Favourite Graphics style: Original Lemmings

[Minim]

I saw this thread on the old old forums by Ice Eagle and now I'm going to bring this back up again, this time as a poll! . You can vote for two sets here, but I'm not sure if you can vote twice on the same option. I'll check soon.

Edit: I've just realised, you can't. Anyway, I love the Crystal and the Pillar sets the best. Dirt doesn't have many straight objects other than really small ones, the fire set is filled up with a lot of letters rather than the actual pieces, also the lighting on the objects isn't as realistic as you think. The marble set doesn't have enough colour to the bricks other than those really small ones.

[Proxima]

I voted for Marble and Pillar, although it was a tough choice -- the original graphics sets are so much better than the ONML ones, I very nearly like all five equally! I guess Marble comes out top in my view because it's usually very pretty to look at, and it contains a good mixture of straight-edged pieces (including diagonals) and rocky terrain pieces. Quite a few of my favourites from my own Lemmings levels were made in this style.

[Pooty]

I have voted for Pillar (the yellow set) and Crystal (the blue set). I've loved the Pillar set since I played it on the Master System. It looks so good on that version.

I have also grown fond of the Crystal set in recent years.

[chaos_defrost]

I voted just marble.

I like the Fire, Pillar, and Crystal sets more than anything but brick in ONML, but I really can't decide between those three for another pick and I do like marble somewhat more than all of those.

[Clam]

My favourites would have to be marble and crystal.

The marble set has an abundance of straight terrain pieces that make it so easy to build a nice-looking level. Crystal has everything you need, and then some, despite having considerably fewer pieces available than other sets. Plus it just looks cool, and was terribly underused in the original levels.

[The Doctor]

I went Fire and Marble (which, for PSP players, are Hell and Roman) because their shapes are nice and straight. I like designing levels which don't rely on careful clicking.

[Adam]

I picked the Crystal style for aesthetic reasons. It's the least used style, but it has some fantastic looking levels. The style has very few terrain pieces, but the terrain there is acts in a unique way - The Crossroads is a great example of this.. it has both the net and the web!

If I did pick a second choice, it would have been the Fire style. I think the Fire style is the most versitile out of all the styles... there are levels which take advantage of the straight edges in the terrain - for instance, Livin' on the Edge - but there are also levels where the bumpy terrain is used - for example, Triple Trouble. This style also contains some unique levels which wouldn't be able to be recreated in other styles. Take a Running Jump forces creative use of builders - bridging gaps, slowing lemmings down, and creating a platform to stop lemmings splatting.  Mary Poppins Land makes great use of the cone-shaped terrain. It would be impossible to recreate this level in any other style.

[ccexplore]

This style also contains some unique levels which wouldn't be able to be recreated in other styles. Take a Running Jump forces creative use of builders - bridging gaps, slowing lemmings down, and creating a platform to stop lemmings splatting.  Mary Poppins Land makes great use of the cone-shaped terrain. It would be impossible to recreate this level in any other style.

I think it depends on what you mean by "recreate".  Obviously if you insist on using cones or cone-like shapes for the steep slopes, then no.  But in terms of the level solution, you can use (for example) the staircase from the pillar (aka "roman", the yellow one) style to get the same effects as the steep slopes.

I'm sure if one tries hard enough, you'll find a way to make almost any level work in a different style than the original.  That said, it's true that most levels' designs naturally take specific advantage of the style they were created in.

[Dullstar]

I have voted for Pillar (the yellow set) and Crystal (the blue set). I've loved the Pillar set since I played it on the Master System. It looks so good on that version.

I have also grown fond of the Crystal set in recent years.

Heh, that is the EXACT same combination I chose.  I'm also a big fan of the crystal set...  which gives me an idea for a random, but interesting fan project.  Convert all levels to crystal (this will require rearranging terrain).  However, one should ask, "Is it worth the effort?"

[Proxima]

No, because there's a certain point at which it becomes "too much of a good thing", as we saw with the Brick style in ONML.

[ccexplore]

Not to mention that with such a conversion, you can easily lose the ambience with certain levels.  For example, "All the 6s" really belongs in the Hell style for good reason.  Even "Heaven Can Wait!" would lose a little when translated into Crystal style.  And "Ascending Pillar Scenario" would no longer be quite about pillars.     Yes, none of them truly requires their respective styles for the level solution, but their visual design is clearly taking advantage of the specifics of the styles being used.  So inevitably, some aspects of the visual design will be lost after a conversion to Crystal style.

[Adam]

I have voted for Pillar (the yellow set) and Crystal (the blue set). I've loved the Pillar set since I played it on the Master System. It looks so good on that version.

I have also grown fond of the Crystal set in recent years.

Heh, that is the EXACT same combination I chose.  I'm also a big fan of the crystal set...  which gives me an idea for a random, but interesting fan project.  Convert all levels to crystal (this will require rearranging terrain).  However, one should ask, "Is it worth the effort?"

I might have a bit of a head start there: I started remaking some levels in the Crystal style back in June. I made 13 levels then stopped. If you want, I will upload the levels I did onto the LFA for you to download.

[Dullstar]

That would be great.

[Minim]

Yeah. Why don't you do that? (If you can be bothered, that is. )

Back to the poll, it's a three way tie between Marble, Pillar and Crystal. I remember that Pillar and Dirt were in the DOS demo version.

[Proxima]

It's not quite a three-way tie any more; I decided to change my vote to Fire and Marble. (Although, as I said in my previous post, it is *so* hard to decide, I would vote for all five if I could!) I'm surprised there's so little love for the Fire style -- I find it makes for great atmospheric levels (especially if you use a lot of flamethrowers!) and, like Marble, it has the mixture of straight-edged and rocky terrain pieces giving you a lot of choice in your level design.

[Adam]

Finally gotten around to uploading the levels.. they're here!

[Minim]

I might have a bit of a head start there: I started remaking some levels in the Crystal style back in June. I made 13 levels then stopped.

Well, don't worry too much. That actually reminds me of something. I've already created the boiler room in the crystal style in my 8th level set. Just didn't want to add the flame that's for sure.

Actually I like this idea so much that I've recreated Tricky levels 1-19 (Except for levels 2 and 8 which were already done).

[Dullstar]

The boiler room in crystals?  Now that could be cool. 

[ccexplore]

The boiler room in crystals?  Now that could be cool. 

Just make sure to change the level title, since as you said, it would become "cool"--literally.

[Dullstar]

Heh, didn't think of that!   

[finlay]

Crystal is underused but difficult to make levels with. Marble is easiest to make levels with but I get bored of it after a while.

[Gronkling]

Fire and dirt for some reason. Crystal is actually my least favourite of the original tilesets.

[Akseli]

At first I voted only dirt and thought that fire, marble and crystal are equal and pillar pleases me least of these. Now I voted dirt and also crystal, which is beautiful, mysterious and a little gloomy tileset, but I've started to like it more and more now, probably due to some nice crystal style custom levels I've played.

Dirt is of course very memorable and nostalgic style because the starting levels of fun, tricky and mayhem are dirt styled and the last level of the whole game is a dirt level. I find this bumpy underground tileset laid-back and sometimes even pretty: for example I've always liked the idea and the layout of taxing level "Upsidedown World".

In addition, both crystal and dirt are the least used tilesets in original Lemmings game.

[Luis]

My favorite is dirt, but I like all of them. I like looking at the similarities of all the levels between DOS and the PSP version. Different graphics but the same level. This is why I have my "Custom Level Remake" topic in my bookmark. You can use all the styles in one level in the PSP editor, but I make my levels with one style. It looks better that way.

[mobius]

I voted for Crystal. Partially because I think it was so underused in the first game but I do really like the design elements. and the traps (3 of them!) (which were way underused " title="Angry" class="smiley" /> )

Next would probably be fire.

My least favorite is Rock but I don't really hate it. I love all the styles.

[Prob Lem]

As with so many others, I like all of them, really. That said, my particular favourites have to be Pillar and Fire, though Dirt is very close behind, especially where the sprawling "outdoors"-type levels that use it are concerned.

My reason for voting for Pillar and Fire, and not Dirt, is that they're two styles that I find particularly iconic with regard to Lemmings.

[Minim]

First bump for three years. Anyway, looks like a bunch of new users have registered on the forums, and the activity has notably grown this year, so why not present this famous poll? Looks like crystal is the most attractive set, as several people have created levels with it. Marble is edging second place over Pillar.

[NaOH]

First bump for three years. Anyway, looks like a bunch of new users have registered on the forums, and the activity has notably grown this year, so why not present this famous poll? Looks like crystal is the most attractive set, as several people have created levels with it. Marble is edging second place over Pillar.

Sadly, I think the poll is locked. Otherwise I'd pass in a vote for crystal. I love the perfect serene beauty of this tileset that feels to me ever so slightly sinister.

[namida]

For me, it'd have to be Marble. Yes, the Crystal set is definitely more impressive visually, but functionality is important too. Marble has a great variety of pieces which make it one of the best official graphics sets for designing levels in, in my opinion. Fire is even better on the terrain side, but the object variety is a bit lacking there.

[grams88]

(I would pick Dirt)

The reason being is it has that forest type of feeling and from past memories we used to go for walks in the forest, maybe a bit of a connection there.

[Wafflem]

In addition to the Crystal style, if there were also an option for the Sega style, I would vote for it. I have actually never played the SMS version, but the terrain looks visually impressive - the grass, the checkered walls in Sega colors, and the feeling like you are in either a kitchen, a garden, or generally at home. I also grew up with Sega games like Sonic the Hedgehog. One of my levels uses the Sega style, and I had a lot of fun making a level that uses the terrain pieces in a different way from the Sega levels.

If you can unlock the poll and add the Sega style (I'm not sure how the poll system really works), my vote will indeed go for that.

[geoo]

I unlocked the poll, so you can vote now.
I'm not adding the SEGA style as it's not present in all versions.

I personally like all of the styles except for dirt (I've seen some really good looking levels in it, but most of the levels in this style look rubbish to me, and I don't like bumpy terrain too much; and why is the soil so orange?), so my votes (a couple of years ago) went to marble (easy to use, very versatile and good looking) and pillar (really close call here, can't really pinpoint why I voted for this over crystal and fire).

[Wafflem]

Thanks. I voted for the Crystal style, but forgot that I could select up to two options. Oh well. I'd give the other one to Dirt because of its nature (and how it has a lot of visual appeal in levels like "You Live and Lem" and "Here's One I Prepared Earlier"). It can indeed be a challenge to make good levels with this one, though. The other three styles are very good, though.

[Prob Lem]

Thanks. I voted for the Crystal style, but forgot that I could select up to two options.

There should be a "Remove Vote" button below the poll results, now that you've voted. I assume that if you use it, you can re-vote, and include the one that was forgotten.

[Wafflem]

Thanks! Just fixed it.

[Minim]

First bump for three years. Anyway, looks like a bunch of new users have registered on the forums, and the activity has notably grown this year, so why not present this famous poll? Looks like crystal is the most attractive set, as several people have created levels with it. Marble is edging second place over Pillar.

Sadly, I think the poll is locked.

Whoops! I totally forgot that my poll was locked. Thanks for pointing that out (and thanks to geoo for unlocking it again) I think I initially did it because I wanted to confirm the number of votes from both polls for my next poll, the Worst Graphics style.

I've seen a change today - Now Pillar is tied third place with Fire, rather than taking over Marble.

[exit]

I picked pillar and crystal.

Pillar because it looks nice and well rounded(no jagged edges), and it is easy to create nice levels out of(in fact, I have made a level that is quite difficult, and only one member has obtained it as it was only available for a few days).

Crystal just because I've learned how to make good levels out of it.

[Mariachi Skeletron Prime]

I voted Crystal and Dirt

Crystal because it's so beautiful to look at and Dirt because it's so atmospheric.
I would've voted Pillar over Dirt, but I rolled between 4 and 6.