jLemmings (disappointing)

[ccexplore]

Well for starters, some people might want to respect copyrights, especially for open source projects)

I take that back, they already ripped the entrance and exit graphics, so I don't think that's their concern.

Maybe they're just too lazy to rip the other graphics?

It's quite possible that this is a still-in-progress project, so they just don't have time to finish all the graphics yet.  Or this could be an abandoned project where they never got to the point of finalizing the graphics.

Sourceforge projects are generally open source, so feel free to contact the programmer(s)/development team to see if they're interested in obtaining rips of the original game graphics.  (Or heck, even just sending them the graphics in default.sty would be an improvement.)  This is also a good way to check whether the project has been abandoned (if no one respond, then obviously it is abandoned).

Aside from the bad graphics though, how's the gameplay?

[chaos_defrost]

Sheesh. The Yoshi's World game's graphics actually look good next to those... I mean, ok, for a game whose physics are (hypothetically) somewhat like Lemmings, at least they could've made the game's appearance not look thrown together at the last second...

[ccexplore]

Sourceforge projects are generally open source

This also means that if you feel like it, you can take the code in their project and use it as the basis for your own, presumably using better graphics.  (0xdeadbeef, take note!)

But do make sure first what the exact licensing terms are.  Just because it's on sourceforge doesn't necessarily mean it's open source, and there are several kinds of open source anyway.  Generally, open source means that you can copy their code, but then you'll need to release your program in the same open-source manner as well.

[ccexplore]

Please make note of this line when you view the project info on Sourceforge:

Development Status: 3 - Alpha

Alpha means it isn't even good enough for Beta yet!  So basically this is still like in the "doodling" stage.

Because Sourceforge is meant for open source development, it is only natural to start release source code as soon as it compiles and does something meaningful.  So just because you can use it right now doesn't mean the author thinks it's good enough for a true release (well, I hope that's the case anyway).  In any case, to take an analogy, it's not like Mindless only release perfect programs when he posts links to his gxplr program and the like.  

[Mindless]

Cheapo ugly?  ::

That Lemming/woman intro screen is not my idea of a good way to make a good first impression.

[ccexplore]

Sheesh. The Yoshi's World game's graphics actually look good next to those...

Yes.  If I recall, didn't you rip a bunch of those graphics from the Mario games themselves?  

It might be hard to believe, but there are some people in the world, me included, who can't even draw to the level of Yoshi's World the game.  (Of course, if I were to make a clone of Lemmings in Java, I would probably take 0xdeadbeef's route and reuse the original graphics instead.)

[guest]

That Lemming/woman intro screen is not my idea of a good way to make a good first impression.

I've heard of that, but what exactly is it?

[ccexplore]

That Lemming/woman intro screen is not my idea of a good way to make a good first impression.

What's your expectation of a "good first impression"?

I didn't think it was bad at all.  It has a nice air of irreverence to it.  At least it isn't a boring intro screen, even if you don't agree with its style.

And it is more animated than the main menu of the original game......even by standards back then, I think the original game's main menu is a bit drab and static.

[Mindless]

Alpha means it isn't even good enough for Beta yet!  So basically this is still like in the "doodling" stage.

Judging from the fact that the last release was on May 1, 2004, I'd guess it's a dead project.  So, in this case, alpha is the "as good as it gets" stage.

In any case, to take an analogy, it's not like Mindless only release perfect programs when he posts links to his gxplr program and the like.  

Yes, yes... my programs do often have major bugs, but I also (try to) fix them in a timely manner.

[ccexplore]

To continue helping others read the webpage, let me point out one line in the project description:

The game is build so that anyone without the need of coding expercience, can create their own maps, or replace the ingame graphics. Check out the beta release under files section!

So maybe that's the point for the graphics to be ugly!  It forces you to come up with something better.  (It would still be nice if the bundled-in graphics are better, but at least you can see that the author is less concerned about that aspect, since he assumes that other people will supply replacement graphics anyway.)

[Mindless]

As for playablity, you could try it out, but it's about as good as the graphics...
- to increase\decrease the release rate you must repeatedly click on the "+"\division(!) buttons
- builders almost seem to build faster than they can normally walk and the steps that they make are 1 px thick, so that in the end, it looks like a line...
- the "Lemmings" slide into the exit

Strangely enough, this game has a Mario style included with it.

[ccexplore]

Sounds like this is something that would be perfect for 0xdeadbeef.  I mean, 0xdeadbeef has been concentrating on the graphics so far, whereas this game presumably has the basic game mechanics in place in sacrifice of decent graphics.  Both planned on writing it in Java.  Put 2 and 2 together and you should get something nice!

I'm going to post a link to this topic on 0xdeadbeef's thread.

[ccexplore]

- builders build faster than they can normally walk and the steps that they make are 1 px thick, so that in the end, it looks like a line...

Aren't the bricks 1 px thick in the original game?  (But I think I know what you mean).

I'd imagine it isn't too hard to adjust the build speed in the code.  Well, this is what you get for an abandoned project.  :-/

- the "Lemmings" slide into the exit

That's a graphics thing not game mechanics.

[Mindless]

That's a graphics thing not game mechanics.

There are other game mechanics problems, for example the max fall height is only ~2x the "jump height" (which is too large itself.)  While this may be more realistic, for a clone that calls itself jLemmings, you'd think that they'd try to make it more like the original.

...and according to the release notes, it's a beta. http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?group_id=108287&release_id=235302
(I'm not blaming ccexplore for reading the project summary.)

[ccexplore]

There are other game mechanics problems <snip>

Hmm, maybe that's when the programmer starts giving up and abandon the project.    How disappointing.