I just completed my first Ludum Dare challenge (make a game in 48 Hours, by yourself). My game is a Lemmings-like and believe me the AI on the marchers was more than 12 hours of the work. Thought I'd post it here for feedback from this community as well. Commands in the game are largely based on my favorites from Tribes. It's not the nicest, but I made it in 48 hours so sue me. LMK if you'd like a larger version of the game to be made.

Click the Screenshot to play:
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=29133" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/wp-content/compo2/308734/29133-shot0.png" alt="" class="bbc_img" />

In The Lemmings Chronicles/All New World of Lemmings (Lemmings 3 - the one where they arrived on a new set of islands, which was essentially released to retail unfinished, with only three tribes present), they didn't return to the original eight skills as later games did - instead, you had unlimited toggleable Blockers, unlimited Jumpers, an unlimited skill that allowed you to change the direction a lemming is walking, the ability to use tools picked up in the levels (by default, the lemmings had no skills apart from the aforementioned, and you had to grab them whilst in the levels, instead), as well as the ability to drop them for another lemming to pick up (they could only carry one type of tool each, so you had to manage your lemmings well to have multiple skills in play in a level).

Is this method of assigning and using skills something that may be of any use to your game?

As a quick note; I've played through every game in the series, including that one...though it's been a little while. Tribes is my personal favorite...

The blocks to give skills to lemmings; probably not, it's an interesting idea, but it's a bit too strategically limiting. Pickups of some sort or a few of the skills being that way (such as a trap causing a lemming to become a werewolf-lemming) might be possible though. Also, having a skill potentially be unlimited may be used. Oh, and I definitely prefer to toggle the blocker when it's available, but also ALWAYS having that available would be a bit...well, forcing the whole crowd to be on your tail gives a nice action element, so having it always available is also limiting.

If I understand correctly; this editing program will allow one to "draw" a level in any shape/size one wants, without using pre-designed terrain pieces? But pre-designed terrain pieces will also be available?

Honestly I probably won't put in tiles in the first version; but you could use any pre-existing level; screenshot it; convert the image as necessary and you're good to go. Mostly it's to allow you to use, say Photoshop as a level editor and make it look exactly like you want. As for 'shape/size' erm...I'm going to say the limit is 2048x2048 pixels (which is more than twice the width and height of any official level). [Mostly because 2048 x 2048 is the maximum import size of a single .png image for most game engines.]

I guess I'd prefer the Lemmings being used. Although I can say I don't feel totally against new characters it's just that all the new character driven ports that I've seen or played I didn't like a whole lot, I just didn't happen to like those particular characters.
One I did like (even though it wasn't a new thing from scratch) was the Mario theme in Cheapo. I thought that was funny and fit well for some reason. (of course I'm a fan of the Mario series too).

I'm going to do a classic Lemmings version first; if only to save myself from needing to do art from scratch. If it picks up, then...need some new art and a slightly different theme in order for me to actually sell it (since I can't make money on a fan game).  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/XD.gif" alt=":XD:" title="XD" class="smiley" />

The whole 'time travel' thing sort of blows my mind.  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

Also, just a more general comment: I *really* like the time idea (and especially the notion of connecting the Shadow Tribe to it - that's really good attention-to-detail). There aren't enough games that cleverly implement time-travel, and a puzzle game is a great place to do so.

Thanks. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" /> Since there seems to be more interest towards the time-travel thing and it's a bit hard to understand, let me give the simplest example I can. (Hell, a mockup of this example might just be the first prototype).

Take the first level, ever. Now with the ability to have unlimited colors and edit it in photoshop; I quickly made it smoother and got rid of the obvious seams between the tiles.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii113/Bcadren/justdig_zps8fa50cef.png" alt="" class="bbc_img" />

(Still rough; that was a quick edit for the idea). With time travel; I could set this level up with the following Skills available:

Exploder x 4
Time Travel x 1
Lazer Blaster x 1

[Save 100%]

And the walkthrough steps would simply be...
1. Use the Exploders like you would in Ozone Friendly Lemmings. [Tricky 15]
2. Use Time Travel to go back in Time 1 minute (will be the default effect of the skill); in this case before the level even started). The single lemming that used time travel remains where he was...the rest return to the beginning of the level; including the Exploders re-materializing and walking backwards up to the entrance.
3. Use the Lazer Blaster.
4. Wait. The door will open, the Lemmings will come out and the level will already be solved.  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

Is it just me or was the entire forum down all day yesterday? Anyone know what's causing this and if it'll happen again?  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/huh.gif" alt="???" title="Huh?" class="smiley" />

Not sure if I'm going to do this or not. Definitely putting heavy consideration though. Read through the other person doing something somewhat similar and am going to start at what makes this idea different than previous ports and lemming-like games rather than boring you.

I'm currently undecided as to if I actually want to tie it to Lemmings or use similar mechanics with different characters from scratch. Thoughts on that are more than welcome. If it's related; it'd be a direct sequel to Lemmings 2: The Tribes, using many if not all of the skills from that game instead of just the original eight.

Regardless here goes:

First off; no tile system at all.

Instead; the game simply parses .png images as levels and uses 'reserve colors' to determine where different special items and what is steel/metal.

In other words; in the editor you designate a few colors out of the 16 million available in .png's to mean steel. These could be the default grays from original lemmings or shades of gold like Egyptian tribe. The important thing is that the colors designated are ONLY used in the steel and not elsewhere in the scene.

Similarly traps entrances and exits have reserve colors that can only be used in the .png in order to indicate their position and not for terrain. For now; the plan is to use shades of magenta for this purpose. #ff00ff is true magenta #010001 is the darkest shade of magenta (which here is indiscernible from the normal textcolor); there are 255 of these and they are visually unrecognizable from slightly offshades like #fe00ff which would read as the color of the terrain and not a trigger. That said; I highly doubt I'd have use for 255 reserves for entrances/exits and traps.

This doesn't mean tiles or a tile-editor can't be used; it just means you can do that and swiftly draw unique elements without importing them as tiles to a system and can take a screenshot of an existing custom level to have enough data to immediately make your own edits to it.

Second; Action log

The game logs every command you make, when lemmings are spawned; where they fall and where they are destroyed; allowing exceedingly long and hard levels to be rewound by a few seconds to prevent a small error towards the end forcing you to start the entire level over; allowing the focus to be on finding puzzle solutions over pixel-perfect executions.

This also allows the solutions of some levels and some available actions to involve 'time travel' and interlooping actions of multiple groups of lemmings in multiple time streams...

Third; Available Skills

I'm not starting with the classic list. I repeat 'I'm not starting with the classic 8 skills from the original lemmings.' If I'm going not related but a completely stand alone game, I won't use them at all, but regardless, those will not be the first eight that I code. Available skills will be a bit more customized to each tribe and the unique situations they find themselves in. Honestly; I'm most likely to start with some of my favorites from Tribes that work without the Fan (Wind Elemental bar won't be available in every level in this game).

Even exceedingly weird things like using a Time Travel command to go one minute into the past to flip a switch to save lemmings that already died in the original timestream. That single lemming remains where it is; while the rest are reset back 1 minute; perhaps even the path he took to get into the room he's in doesn't exist yet and might not need to be created at all in the new timestream. Brain aching a bit yet?

Fourth; Mysteries and Elements

This is where I get into the meat of my concept and where I'd like to go with it. Each Tribe from Lemmings 2 extends into a more unique scenario based on their original theme extended into a new unique bit of gameplay and new mechanics beyond what was even possible in the time of the original Lemmings. Here's the basic concepts I have so far (I don't honestly have a [good] one for all of the tribes and some of the concepts I do have will be harder to execute than others.)

Medieval: Curse of the Werelemming. - Focuses on different transformations of lemmings; werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc. Once transformed a lemming can't use the same exit. Also; vampire lemmings can't survive direct sunlight and transformed lemmings tend to kill regular lemmings on contact. Skills include infecting lemmings and certain totals of both normal and transformed lemmings must be saved. A Light/Dark Elemental toggle exists like the Wind Elemental from original tribes. The reason for the transformation, however, is it's used instead of some of the normal skills. Werelemmings, for example, auto-kill normal lemmings on contact and walk straight through normal terrain (like auto-bashers).

Shadow: Time Agents. - Focuses on individual time travel of single lemmings. This is because the original Shadow lemmings ended levels by getting into a TARDIS; seemed like a good group to make the 'time agents'. Travelling back in time in order to change the primary time stream would be the primary focus.

Space: The Anomaly. - Gravity playing. Spherical gravity is used for some levels and bits of terrain in levels (that is like permanently having the magno booter for the entire object including having the ability to have builders build down and at random angles around the object and Glue Pourers falling toward the surface. Also; lemmings that have permanent reverse gravity vs. normal (colliding upside-down lemmings with normal lemmings results in the two groups walking on each other's feet. Zero-G environments are also common.

Highlander: The Civil War. - Changes focus from saving your lemmings to surviving the level; whilst killing all of the opponents. Opponents are other lemmings told only by a different kilt/clan color. Controlling only your own group; make the foes fall into traps, fall off the map, get flooded with magma; etc. However, foes do have some AI and will defend themselves. Direct contact between your lemmings and the opponents results in each lemming pair canceling each other out (your lemming and the enemy stabbing each other and immediate death of both).

Polar: Elemental Lemmings. - Unique element is the having two versions of the same level. One with an art style similar to that of the original lemmings 'hell' levels and the other with the expected 'polar' appearance. The two levels can be switched in-between through use of the fire/ice elemental switch and two classics of lemmings exist for these levels; fire elementals and ice elementals. Ice elementals can skate across ice; which only exists on the cold version; and the fire elementals can swim through magma from the hot version. Both die in water.

Outdoor: Cosmic Horror. - Outdoor meets 'mountains of madness' from HP Lovecraft's works artistically. In unique gameplay; we get basically Lemmings meets Fez. 2D creatures in a 3D world that seems impossible geometry to them. This would, honestly, be the hardest and least possible of the ideas I have both to code and to solve so I'm not sure I'd want to attempt at lesat not until after everything else).

Egyptian: Interlooping. - Focuses on more advanced time travel and interlooping. Such as having a group of lemmings travel backwards through time while another moves forwards. (You solve the level once; then interact with your solution played in reverse both you can't interrupt the original solution and you must finish the level in your new forwards).

Classic - likely near the same as original gameplay; but with a lot of pixelperfect puzzles to take advantage of and teach the time controls common to the entire game.

[I don't have any real ideas for Circus, Cave, Sports or Beach. All I can say is circus would focus on trampolines, etc. and Sports would in skills focus on jumpers, archers and single use moves as opposed to path building.]

Overall idea is being a spiritual successor to Lemming 2 and expanding the possibilities and commands available more as opposed to returning to the original 8 like all the canon sequels did. Worth pursuing? [Please comment; active communities talking about my ideas make the work far more likely to materialize.