OK, by now we have many different possible recolourings in SuperLemmix - normally mandatory (i.e. any custom sprite sets need to specify recolouring data for this state), but optional where noted:

Normals
Neutrals
Zombies
Athletes
Selected
Swimmers (optional - if not specified, the lem will be recoloured as an athlete as usual)
Invincibles (optional - if not specified, the lem's existing colour state will be preserved)

And, there's the upcoming Rivals - this will also be a mandatory recolouring state.

Invincibles have an overlay similar to Sonic The Hedgehog's invincibility state*, which helps to further distinguish them even in the absence of recolouring. Zombies, meanwhile, have a different Walker animation and move more slowly. And Selected lems are always under the cursor, so it's clear what's happening there.

That still leaves 5 remaining states that rely on colour alone in order to be distinguishable - Normals, Rivals, Neutrals, Athletes and Swimmers. Even if we take Swimmers out of the equation (which are not a mandatory recolouring state, whereas the others are), it's still a lot.

So, I'm thinking of giving Neutrals their own overlay and renaming them to "Shadows". The overlay would help to distinguish them as Shadows, meaning that they absolutely couldn't be mistaken for another lem type. The influence here is very much from Pokemon, which gives Shadow Pokemon a purple cloudy overlay (and red eyes). The effect would be exactly the same (i.e. these lems would ignore assignments), and we can still recolour the tunic (I'd suggest to dark grey). Here's a mockup:



Meanwhile, we can implement the WIP "De-neutralizer" as a "Purifier" in SuperLemmix, and overlay "Purified" lems in a similar way. The "Neutralizer" would then become a "Shadowmaker", and the same overlays could be integrated into the object animations in order to make it very clear what they are.

Bonus suggestion:

We could even go a step further and only allow Shadow lems to be saved once they've been Purified - this would require any levels featuring Shadow lems to also include a Purifier if those lems need to count towards the save requirement. However, it would also break existing levels featuring Neutrals, so we'd have to be sure we want this even if the fix is simple enough (i.e. place a Purifier near the exit).

One thing that won't happen is for Shadows to be a different type, and keep Neutrals. The proposal here is that Shadows should replace Neutrals, regardless of whether or not the state is expanded to include other properties/features - the main goal of this is to provide a state that's distinguishable by something other than tunic or hair recolouring.

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*Here's what Invincible lems look like, in case you haven't already seen:

First things first, the dialog is now larger and edited for readability. I've also added an option to append the replay file with a result tag (Passed, Talisman, Undetermined, etc...), and it works nicely:





Note that the tag is replaced for subsequent checks, even if "Keep Existing Filename" is checked (the first part of the filename will remain unchanged, as usual).

My question here is, should this option be checked by default? I would lean towards yes, but I can see reasons why people might not want this.

What about "Refresh Replays"? This saves the replay file in the latest format, which again seems like a good thing to do by default.

Thoughts?

More than 5 years in the making, this pack features my favourite levels from the debut DMA Lemmings game we all know and love, some presented as they were originally and others remixed slightly, plus a handful of levels that I've been working on since I first became active on the Forums back in 2019!

The levels all feature the Lemminas sprite set that we're all familiar with by now - female Lemmings with their hair in a swish, ready-for-action ponytail. They're presented here in the "classic" recolouring, with blue tunics and green hair.


As well as featuring Timebombers in place of Instabombers, all levels feature at least one Talisman that requires Classic Mode for completion, and all water objects have been updated to their SLX counterparts. I have absolutely considered releasing a NeoLemmix version of this pack with Instabombers, no Talismans and the water objects reverted, but ultimately I believe that SuperLemmix is the most ideal platform on which to enjoy this pack as intended.

In fact, this pack is one of the reasons I began work on SuperLemmix in the first place! I wanted these levels to be played on a Lemmings engine that could provide an experience as close to the original Amiga game as possible whilst also providing the player assists and QOL features we've all become accustomed to, and SuperLemmix finally fits that model as well as it can. It's been an incredible learning experience and a journey of both discovery and re-discovery, and... here we are, at last!

So... with all of that said, let's take a look at Lemminas Origins...

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For the most part, the levels themselves are identical to the originals, however some of them have modified skillsets, whilst others have had their layouts remixed.

Some of the levels have had subtle layout changes:


Tricky 9 All The 9s


Taxing 4 Compression Method 2

Whilst others have been more extensively re-shaped:


Tricky 15 Lost Something?


Taxing 11 X Marks The Spot

And Tightrope City has been given a bit of visual TLC:


Tricky 17 Tightrope City

Backroutes have been fixed where appropriate:


Taxing 1 If At First You Don't Succeed...


Taxing 14 Take A Running Jump.....

There are also a number of brand new levels, made exclusively for this pack:


Mayhem 22 Nothing is Impossible


Mayhem 26 What The...?


Taxing 26 As Complicated As It Looks

I hope you enjoy this pack! Feel free to use the Lemminas sprites and music for your own levels, but be sure to credit me if you do so. Thank you!

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Included with this pack is 10 star-gazing, head-bopping, toe-tapping tunes, arranged and produced especially for the Lemminas style All tracks have been arranged and produced by me using Logic Pro X, composer credits as follows:

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To install, simply unzip the folder to your SuperLemmix directory; it contains everything you need to run the game:

levels - the levels themselves, plus the menu cards and skill panel graphics
music - the 10 new music tracks (see above for credits)
replays - a full set of replays generated during playtesting

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It is strongly recommended that you play this pack with SuperLemmix version 2.7.3 or later, ideally with Classic Mode and Hi-Resolution graphics activated.

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it would be nice to be able to optionally display skill labels underneath the skill icons for clarification for new players (e.g. my teenaged daughters, or even myself when it comes to the new skills).

Apologies, but skill panel labels isn't something I'd like to add to SLX. I'm currently trying to reduce graphics loading wherever possible, and so will only add more graphics if it's absolutely necessary. A label for each skill would require an additional 52 images (26 in each resolution) as well as probably needing to resize the buttons; it's likely that low-res would currently simply be too small to write "Platformer" legibly, for example.

However, we may be able to use Windows popup hints instead (the small diaog that briefly shows when mousing-over an item), I'll take a look later today and see if this is possible with the skill panel. In theory, it should be, because these are currently used in the Level Select menu for displaying usernames when mousing-over a record.

If it is possible, then this is something I'll look at adding in the next major update (2.8). And, if implemented, these will most likely be on/off optional (and, off by default).

Which of the custom style sets are closest in character and quality to the orig and ohno styles? Those have a very specific vibe to them which is difficult to replicate, it would be good to see some other styles which aim for a similar aesthetic.

Reported by Paiy on Discord.

This bug was introduced by allowing Jumpers to be assigned to Swimmers. The attached level and replay show the bug; repeatedly assigning Jumpers to a Swimmer whilst the water overlaps terrain allows the lemming to clip-Jump through the terrain.

This is because lems are first raised by 1px when jumping from water; we need to make sure that no terrain occupies that pixel.

Fixed in Commit 45325d65f.

Reported by Paiy on Discord.

Because Jumpers now bounce from walls rather than falling, it's possible for the following bug to arise:



This is due to the fact that the wall check is repeatedly returning true, so the lemming continues to turn around. The fix I've applied is that the Jumper now has a "bounce allowance" of 3. Once this allowance is reached, the next time the Jumper meets a wall they fall; so, the end result is that they are facing the opposite direction to the one they were facing initally:



This has been implemented in Commit 6200e4307. A hotfix will be released shortly.

(N.B. This change also includes the "freezing" phase when assigned a Freezer.)

I'm sure that Climbers performing the "oh no" phase is only present due to it being standard behaviour in earlier Lemmings ports/clones, but I'm increasingly thinking that it's not really necessary and doesn't actually make much sense in the context of other skill actions.

Reasoning: in order to perform this state, the lemming has let go of the wall and should therefore fall. When falling, lems explode immediately. Also, other movement-based states such as Swimming, Floating, Gliding, Ballooning, etc have the lem expode immediately; it seems to me that Climbing and Sliding should follow suit.

I've gone ahead and implemented this already (Commit 845c13561 and 8641bde91), but I'll reverse the change if people feel strongly that the state should be kept as it is.