Doomsday Lemmings II - Development topic (100% Complete, in testing)

[namida]

So, as I recently announced, I'm working on a sequel to Doomsday Lemmings!

This sequel is currently known by the codename "ZZ Project", as I haven't conclusively decided whether or not to actually call it Doomsday Lemmings II, or use a different name. I've decided to go with the name "Doomsday Lemmings II". It's going to be a fair bit larger than Doomsday Lemmings, although still a relatively small pack - currently the intention is for 40 levels, spread across five ranks.

In terms of features, the zombies will of course be returning! In addition to that, there's also a new type of lemming - ghost lemmings, which cannot interact with objects, and scare other lemmings away (in practice, they're somewhat like moving blockers), but can be assigned skills. A new mechanic is that in certain levels, a lemming may become a zombie or a ghost upon dying.

There won't be any new graphic sets (although there's been a couple of small additions to the Horror set) made for this pack, but it will be featuring an extra one - in addition to the Horror set from Doomsday Lemmings, this pack will also make use to a small extent of LPIV's Candy graphic set. The skill bar has also been recolored to give a more suitable feel, unlike in Doomsday Lemmings which simply used the default one.

As usual, I'm not going to set a definite release date until very close to completion, though it'll most likely be sometime in October if all goes well. A 5-level demo is now available.

Download 5-level Demo

The ranks (names may be subject to change) are as follows:

Treat - This is an introduction rank, featuring simple puzzles to recap how zombies work (and introduce the zombie-on-death feature), and introduce the ghosts.
Trick
Spooky
Haunting
Demonic

I most likely won't make use of secret levels for this one, and no gimmicks or frenzies outside of the ones the pack explicitly focuses on (ie: Zombies and Ghosts).

[namida]

Completion Record

Levels

All levels have been made. A handful of them still need to be placed.

Other

MAIN.DAT - Complete.
Icon - Haven't made one yet.

I'm using the Flexi Toolkit for this one (less effort now that a fairly user-friendly toolkit exists) rather than building from source, so no need to make a custom player.

[namida]

Preview Images

Screenshot of Treat 3

The Zombie sign near the start is a warning sign. This will be prominently displayed near the start of any level that uses the "Zombie on Death" effect; a similar sign also exists for the Ghost equivalent.

Screenshot of Trick 3

And here's the first sighting of a ghost in Lemmingland! :O

A level map

Here's what was originally the first level to be made outside of the introductory rank (Treat). Since then, some levels that were in Treat have been moved to other ranks. Note: This level has been slightly modified since this image, to account for a change in ghost mechanics.

A level map

Assuming the position (or at least the rank) remains unchanged, this is the first level I've made for Demonic. Note: This level has been slightly modified since this image, both to account for a change in ghost mechanics and to fix a backroute.

A level map

This is the first level I've made that almost solely uses the lab-type tiles from the Horror set (most others use either the dirt-type tiles, or a combination of multiple types).

[namida]

First rank is now complete. As I mentioned in the progress report in the 2nd post, I decided to completely make this rank first before focusing on the others, since it serves as an introductory / tutorial rank. The levels are as follows:

Level 1 - Refreshes the player about zombies.
Level 2 - Another regular zombie level.
Level 3 - Introduces the "Zombie on Death" mechanic.
Level 4 - Introduces ghosts.
Level 5 - Another regular ghost level.
Level 6 - Introduces the "Ghost on Death" mechanic.
Level 7 - Emphasizes the interaction between ghosts and one-way walls.
Level 8 - Shows the possibility of zombies and ghosts co-existing in the same level.

From here on, it's back to my usual method - make level, decide where it should be placed.

[bsmith]

How does the Zombies on Death gimmick work with the Karoshi gimmick?  Would I be able to make a Karoshi level where 20 lemmings spawn but 40 need to be killed? (20 regular + 20 zombies)

[namida]

The lemming only counts when it dies as a normal lemming (exception: if Classic Zombies is also applied, they don't count when they're turned into a zombie, but only when they die as a zombie; ghosts are unaffected by this). I don't plan to use Classic Zombies though.

[namida]

Made another level earlier today, although it still needs some backroute fixing. Progress is coming along; has been a bit slow due to being busy with other things (mostly uni-related) lately, but I have a much lighter workload over the next week and a half, then holidays for two weeks, during which I should be able to get a fair bit more done.

[namida]

So, we've reached 50% now! Since this is progressing quite slow, and is a larger pack than Doomsday Lemmings was, I'm considering putting out a demo. I've put up a poll for what content you'd like to see in a demo. I'll then pick the levels based on this. It'll probably be 5 levels.

[namida]

The demo is now available!

I couldn't find any Candy graphic set levels that I felt would work well in a demo, so there aren't any of those sorry. But I did make sure to primarily focus on levels using the new features, particularly Ghosts which received a lot of interest in the poll; out of the 5 levels, only one of them doesn't feature ghosts; and both the ghosts-on-death and zombies-on-death mechanics appear in at least one level each. There's also one level in there that uses both zombies and ghosts, and personally this level is one of my favorites so far! The levels have also been taken one from each rank, rather than a somewhat random mixup of levels.

Download: http://www.neolemmix.com/old/DoomsdayLemmingsIIDemo.exe

It's based on NeoLemmix V1.35n-C, not the prototype of V1.35n-D, so there is a glitch that may occur if a ghost uses a digger, and digs entirely through to the bottom of an area of terrain, while normal lemmings (or zombies) are also in the pit). This glitch is possible to trigger on two of the levels, though in one of them it's very unlikely to occur, and in the other it's unlikely to have any significant effect, though I think a lot of players will encounter it here. I felt it was better to use V1.35n-C here, as the fix has not been thoroughly tested to ensure it doesn't cause problems elsewhere yet, while the glitch itself is very minor.

[GigaLem]

Beat the demo and i loved it
Now i know how ghosts work i have fun utilizing that when Resident GigaLems 2 starts full development
It also gives me an idea for a sorrowful picture
anyways im looking forward to the official release thank you
Edit:Here it is the replays

[namida]

Demo has been updated. Note that this new update runs on a preliminary V1.35n-D of NeoLemmix, which means that (a) the ghost-digger bug is now gone, and (b) ghosts no longer ignore one-way walls. The micro-sliding glitch (yes, this somehow survived all this time, although in a much less severe form that only allows gaining up to 5 pixels of extra height) is also gone.

Levels 1, 2 and 5 needed adjustment to account for this change in ghost / one-way wall interactions. Levels 3, 4 and 5 have also been modified to fix backroutes, though 5 is probably not completely de-backrouted yet.

[namida]

Due to how slowly I'm making progress on this, I'm strongly considering cutting it down to 4 ranks (or perhaps less levels per rank). Just not getting many great zombie / ghost ideas lately...

[GigaLem]

Cut down the number of levels per rank, i'd say.
Because i was strongly considering a huge level pack for Xmas, but i think i'll just cut back on it and make it ten per rank maybe 12

[namida]

Xmas packs are also hard to do, but I also think that's because working with one graphic set is quite limited, especially when it's primarily a rough-edged one (note how the two really hard levels in Holiday Lemmings Plus mostly make use of the set's straight-edged pieces). I designed the Horror set with this in mind, being sure to include a large variety of terrain and objects; the Xmas set doesn't have this advantage.

But yes, I think cutting it down to 6 levels per rank (30 total) might work well. This would still allow for a decent progression of difficulty, and would not need much rearrangement of levels.

Although I haven't made any new levels in a little while, I have made a fair few backroute fixes on existing ones, at least.

[namida]

Alright. Well, as much as I hate to do this - I've simply had no interest in designing levels for this pack for a long time now, even when I have had the time to do so.

So - over the next few days, I'll tidy up what I do have and prepare that for release. Apologies for the pack not being quite as epic as originally intended. I do have one half-made level, so I might see if I can work that one into a full level, but beyond that, the content will probably stay at what's already out there - of course I'll run it past testers, fix backroutes, etc, still.