So, I had a further thought: Going for a server in Europe would no doubt mean needing to ensure full compliance with many of Europe's well-intentioned but overly-pedantic internet laws, which is not really ideal for a small site where my involvement these days is mostly "keep it online and updated". It's not ideal if the site ends up suspended because I wasn't quick enough to fix the exact wording of some disclaimer or whatever.

With that in mind, I've been giving more thought to providers based in NZ, Australia and Canada. At this point the hosts I'm primarily considering are LunaNode (Canada), easyVPS (Canada), Xenyth (Canada), Voyager (NZ) and Binary Lane (Australia). I do need to look into them a bit more before I make any final choice, but based on location, very quick preliminary research, and pricing, that's my initial shortlist.

Well done completing the pack, Swerdis! Thank you for the amazing feedback.

Ok, now I finally managed to save 57 lemmings.

Two stacks of blockers are needed for this. The first is made up of three "oh-noers" (see the Pirohiko video), the second of two floaters and one "oh-no" lemming. The aforementioned staircase is also part of the solution. Attached are a few screenshots of my video.

Having solved the final three levels of the Impero-rank, my journey through Fiat Lem! has come to an end. It was a long journey that began on March, 6th this year, so it took me more than half a year. It could have been much faster as I did not have so much time to play due to private obligations, but what I can say is that it was a fantastic experience. I praised Quest From Kieran when I had finished it, and I have to do this again. I would rate Fiat Lem! even a bit higher though I should be careful with this since the impression is still so fresh. In terms of difficulty, Fiat Lem is a step up - in fact, one of the hardest packs I ever brought to an end.

The level-design is just beyond great. In general, I like Pieuw's levels a bit more than those by Dodochacalo as they tend to be less fiddly, but both of them are fantastic level-creators. Many levels are trick-based, others are more about strategy and resource management, but they are all centered around puzzles. I personally don't mind open-ended levels here and there, but I did not miss them at all. The only minor issues for me are the lack of custom music and the sole concentration on the traditional tilesets - but that's not really a criticism, more of a comment. I'm really looking forward to play other packs by you if there are any. Great work, guys!

In the meantime, I've managed to optimize the Pirohiko strategy a bit. I replaced a bomber with a staircase. This way, I can now save 56 out of 60 lemmings. The bridge must be placed precisely (see the attached image). Of course one could also optimize the bombing itself and then use the staircase to save all of the three stacked blockers. Nevertheless, it's still a mystery to me how to achieve 57 saves.

Quote from: LemSteven on December 15, 2011, 11:59:41 PMEDIT 2: I also improved 11-10 (Lemming be thy name...) to 57/60.  This one takes advantage of the fact that "oh-noers" can survive splat falls, as well as stacking blockers to make the falls survivable for the others.

Are there any further details about this claimed solution available? I ask because Pirohiko solved this level in 2008 using exactly the same method as described by LemSteven above and was only able to save 5 of the worker lemmings (a total of 55 out of 60). Pirohiko's solution can still be viewed on YouTube:

 

UPDATE: It's apparent to me at this point that our level pack will be ready for release much sooner that I had thought - now having some generous help with the testing phase.

So, that being mentioned, we are going to be releasing our level pack (saba and I) next week, Monday, October 20th! We are looking forward to it!

Lemmings 1 levels are tile-based on DOS and Amiga in the following particular sense: You have a limited number of tiles in per tileset, but the map author has free realm where to put them in the level. Any integer pixel coordinate is fine for every tile. Tiles will overlap. For play, everything becomes one large level map of pixels, not tiles. I believe that you don't want this.

Lemmings 1 levels on the Sega Master System were tile-based during play in the classical sense of tile-based maps: The map is a square lattice, and at each lattice cell, you have exactly one tile. Bashers will generate new tiles at runtime with the deformed terrain, and will even cancel when video memory runs out.

I don't know how the Sega Master System defines levels in the files. Maybe it's like DOS's overlapping tiles, maybe it's already small square tiles for the square lattice. I merely know about the above tile lattice during play, after the level has been loaded from the files. I haven't even played the Sega Master version and don't know if it has what you want.

-- Simon

I am really glad help you get those tracks.

I now have a background import tool. Since I'm working with character graphics, what I'd really like to find is character-based data rather than the bitmap I'm using at present. In any case, this is still a "what-if", looking at display technology and limitations. It's really pushing the graphical limitations of the '2600; lots of wizardry going on here. It's also pushing "playability" - seeing such a limited area of the playable world might be a showstopper.

But still, I'm forging on, seeing what systems I can develop and how playable this might turn out to be.


This runs on actual hardware. Regular blog updates, and free in-progress binaries for any registered user, are regularly posted to my forum. Forum is 2600 Wizards

If anyone could point me towards character/tile based level data that would be awesome.