What happens if my game mechanics code is too close to theirs ?

The game mechanics themselves may or may not fall in the realm of patented processes. Most innovations in the computer industry these days (especially video games) are patented, and anyone else wanting to make use of the same or similar features are required to pay a license to the patent holder. I don't know if Sony holds any patents for any aspect of Lemmings.

As for the code, it doesn't really matter how similar it is to theirs unless there's evidence you stole it from them. That would qualify as a violation of their copy right.

In any case, there's a certain degree of "fair use" in this project, which will make you exempt from most or all of the applicable laws. You're not benefiting from it, and you're not causing Sony any damages (you're not taking their customers away from them, etc.), so unless they decide they want to personally stop you from doing what you're doing, you'll be able to get away with it.

Game Boy emulators generally can't dump music because music on the system is done with normal software subprocedures that manipulate the audio hardware through magic port addresses. The only system I can think of where you can straight-up dump the music is SNES, because that system had a dedicated music-playing circuit, leaving the main CPU to handle program code full-time.

The stability of the current forum incarnation is definitely to be commended

Not to mention the activity. It may not be Main Street, but it's fun to see each other's projects pop up now and then.

Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler

I just picked a random question, Problem 9...

A Pythagorean triplet is a set of three natural numbers, a < b < c, for which,
a² + b² = c²

For example, 3² + 4² = 9 + 16 = 25 = 5².

There exists exactly one Pythagorean triplet for which a + b + c = 1000.
Find the product abc.

There isn't enough information here to solve the problem, meaning we're going to be left with some amount of brute force to find the triplet in question. Sooooooo... the lazy solution!

The problem defines a right triangle with a perimeter of 1000 units. Since we know the second-shortest leg of a right triangle can be up to oh-so-slightly less than the length of the hypotenuse, we know that the length of that side in this case cannot meet or exceed 1000 / 2 = 500 units, meaning an upper theoretical limit of 499.

This gives us a nested loop. For each value of a from 1 to 498, then each value of b from a + 1 to 499, which pair of values solves the problem as stated?

In JavaScript:

function triplet() {
    var a, b, c;

    // Brute force the legs of the triangle
    for (a = 1; a < 498; a++) {
        for (b = a + 1; b < 499; b++) {

            // Calculate the length of the hypotenuse
            c = Math.sqrt(a * a + b * b);

            // Reject the hypotenuse if it is non-integer
            if (c % 1) continue;

            // Check if the perimeter is 1000
            if (a + b + c == 1000)
                return "a = " + a + ", b = " + b + ", c = " + c;

        } // b
    } // a

    // A perimeter of 1000 was not found
    return "I dun' find it!";
}

The output of this function is: a = 200, b = 375, c = 425. The product, therefore, is 200 * 375 * 425 = 31875000.

Submission for Cavelem:

|Cavelem  |  1  5  1  2  2  2  4  5  2  4   28  |

This thread was split off from <a href="index0708.html?topic=784.0" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">that other thread</a> because it wasn't cool enough. (-:

Minimum skills required for getting just 1 Lemming to the exit in Lemmings 2 levels.

<span style="font-family: courier;" class="bbc_font">
 -----------------------------------------------
|Tribe    |  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 Total |
|---------|-------------------------------------|
|Beach    |  0  1  2  3  2  4  4  2  6  1   25  |
|Cavelem  |  1  5  1  2  2  2  4  5  2  4   28  |
|Circus   | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Classic  | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Egyptian | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Highland | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Medieval |  4  5  2  3  3  5  4  5  1  2   35  |
|Outdoor  |  0  0  1  1  2  3  2  4  4  1   18  |
|Polar    | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Shadow   | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Space    | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
|Sports   | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ---  |
 -----------------------------------------------
</span>

I just notice something when slowing down this file down 75%! It sounds like a normal human!

Uh... um... Hmm...

...


... Just how exactly did you think they made the voices?

Lemmings Revolution giving incomplete screen captures is a known issue which has been brought up before. I doubt there's much of a remedy for it, so you won't be able to use screen capture software to get the job done.

Instead, I recommend recording your video card's output signal. Most off-the-shelf video cards have auxiliary output, be it S-Video or Component, in addition to the standard VGA or DVI port. On the other hand, most video cards placed into pre-assembled computers like HP or Dell almost always do NOT have additional outputs.

I generally build my own computers, but I'm currently on a Dell because it's better than what I had and through roundabout means I got it for free. It may be evil, but it was free evil. What I do is use a device that accepts the VGA output of my video card, duplicates the signal so I can still use the monitor with it, and also converts the signal and outputs it as both Composite (not to be confused with Component) and S-Video. Neither of those formats is especially useful for game recording, unless you're talking old games with low resolutions... like Lemmings Revolution.