While being too deeply concerned with backward compatibility does indeed hamper development, outright dismissing it is quite disrespectful and callous
My quote literally says "this isn't to be dismissive or inconsiderate of the work that has gone into the many fantastic NL packs over the years".
My own content is counted along with everyone else's in this equation; I'm not going to base any decisions on whether my own packs would be broken either.
The thinking here is not so much a push away from existing content than it is
a pull towards new gameplay opportunities. It's absolutely nothing personal against anybody's content, including yours. Besides, anything that's worth converting will eventually
be converted, either by the author themselves or by players who want to see their favourite existing packs in SuperLemmix; in fact, it's already happening!
EDIT: FWIW, Lemmings Cranium looks absolutely awesome and I will definitely be checking it out at some point Personally I feel a balance between the two is better.
Perhaps you're right, but I would still need something more than just "it breaks existing levels" or "it's the way it's always been" to make an absolute decision. If these arguments were coupled with substantial reasons
why the behaviour itself shouldn't be changed, more from a conceptual or even aesthetic point of view, then they'd hold more weight.
Back to the shimmier: my first observation is that the existing behaviour (continue or fall, depending on step height) is obviously simpler than the proposed behaviour of continue, fall or turn depending on step height. Simplicity in skill behaviour is desirable
I agree here - having 3 rules instead of 2 does perhaps add unnecessary complexity to the skill that it doesn't need, especially given its already fairly extensive range of interactions with other skills. It's actually the one thing that's causing hesitation from my point of view.
It also doesn't feel right that a non-permanent skill can continue for ever.
...
the purpose of the shimmier is to carry a lemming from point A to point B, and then stop ... The bouncing shimmier fundamentally acts against what the skill is designed to do.
Regarding the first comment here: OK, yes, maybe non-permanent skills shouldn't have permanent properties; it does feel slightly out of place. Could the Shimmier perhaps be an exception given that it's a movement-based skill, though? Or even, is it akin to using construction-based skills or Blockers to continue a Basher/Miner's path indefinitely?
Regarding the second comment: we have an opportunity to re-purpose the skill. What we need to be interested in is reasons why it should or shouldn't
be re-purposed. With that said, I'm fairly convinced by now that we probably shouldn't change the behaviour for Shimmiers, but what about Jumpers?