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Tech & Research / Re: The Direct Drop Topic
« on: July 03, 2024, 09:04:38 AM »
Consider the actual visual representations of objects, i.e. how they are presented to the player, not how the game sees them internally.
Water and continuous traps such as fire don't represent an inconsistency regardless of how direct drop is handled. For example, suppose you enter a fire: it doesn't matter if you walked into it, fell into it, flew, whatever: by occupying the space you are getting completely roasted. The experience is probably not going to be particularly good for your health, to say the least. If you fall into water, you are in the water now; falling will not cause you to pass through it.
Many triggered traps, on the other hand, involve an object that doesn't really pose an active threat to your health until the trigger has been activated. Most of these traps appear to be something along the lines of pressure plates, but you could imagine a variety of mechanisms. A pressure plate would only activate if you stepped on it. A tripwire, on the other hand, can be triggered by passing through the space. While the game implements them all the same, it wouldn't necessarily be unreasonable for individual traps to have different rules about whether fallers should be able to trigger them. On the other hand, it's not really needed, because the game is consistent about how different types of traps are placed. Most of them are always placed on the ground, but for example the pillar spike trap is always attached to a wall (and thus its trigger area is mid-air). Because of this, allowing them to work mid-air is quite convenient: it means the spike traps can share code with the other traps, and since the other traps are going to be on the ground anyway, it doesn't really meaningfully change their behavior (if they fail to trigger the trap mid-air, then they just immediately trigger it when they land). Similarly, direct drop into a trap generally doesn't change things much; the lemming is dead either way and the only real difference is what goes on the death certificate. While you could certainly make a level relying on the behavior (a triggered trap can only kill one lemming at a time and splatters are already doomed, thus a trap triggered by a splatter is effectively wasting its time), none of the official levels do (nor do they really contain direct drops onto traps at all, unless you intentionally go out of your way to make it happen). Arguably for most traps the most logical behavior would be for a mix of the two where the lemming splats but the trap is still triggered regardless.
The visual design of exits is basically a building with stairs, and in official levels. I mean, judging from the door, it looks like there's a portal too, but it looks more like the sort of portal you would have to walk into, rather than one that sucks you in. The animations and boing sound effect also seem to communicate more that the Lemmings actively leap into the exit, rather than passively get sucked in. Thus, this suggests direct drop is probably an oversight rather than an intended feature: because the exit doesn't appear to be sucking them in, how exactly would it break a fall?
Water and continuous traps such as fire don't represent an inconsistency regardless of how direct drop is handled. For example, suppose you enter a fire: it doesn't matter if you walked into it, fell into it, flew, whatever: by occupying the space you are getting completely roasted. The experience is probably not going to be particularly good for your health, to say the least. If you fall into water, you are in the water now; falling will not cause you to pass through it.
Many triggered traps, on the other hand, involve an object that doesn't really pose an active threat to your health until the trigger has been activated. Most of these traps appear to be something along the lines of pressure plates, but you could imagine a variety of mechanisms. A pressure plate would only activate if you stepped on it. A tripwire, on the other hand, can be triggered by passing through the space. While the game implements them all the same, it wouldn't necessarily be unreasonable for individual traps to have different rules about whether fallers should be able to trigger them. On the other hand, it's not really needed, because the game is consistent about how different types of traps are placed. Most of them are always placed on the ground, but for example the pillar spike trap is always attached to a wall (and thus its trigger area is mid-air). Because of this, allowing them to work mid-air is quite convenient: it means the spike traps can share code with the other traps, and since the other traps are going to be on the ground anyway, it doesn't really meaningfully change their behavior (if they fail to trigger the trap mid-air, then they just immediately trigger it when they land). Similarly, direct drop into a trap generally doesn't change things much; the lemming is dead either way and the only real difference is what goes on the death certificate. While you could certainly make a level relying on the behavior (a triggered trap can only kill one lemming at a time and splatters are already doomed, thus a trap triggered by a splatter is effectively wasting its time), none of the official levels do (nor do they really contain direct drops onto traps at all, unless you intentionally go out of your way to make it happen). Arguably for most traps the most logical behavior would be for a mix of the two where the lemming splats but the trap is still triggered regardless.
The visual design of exits is basically a building with stairs, and in official levels. I mean, judging from the door, it looks like there's a portal too, but it looks more like the sort of portal you would have to walk into, rather than one that sucks you in. The animations and boing sound effect also seem to communicate more that the Lemmings actively leap into the exit, rather than passively get sucked in. Thus, this suggests direct drop is probably an oversight rather than an intended feature: because the exit doesn't appear to be sucking them in, how exactly would it break a fall?