected to outright force that version.
Level specifies "orig.cancan" as the music, and specifies to play the SMS version.
> The level plays the Amiga version of orig's "cancan", because the user does not have the SMS version installed, so it reverts to their preference.


Some possible issues:
- What to do if the user doesn't have *any* version of the specified track installed? While NeoLemmix would come with at least one version of all the official tracks (most likely Amiga versions, since they're the second most well-known after DOS, and are far smaller files than the DOS ones), this could be relevant if, say, someone makes a level and specifies an LPIII track for it.
- Should the "override level's preference" option really be there? My initial thought was against this, but then I realised someone who's really determined to get their preferred version could just delete the not-preferred version of it anyway, which would just create a mess and achieve the same end result.
- What about cases where custom packs have musics which could be considered variations of the standard ones? Two examples that come to mind here are Holiday Lemmings Plus and Lemmings Reunion, both of which have both completely new tracks and variations of existing ones. Should it be encouraged to install them as variants of existing tracks?

This topic is for discussion of the levels, feedback, posting replays, etc. For creators wishing to post updates, or if you're looking for the latest updates, please check this topic instead.

So, entries have closed, it's time to play!

The submissions are (as usual, alphabetical by author name):

<V4> "Safe Descent" by bsmith (NeoLemmix)
<V4> "Mind the gap!" by Crane (NeoLemmix)
<V1> "Cogopolis" by DynaLem (NeoLemmix)
<V2> "Parking Garage" by Geoffster (NeoLemmix)
<V3> "Las Ranas Hermanas" by geoo (Lix)
<V1> "The Adventures Of Lemdiana Jones" by IchoTolot (NeoLemmix)
<V1> "House on a Hill" by mobius (NeoLemmix)
<V1> "Altruism" by Nepster (Lix)

NOTES:
IchoTolot's level has a custom music file to accompany it. This should be placed in the same folder as CustLemmixNeo.exe.
Nepster has recommended that his level may be more difficult on the 2015-08-09 release due to physics changes, and an older release should be used if possible. Geoo recommends the opposite for his level.

The levels are in an attached ZIP. To play the levels:

NeoLemmix: Run NeoCustLemmix, press F6 on the title screen, and select the LVL file. Alternatively, open them in the editor, then press F2 for playtest mode (requires a copy of NeoCustLemmix in the same folder as the editor).

Lix: Copy the level into the /levels/single/ subfolder, then select them from the "Single Player" menu.


Update phase will end at whatever comes last - 22/08/15, or when 72 hours have passed since the last time an update was posted (currently 22/08/15 15:50). The voting phase will begin about 5 days after the update phase ends.



As a reminder, the prizes available for this contest are:

The prizes available for this contest are:
- US $12.50
- One and a half month's advertising in the forum's news ticker for a project you are involved in, whether lemmings-related or not, and whether free or not
- Early access to the Ghosts gimmick in NeoLemmix <May be chosen by both winners>
- Your choice for the next contest's rules (within reason)

Note that in the case of someone who already has a one-month advertisement on hold, if they win the one-and-a-half-month one here, it is entirely up to them to choose which order they use them in.

Attachment updated 20/08/15 02:57

For now, just worrying about in-game; menu and editor hotkeys will come later, when I've made more decisions about how those should actually work.

I will stress that these will *all be customizable*, and most (probably all) could also be added as a clickable button on the skill panel - user's choice here. It's just at the moment about deciding what functions should *have* hotkeys. The keys listed next to them here are what keys are currently used in NeoLemmix V1.35n-C, and as such, will probably be the defaults in 2.00n as well.

Already exist in NeoLemmix (and/or traditional Lemmix)
Assign skill to lemming (Left Click)
Select skillbar icon (Left Click)
Cancel replay (Left Click) <-- this is to cancel it without doing anything else
Highlight lemming (Right Click)
Exit Level (Esc)
Release Rate Change (F1 / F2) (Right Click + / Ctrl +)
Skills (F3 ~ F10, 3 ~ 0) (Z / X) (Right Click icon / Ctrl + click or hotkey to assign to highlit)
Pause (F11 / P / MidClick)
Nuke (F12)
Force Walker Selection (Ctrl)
Select Previously Unassigned (Shift)
Save / Load State (Enter / Backspace)
Time Skips (-, Space, B, N / Left Click) - I might see about also allowing configuration of *how* much they skip by; if not, there'll definitely be +/- 1 frame, 1 sec, 10 secs at least
Fast Forward (F)
Save Image (I)
Save / Load Replay (U / L)
Quick Restart (R)
Directional Select (Left / Right)
Scroll Screen (no current hotkey, but has hotkeys in DOS L1 / traditional Lemmix)

New Suggestions
Quick-scroll with mouse (Suggestion: Right-click)

Note: For now, especially with the new suggestions, I am overlooking that some of the suggested hotkeys (or hot-clicks) conflict with existing ones. Defaults can be sorted out later; the first priority is determining what to have hotkey support for.

Anything else you'd like to see hotkeys exist for?
(Note: I didn't include "Display permanent skills info (Alt)" here becuase that option ideally won't be nessecary in V2.00 as it'll always be displayed.)

I'm wondering if the graphic set format for Windows 95 Lemmings is documented anywhere? As a last resort I can probably figure it out from the Lemmix Editor (or perhaps even Lemmini) source code; but I generally find documentation of the formats easier to work with, so does this exist already anywhere?

It seems that almost every time someone posts a new project here, unless it's actually called something with "Lemmings" in the title and/or by long-time members of the forum, there's inevitably a "Sorry if I'm not allowed to post this" at the end of their post.

So, I'd just like to clear up what exactly is or isn't okay to post here:

1. A Lemmings level pack - Yes, but not here. It'd be pretty silly if you couldn't post about those; but post them in the Level Packs board instead.
2. A new Lemmings engine - Yes! Also, once it gets fairly advanced, you can even ask for a dedicated board for these.
3. A Lemmings-related tool - Definitely! A Lemmings related project doesn't have to be something you can play; it could be a level editor, a Lemmings-related website, etc, too. However, do consider whether it might better fit into the Lix, NeoLemmix or SuperLemmini boards in these cases.
4. A Lemmings-like game - Yes! Even if it's not completely Lemmings like, if you feel it's somewhat related, go ahead!
5. A game that's not Lemmings-like - Probably not. However, you're welcome to post about such projects in the Non-Lemmings Gaming board.
6. A game that you're not sure if it counts as Lemmings-like - Possibly. We can always move it to the Non-Lemmings Gaming board if need be;  we're not the kind of forum that's going to ban you over something this trivial.

"What if the game isn't free?"
That's fine! Obviously, if you're spamming about it in every topic, then that's a different matter, but making one topic about it, posting about updates in that topic, etc, is completely acceptable.

"I'm still not sure..."
If you're just making one topic about it, the absolute worst thing that could happen is we delete your topic - we most certianly are not going to ban you for it. If you'd really like to be sure in advance, ask an Administrator or Global Moderator; but this generally shouldn't be nessecary.

Hope that clears things up.

Some points that have come up and/or been thought about by me...

1. I already plan to support, at the very least, standard resolution (ie: what NeoLemmix currently uses) and double resolution (ie: comparable to that of Lemmini) in V2.00n. Possibly higher too. With this being said - should I support storing multiple resolution images in a single graphic set file, or should each graphic set only contain one resolution of images (with all others being resized from that one)? I do realise that if storing multiple resolutions is supported, it's not likely to be used much - double resolution versions of the Orig / OhNo graphic sets already exist (in WinLemm), and I'd probably eventually remaster my custom graphic sets to use it too. Beyond that, it'll probably see very little use.

2. Should the use of multiple graphic sets in a single level be supported? This will most likely require a completely new editor, as expanding the current one to support it would probably be a more difficult task than just writing a new one from scratch. However, in this case, I don't know how willing I'd be to implement support (other than simply importing and converting to NeoLemmix) for other level formats. With that being said, writing a new editor would likely mean I could integrate it into NeoLemmix itself, rather than two seperate applications.

3. Should some object types - eg, pre-placed lemmings, one way arrows, be made a seperate part of the level data, rather than a type of object (which requires them to exist in every graphic set that uses them)?

Not sure how many people there are here who even know what Stealth Inc is, but (at least in PAL regions) the "Ultimate-est Edition" is on sale on PSN at the moment - in NZ it's $11. This includes Stealth Inc 1 & 2, plus both DLCs for 1. It's a great game IMO!

I'm not hugely enjoying the "Teleporter Chambers" DLC, but the "Lost Clones" one seems great so far.