Why no custom graphic sets?

[namida]

Mostly asking this because if it's mostly due to LemSet being too difficult to use, I might look into making a more user-friendly tool in the near future (which would probably replace both LemSet and LemMain).

[ccexplore]

I don't think this is a LemSet-specific problem.  I mean, look at Lix which seems to get a little more love here when it comes to custom graphics sets, and still the number of people who have actually done any such thing there can still be counted literally on one hand.  Designing decent graphics sets take time and talent that seems to be in short supply in this community.

[namida]

Fair enough. It's mostly just a matter of that, well, LemSet has done a damn great job for me, but then, I made it, so I know pretty much every detail of how it works and what it expects the user to do; the same isn't true of anyone else using it. I thought it was worth asking just in case this was holding anyone back from creating the graphic set of their dreams.

[ccexplore]

Come to think of it, maybe it's worth exploring the idea of porting some of the Lix graphics sets back to LemSet, maybe with the aid of a computer program or similar.  Obviously also with the author's permission as well, though as long as the result looks okay I'd imagine permissions shouldn't be hard to come by.  Yes, I'm aware that the lower resolution and color restrictions on LemSet will make results of automated conversions less than optimal, but hopefully still good enough?

[namida]

It could be done probably. The resolution might be an issue; the color limitations won't be (unless we're wanting to make them DOS-compatible). The latest updates to LemSet and NeoLemmix support any amount of colors, and an update to traditional Lemmix to also support this is just around the corner.

(Well, there IS still the limitation to 18-bit color values, but I can't see that being a huge deal.)

One other factor that does need to be accounted for - triggered traps are going to have Lixes, not Lemmings, in their animations, right? So we'd have to alter those...

[mobius]

I don't think this is a LemSet-specific problem.  I mean, look at Lix which seems to get a little more love here when it comes to custom graphics sets, and still the number of people who have actually done any such thing there can still be counted literally on one hand.  Designing decent graphics sets take time and talent that seems to be in short supply in this community.

yeah ^ this

I have lots of cool ideas for sets: temple ruins, wasteland, computer innards, clock innards, sewer, outer space... but I didn't have the time to do this before I had a full time job and now I have one...

[Crane]

I've always had an idea for a kind of 'industrial' tileset, with the usual things like hazard strips, yellow acid for water, buzzsaw traps and the like.  I may try making something eventually, but I confess I haven't gone looking for tools.

It would also be brilliant for Revenge of the Lemmings if we ever wanted to make a kind of unofficial sequel out of it, translating some of the levels to new tilesets (with the original designers' blessing) or just plain designing new levels.

[namida]

I know there's been a few fairly interesting graphic sets for Lemmini in the past, and even more so for Cheapo back when that was a thing. I originally created LemSet hoping to bring the same to plain ol' Lemmix (and even DOS originally, though as mentioned, later updates broke DOS support in favor of full NeoLemmix support, while a previous version that *does* fully support DOS is still kept available), but in the end, it'd seem I'm the only person who ever really used it (for Lemmings Plus II and Lemmings Plus III, as well as recreating the Sega Master System's "Sega" graphic set for DOS/Lemmix). Even my graphic sets haven't seen much use outside of my own level packs; DynaLem made a small level pack that uses a few of my graphic sets on some levels but that's it.

[Crane]

I'll have a play around when I have time, and then make sure everyone here can access what I make (if I think it's good enough!)

[NaOH]

I don't have altogether a lot of time to work on art, but you're free to port my occult tileset. It even has a pretty low unique colour count, which would make it a good candidate for porting to a low colour-depth medium. You'll also be free to port any of my other tilesets when they're done... which will be a while...

[namida]

I've grabbed a copy of it, I'll see what I can do.

[Wafflem]

^I'd like to create levels using that tileset, it's really well-made and very detailed, and very spooky, I must say. It would also go very well with the Zombie gimmick.

I would like to create custom tilesets; unfortunately, I do not have that artistic ability. Some tilesets I have in mind are:

Library: Bookshelves, books as terrain pieces, along with wood and staircases, desks, chairs and computers. There will also be a trap that involves a book falling down on a lemming. The library will be more modern than the one in the Castle tileset in Lemmini, which has a medieval look to it. (Come to think of it, I'm thinking of making some levels in Lemmini/Superlemmini using Lemmini-exclusive tilesets).

The style should be accessible to many since this one will use all smooth-edged terrain.

Farm: Grassy fields, fences and barns are the terrain, as well as gardens, vegetables. This is a mix of rough and smooth-edged terrain. However, the animals will not be terrain, because we wouldn't want our lemmings to cut them up, would we? Instead, they will simply be harmless animation, with some of them being traps (animals eating lemmings). There are two types of water: regular water, and milk.

[namida]

It's not actually that hard to make the graphics, especially when only using 16 / 32 colors. My artistic ability isn't very great either. In the case of higher-color sets (like the Horror set), I made a LOT of use of blur effects.