This topic is for entrants to post updates to their levels only. Any posts in this topic, other than for the purpose of entrants posting updates to their levels, will be deleted. If you are simply wanting to discuss the levels, please use this topic instead.

Please follow these rules for posting updates:

1. Please don't leave multiple versions of your levels in this topic. When posting a new update, remove the attachment from the old post.
2. Don't edit your old post to attach the new update, even if there have been no other updates since. Make a new post for a new update.
3. Any posts that have had the attachments removed (due to being superceeded by a new update), I'll delete eventually. (Any other mod/admin is also free to do this.) So don't leave any important details in them (or if you must do so, copy the details into the newer post).

Updates are now closed.

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.)

So, as I recently announced, I'm working on a sequel to Doomsday Lemmings!

This sequel is currently known by the codename "ZZ Project", as I haven't conclusively decided whether or not to actually call it Doomsday Lemmings II, or use a different name. I've decided to go with the name "Doomsday Lemmings II". It's going to be a fair bit larger than Doomsday Lemmings, although still a relatively small pack - currently the intention is for 40 levels, spread across five ranks.

In terms of features, the zombies will of course be returning! In addition to that, there's also a new type of lemming - ghost lemmings, which cannot interact with objects, and scare other lemmings away (in practice, they're somewhat like moving blockers), but can be assigned skills. A new mechanic is that in certain levels, a lemming may become a zombie or a ghost upon dying.

There won't be any new graphic sets (although there's been a couple of small additions to the Horror set) made for this pack, but it will be featuring an extra one - in addition to the Horror set from Doomsday Lemmings, this pack will also make use to a small extent of LPIV's Candy graphic set. The skill bar has also been recolored to give a more suitable feel, unlike in Doomsday Lemmings which simply used the default one.

As usual, I'm not going to set a definite release date until very close to completion, though it'll most likely be sometime in October if all goes well. A 5-level demo is now available.

Download 5-level Demo

The ranks (names may be subject to change) are as follows:

Treat - This is an introduction rank, featuring simple puzzles to recap how zombies work (and introduce the zombie-on-death feature), and introduce the ghosts.
Trick
Spooky
Haunting
Demonic

I most likely won't make use of secret levels for this one, and no gimmicks or frenzies outside of the ones the pack explicitly focuses on (ie: Zombies and Ghosts).

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?

Final decision: A single player EXE that loads data files; with a seperate (but all-in-one) editor.

So - some people have found the current model of each pack/game having its own seperate EXE convenient, and in some ways, it is.

However, there are also some downsides to this - a pack won't get updated to newer engine versions (or graphic set versions, etc) unless the creator actively chooses to make an update; to give an extreme example, GigaLems is still on NeoLemmix V1.30n-D. Having a single core player, with data files for a pack's levels, custom graphic sets, etc would significantly reduce this issue, as well as allowing settings to be shared between players more easily (although doing so is not out of the question with a one EXE = one game setup). Another advantage is that more of the related tools could be built into the main EXE, rather than having multiple seperate apps.

So essentially - would you prefer that NeoLemmix's current model is kept, or a move to something more similar to other engines where a single program is used and any games / packs for it are just addon data files? Just for the record - this will not mean that a pack will suddenly become hundreds of files. It'll still be one file per pack when distributed, but rather than that file being an EXE, it'll be a file which is loaded by a single NeoLemmix EXE.

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.

So, I've lightened up the anti-spam checks again. There's no longer a CAPTCHA; there's still a requirement of answering one Lemmings-related security question.

There's no change to *when* users will be prompted to pass a check, which is:
- when registering an account
- when making their first post
- when sending a private message, if they haven't made any posts yet


To other admins: In the event that spam suddenly starts happening, please re-enable the CAPTCHA immediately. It's under Admin Panel > Configuration > Security & Moderation > Anti-Spam.

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)?

You should no longer need to be logged in in order to download post attachments. If this causes a huge spike in bandwidth used I may have to reverse this, but for now, hopefully it's more convenient for users who aren't always logged in.

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.

So, I've stated that I plan to make the skill panel much more customizable. The question though is - how much?

Some things I've considered are:

1. User's choice of what information is shown, and where, on the panel. Possible things to include are everything on the current one, with both cloner-adjusted percents and lemming counts as an option where relevant (I'll probably drop the absolute percents, and just leave the cloner-adjusted ones). That aside, other common suggestions are the save requirement, the total lemming count, the killed count, etc. Feel free to suggest as many ideas as you like; the goal here is that you can pick and choose which ones (and where) are displayed so it isn't a huge issue if there's a million options.

2. Custom skill ordering, options to display all 16 skills (or at least empty slots where they'd be) regardless of what's used in the level.

3. Buttons for other features, such as restart, save replay, etc.

So - let me know what your ideal skill panel would look like! If you feel like doing a mock-up of it, even better - in this case, keep in mind that the skill panel should be one of the following sizes:

320x40 (Low-Res, Non-Widescreen)
640x80 (Hi-Res, Non-Widescreen)
424x40 (Low-Res, Widescreen)
848x80 (Hi-Res, Widescreen)

Additionally, each element should start at a position where both coordinates are divisible by 8. Essentially, think of it as being made up of 8x8 cells, with each element taking up one or more of these. A single letter or number would take up one cell (other than skill counts, where both digits could presumably fit in a single cell - I haven't worked out exactly how these will work yet, so for now just go with the assumption that they'll remain the same size they currently are, but don't have to be aligned to the 8x8 positioning); other elements (such as buttons) could take up multiple.

General Contest Rules

Spoiler

Note that if the rules of the individual contest conflict with these standard rules, the contest-specific rule has priority.

1. Each person may only enter a single level into each contest.
2. All levels entered into a contest must be never-seen-before. This means that they can be completely new levels created for the contest, or not-yet-released levels from a future pack, but you cannot just enter a level from a pack you've already released, even if you modify it slightly. Levels may be released publicly elsewhere once they are no longer eligible to win (ie: the voting doesn't have to have finished, but the level in question must have been eliminated).
3. Anyone caught trying to manipulate the voting or otherwise cheat will be disqualified from the contest, and may be disqualified from future contests. For the avoidance of doubt, voting for your own level is not considered a violation of this rule.
4. Entries must be submitted via private message to the staff member running the contest.
5. The staff member running the contest has the final say on whether or not a level meets the contest's criteria; however, you will be informed within a reasonable timeframe if not, and will be allowed to resubmit an altered version of the level (or an entirely new level) that does meet the criteria.
6. If you are using a graphic set that is not included by default with the engine you're using, you must include a copy of it with your submission.
7. Any Lix levels entered into the contest must be single-player levels.
8. Monetary prizes are payable only via either PayPal or a major cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Litecoin or Dogecoin; and possibly others on request). You may also ask for a purchase to be made on your behalf with the prize money directly from a website that accepts one of those options, or for it to be donated to a charity.
9. All deadline dates/times are in UTC. If you haven't customized your display settings, this is the time displayed in the top-right corner of the forums.
10. Even if the deadline has passed, entries / updates remain open until 72 hours from the most recent submission (or one week, in the case of initial submissions while less than 4 total submissions have been made). In the case of initial submissions, this only applies to entirely new submissions, not updates to existing submissions (these may still be submitted, but will not cause the deadline to extend).
11. If less than three entries have been received when entries close, the contest is cancelled.
12. During the playing phase, you may submit revised versions of your levels by posting them in the "levels update" topic, as long as the update deadline has not passed. The host of the contest will periodically update the main download, including as soon as possible after the update deadline passes.
13. Any received updates will only be accepted if the updated version still meets the contest criteria.
14. Both first place and second place get a prize; they must choose two different prizes (first place gets first choice), unless a prize is specifically marked that it may be selected by both winners. In the event that only three entries are received, only first place gets a prize.
15. If the staff member organizing the contest enters a level and places first or second, they do not get a prize. The prize is not "passed on", but instead only one prize is awarded for that tournament; however as a special case, if there is only one prize available (due to only three entries being submitted), the prize is passed on to second place.
16. The winning level will be determined by a voteoff after the playing phase has ended, unless the winning criteria is purely objective.

---

Contest #6

For this contest, your goal is to design a level that does not provide any constructive skills. Constructive skills include:
- Builder
- Platformer (Lix / NeoLemmix)
- Stacker (NeoLemmix)
- Stoner (NeoLemmix)
- Cuber (Lix)

(I'm not overly familiar with the Lix skills, so if I've missed one, let me know.)

"Workaround" methods of providing those skills are also forbidden (such as, for example, making a NeoLemmix level that uses the Instant Pickup Skills gimmick and has builder pickup skills in the level).

For the avoidance of doubt, using non-traditional skills that aren't constructive (such as Walker in Lix / NeoLemmix) is allowed.

Allowed engines: Lemmix, NeoLemmix, Lemmini, SuperLemmini, Lix

Engine-Specific Rules:
NeoLemmix: The Slowfreeze object counts as a "workaround" method, and may not be used.

Timeframe: Entries close 8th August 2015 9th August 2015 at 11:27 PM, subject to general rule #10.
The update deadline will be announced when the playing phase begins, but will be at least 10 days from the start of the playing phase.

The prizes available for this contest are:
- US $10 $12.50
- One month's 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)

---

Entries received: 8
bsmith
Crane
DynaLem
Geoffster
geoo
IchoTolot
mobius
Nepster

Final decision: Due to difficulties in compiling a Linux version that works of even just a small test app, I do not plan to proceed with cross-platform. Sorry.

So, in doing the V2.00n mostly-rewritten code, I'm wondering whether people feel it's worthwhile aiming for cross-platform? I will stress that this won't be a matter of "every system in existance" - I don't at all plan to target Android, or homebrew-capable consoles, for example. I have my doubts about even going for Mac, for the simple reason that I will most likely never own a Mac myself and thus will be unable to test. However, Linux is a realistic possibility; I now have a secondary PC, which runs Ubuntu, so I am able to test a Linux version. If I switch over to Lazarus - something I'd quite like to do regardless, if possible - then it shouldn't be too difficult to also create and support a Linux version.

On the other hand, the benefits of such aren't too huge, since WINE exists.

How many of you's use Linux, and if so, do you think that a native Linux version of NeoLemmix would be a good thing to aim for? I will stress that the Windows version will always remain the primary version.


(If there's much benefit to be had, a native 64-bit Windows version is also a possibility, though I don't see much need for this as the 32-bit version runs fine on 64-bit Windows.)

So, the 5th contest is over, and we have our two winners!

1st Place: Crane's "Tough Call"
Prize: US $12.50

2nd Place: IchoTolot's "Escape From Lemlab"
Prize: 1 month advertising (on hold)

Congratulations to our winners! Please contact me via private message to arrange for your prizes. If someone opts to choose the next contest's rules, the contest will go up shortly after they've been chosen, otherwise it'll start in a few days - I have a very interesting idea for the next one (of course, if one of the winners wants to choose the next one's rules, I'll just use my idea for the one after that).

Final decision: 2x resolution will be supported (except in the unlikely event that a decision is made to up both physics and display to work off a base of 3x resolution). Whether or not to change gameplay physics' resolution can be discussed in this topic, although the decision is semi-finalized as that physics will remain at 1x and only display will operate at a higher resolution (if the user chooses to do so).

Currently, all the internal rendering (except the menu screens) is done at 320x200, before being resized to fit the actual resolution in play. While I will most likely keep gameplay physics at this, I'm thinking of using something a bit higher for the actual rendering, so that the graphics can be a bit more detailed, and optionally, the skill panel can fit more stuff (I have some pretty bold plans for this in itself, too).

In regards to this, what should I aim for? In order to keep the gameplay area neatly lined up with the skill panel, the width would have to be a multiple of 320. The most obvious choice would be 640 - double the area, while still small enough that any display will be able to fit it. Although it doesn't strictly have to be so, the logical follow-on from this is that the overall screen area (before resizing to fit) would be 640x400. However, an issue that comes to mind here is that those on resolutions of 1024x768, 1366x768 or 1280x720, this can't be resized larger for the screen without distortion (due to non-integer resize factors) - the current 320x200 display can be resized to 960x600, exactly triple.

While the gameplay area would have to be an integer multiple of 320x160 (so, in this case, 640x320), the skill panel does not nessecerially have to keep its current proportions. If we use the lowest height here (1280x720), then the gameplay area alone resized would be 1280x640; leaving 80 pixels at that size - or 40 pixels once it's downsized. Whether this would be enough or not is another matter... and there would also be width issues in the case of 1024x768. If we were to keep the current proportions, this would mean a very small screen size (although, it'd be the same as Lemmini without using zoom, so maybe not too bad?) for anyone playing on a screen resolution of less than 1280px wide and/or 800px tall. It's also possible (though it may not look great, and could especially be problematic in levels where pixel precision is needed) to not strictly require integer resizing factors.

So - what kind of resolutions are people using? Especially, how many people use the three that I mentioned may be problematic? Or, are there any other solutions people think could be workable?

To anyone here who's played it, what's your opinions on it? I'm going to be getting a PS Vita soon, so I'll probably grab a copy of it, unless it's really worth skipping...

So, you've seen NeoLemmix, maybe even played a couple of NeoLemmix packs. You might've noticed some new elements, or perhaps just heard they exist, and be wondering about them. Well, this pack is for you!

The NeoLemmix Introduction Pack is designed for players who are experienced with Lemmings in general, but new to NeoLemmix. It consists of four ranks, each one focusing on a specific element:

Mechanics - This rank focuses on familiar elements that work in slightly different ways in NeoLemmix.
Skills - NeoLemmix has 8 new skills in addition to the 8 you're used to. This rank introduces you to them.
Objects - NeoLemmix has several new types of objects. This rank teaches you about these.

The Skills and Objects rank also feature some extra puzzles at the end, focusing on the elements introduced in those ranks.

This isn't a small pack, so don't expect to complete it in one go - it contains a total of 49 levels, making it comparable in size to some of the smaller fangames. But it covers the majority of NeoLemmix features that you need to be familiar with.

So, where can you get this pack? Here:
http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=31




The introduction pack has been updated to correspond with the changes in NeoLemmix V1.47n and the addition of a Fencer skill in NeoLemmix V10.12.XX.

So, it's time to vote for your favorite levels from this contest!

I've attached the most up-to-date versions of the levels here, in case anyone didn't grab them yet or isn't sure if they have the latest version.

Since this contest was quite large, the voting will be done in three rounds:

Round 1: 4 votes per user, 4 levels qualify
Round 2: 2 votes per user, 2 levels qualify
Round 3: 1 vote per user, determines the winner

How to deal with ties will be determined if/when any occur. Most likely, allowance will be made for one extra level to slip through (if the last qualifying place has a tie), but if it's more than that, fewer levels will get through instead.

Remember, discussion of the contest levels anywhere on the site (except via PM) is not allowed while voting is in progress.

For those who don't want to read this whole post: The gist of it is, do not keep graphic sets in the two-file (groundXo.dat+vgagrX.dat, or g_XXXX.dat+v_XXXX.dat formats). Replace them with their single-DAT-file format versions. In the case of Cheapo-origin styles that you've converted yourself, be sure to reconvert from the source Cheapo style, rather than converting the existing g_XXXX/v_XXXX files to a single-DAT-file graphic set.

It seems I'm getting several people asking about (or reporting issues caused by) old-format graphic sets, particularly those that are converted from Cheapo.

So, I'd like to point out:
If you have any NeoLemmix graphic sets that are in a two-file format - whether that's groundXo.dat + vgagrX.dat, or g_<name>.dat + v_<name>.dat, delete them (obviously, if they're custom-made ones, use the Graphic Set Tool to convert them to the new format first). For a while now, copies of NeoLemmix (and its editor) have only included new-format graphic sets, the Cheapo conversion tool only works with (and creates) new-format graphic sets, and so on.

For graphic sets that were made for NeoLemmix, but predate the existance of this format (such as the official Lemmings ones, or the Lemmings Plus graphic sets), this is a minor issue. While it's preferable to upgrade, it isn't 100% essential. The new Flexi Toolkit only works with new-format graphic sets, but since it includes a copy of all of them (addable via the "Add Defaults" button on the graphic sets tab), it isn't too critical whether your editor copies are in the new format, however do keep in mind that the old format probably won't be supported forever. Chances are support will remain in the NeoLemmix V1.xx branch, but I plan to not support it in NeoLemmix V2.00n. The editor has been changed to no longer support the old format graphic sets as of V1.35n-B, in an effort to cut down on issues relating to them.

Where this is particularly important is with graphic sets converted from Cheapo. The Cheapo format and the NeoLemmix format have in common that there's no restriction on the size of pieces, whereas the old two-file format does have two major limitations - a single terrain piece (or object) cannot exceed 248x255 in size, and the width must be divisble by 8. The latter in particular causes a lot of problems when someone who has them in the correct format tries to play the levels - any horizontally-flipped pieces will be out-of-place. The effects of this can range from simply looking weird (objects with no effect), to minor disparities in the level (most other objects), to potentially having a serious impact on the level (terrain).

If the graphic sets in question are the default NeoLemmix ones, or the Cheapo equivalents of the Orig / OhNo graphic sets, simply delete your existing copies of them; the new versions of the editor include these in the correct format. If they're from the addon style packs, redownload those; they've long since been updated to have the new formats. If they're ones you've converted yourself, use the Graphic Set Tool to convert them to the correct format, starting from the original Cheapo file (NOT the g_xxxx/v_xxxx files).


Once you have the graphic sets in the new format, be sure to check all levels you've made that use these graphic sets, because it's very possible that some pieces will now be out of place due to the difference in widths of some pieces. In the event that some of your levels do have the out-of-place issue, you do not need to manually fix every occurance of it; here are the steps to automatically fix these levels:

Spoiler

1. First, make sure you do not still have old-format copies of the graphic sets. Check your "styles/Cheapo" folder, and delete any files with names that begin with "g_" or "v_".
2. Start the editor and open the Mass Convert feature (under "Tools" menu).
3. Click "Clear List", then press F5, then Shift+F4, then F5 again. If you're doing this right, a "1" will appear in the bottom-right corner after the first F5, which then changes to 2 after Shift+F4 and 3 after the second F5.
4. Enable the "Cheapo Horizontal Flip Patch". (If you can't see this option, refer to Step 3.)
5. Add any levels that need fixing (by clicking "Add" then selecting them). Be sure to select "Cheapo Styles" when prompted for the levels' style.
6. Choose "Cheapo Styles" as the output format.
7. Click "Convert".

Do not run those steps on any levels that are not affected by these issues.

(It is possible that the issue may also arise with Lemmini styles that were converted into the old format, though this is probably rare as the new format already existed before any capability to convert Lemmini styles to NeoLemmix did. On the offchance that anyone does have Lemmini-origin-graphic-set levels that exhibit the same problem, they can be fixed in the same way.)

Hey,
I've just changed a forum setting, which puts (on the server) any new attachments to a different folder than the old ones were in. The reason for this is that the old folder has grown extremely large, to the point where I often get timeout errors when trying to back it up.

I've tested this and it seems everything's working 100% fine, so there should be nothing to worry about, and it should be a completely invisible change as far as the average user is concerned - but just on the offchance that anything does go wrong, let me know ASAP if you notice any problems with attachments uploaded more recently than when this message was posted. This only applies to regular posts, not private messages.