Author Topic: NeoLemmix 1.43 - Odd gimmick behaviour  (Read 1506 times)

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Offline Strato Incendus

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NeoLemmix 1.43 - Odd gimmick behaviour
« on: February 08, 2018, 11:50:41 PM »
In designing my gimmicks-based pack "Lemmicks" for NeoLemmix 1.43, I've noticed a couple of irregularities or some unexpected behaviour regarding the gimmicks. I know there won't be any maintenance done on 1.43 anymore, I just wanted to provide a quick overview over what I've found - and perhaps some of you who were around back then can even explain some of these oddities :) .

Countdown other skills
The Walker responds differently to this gimmick than any other skill. Whenever another skill is used, while every other skill ticks down as intended, the Walker does not. In contrast, if the Walker itself is used, it actually ticks up while all the other skills go down.
I refrained from using the Walker in those of my levels which feature this gimmick, because this absolutely goes against the established rules of this specific gimmick. I can't really find a way to convey to the player why this skill is affected in a different way by this gimmick than all the others.

Exhaustion
The Swimmer is unaffected by this gimmick. Since Climbers stop and fall down after a while and Floaters and Gliders become regular Fallers again, I'd expect a Lemming swimming through a wider pont to stop halfway through it and drown. The fact that the Glider is affected by the gimmick shows this isn't an issue of classic vs. NeoLemmix skills. It also isn't a matter of the Lemming being still assigned the permanent skill "Swimmer", because when e.g. a Floater loses his parachute due to Exhaustion, when you hover your mouse over it, it's still considered a "Floater" (even in the moment of splatting).
The Disarmer, in contrast, can't be affected by this gimmick, which is logical, since a trap trigger can only either be existant or not - there is no middle ground where e.g. the Disarmer could start disarming and then still get killed (unless an Exhausted Disarmer would turn a trap into a one-use trap, but that would certainly require some modification of the mechanics).

Non-lethal Bombers
I find it really confusing that this doesn't apply to Stoners as well. Of course, now that I know this I made use of this loophole :D .
The only way to create both non-lethal Bombers and non-lethal Stoners is to use the Invincibility gimmick, but this has a whole lot of side effects if only applied for this purpose.
After all, one main purpose of using the Stoner is to break otherwise lethal falls, which becomes completely redundant when the Invincibility gimmick is switched on.

Instant Pickup Skills + Turnaround on assign
Apparently, automatically assigning a Pickup Skill by having a Lemming walk through it doesn't count as "assigning", so they keep walking into the same direction. Once again, I exploited this once I found out - it somewhat makes sense because you don't click on the Lemming, but for others it still might be counter-intuitive.

Assign to all + Clone on assign
Only the Lemming you click is cloned, not every Lemming in the level.
This is somewhat logically inconsistent. If "assigning" only means "clicking", as in the example mentioned before, then it makes sense that only the clicked Lemming is cloned. However, the other gimmick is called "assign to all", suggesting the Lemmings behave as if you clicked them all simultaneously.
I know this is nit-picking at the name of a gimmick, but if "assign" is a term with a specific meaning, you'd expect all Lemmings to be cloned whenever you click a single one with this specific combination of gimmicks activated. ;)

Countdown other skills + Reverse skill count
With this combination "Countdown other skills" consequently becomes "Countup other skills".
Except for the aforementioned Walker, of course ;) . Walkers will retain the same skill count if you use a different skill, and will go down as usually when you use them - while all other skills will tick up at the same time.

Hardworkers + Lazy Lemmings
This seemingly paradoxical combination actually leads to an interesting result:
Builders and Platformers become hardworkers (though with the Platformer, you notice the first brick has a lighter shade of its respective colour, because it takes this from the Lazy Lemmings gimmick where it would normally quit after four bricks only).
If the No gravity gimmick is switched on, Miners and Diggers become hardworkers, too.
Bashers, in contrast, become lazy :) .

One skill per Lemming + Disobedience
Makes your level insolvable unless it's entirely release rate- or nuke-based, because the Lemming just shrugs due to Disobedience and then can't be assigned any further skills due to One skill per Lemming.
This is strange because with the Disobedience gimmick, you don't actually lose a particular skill when you click a Lemming for the first time, making it shrug. Only with the second click on the shrugger, the skill is assigned to the Lemming and subtracted from your panel.
But if you don't actually used any skill, why is the Lemming treated as if it had already been assigned one? ;)



Mutually exclusive gimmick combinations:
By this definition I mean cases where two gimmicks are in such direct opposition to each other that one overrides the other.
This is just for clarification, to point out which gimmicks are "higher order" or "lower order" gimmicks ;) .

Zombie on death + Ghost on death
The Zombie on death gimmick overrides the Ghost on death gimmick, meaning if both are active and a Lemming dies, he will become a Zombie.

Invert fall fatality + No gravity
You could expect a Lemming to splat right out of the gate, after having moved only the first pixel out of the hatch. However, this doesn't happen, because the Lemming never enters the state of being a "Faller".
Yet, if you switch on "Lazy Lemmings" and have a Basher bash in midair, he will quit and become a Faller for a single frame - but still won't splat.
Therefore, No gravity seems to override Invert fall fatality.

Vertical / Horizontal wrap + Solid floor / Deadly sides
The Wrap gimmick overrides Solid floor and Deadly sides.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2018, 11:23:53 PM by Strato Incendus »
My packs so far:
Lemmings World Tour (New & Old Formats), my music-themed flagship pack, 320 levels - Let's Played by Colorful Arty
Lemmings Open Air, my newest release and follow-up to World Tour, 120 levels
Paralems (Old Formats), a more flavour-driven one, 150 levels
Pit Lems (Old Formats), a more puzzly one, 100 levels - Let's Played by nin10doadict
Lemmicks, a pack for (very old) NeoLemmix 1.43 full of gimmicks, 170 levels