Rules for the Level Packs board - please read before posting

[namida]

I won't make this too complicated. Just a few things to keep this board tidy. Note that if a topic doesn't comply with all of these, it may be because it was created (and moved from another board to this one) before this board existed, so don't worry too much about reporting older topics, though if you have any of your own, I encourage you to fix them up to comply.

1. The main board is for released packs only. Any in-development packs should go into the "In Development" subforum. A demo does not count as "released"; only the full game does. (However, it doesn't have to be finalized - if the full game is released, but you suspect an update might occur, that's okay.)

2. Don't prefix with [NeoLemmix] anymore because all packs on this board are NeoLemmix.

3. Strictly one topic per pack, per board (ie: one topic on the In Development board, and one topic for the release on the main board). Multiple packs in one topic is allowed, and encouraged (but not required) in the case of a series or otherwise strongly-related packs once they've been out for a while.

4. When a release topic in the main forum is created, please close the development topic (if any) in the In Development subforum.

5. This subforum is not for mere ideas. If you aren't seriously working on a pack (or making a serious proposal that you genuinely expect will go somewhere, in the case of eg. community packs), don't create the topic here.

6. Generally, you should not post content created by other people. The exceptions are (a) if you are converting / updating / maintaining a pack by an author who is no longer active - this is somewhat subjective but as a rough guideline I would suggest "hasn't materially participated in the forums in over a year" AND they have not explicitly stated they do not want people doing this, (b) if you are posting content made by someone who is not a member of the community (and in this case, if at all possible, link to where the author has posted it rather than reuploading), or of course (c) if you have the author's permission.

7. You may not create more than two total topics, in both the Release and In Development boards combined, in any 60 day period, without prior approval from the site staff. Note that this approval will never be given simply on the grounds of "I can create packs faster than this rule allows" - however, it is perfectly acceptable to work around this limit by using a single topic to release multiple packs.



And for people who are posting replays, just one rule to keep in mind - if you aren't using the latest stable version of NL at the time, please specify which version you are using; whether that be an older version, or an experimental / RC build.

[namida]

No longer relevant; retained for historical purposes

For NeoLemmix packs, please include the following icons to indicate version compatibility:

Incompatible with older versions

:compat-new:
Not compatible with V1.43n-F, V1.47n or V1.48 / V10.010.XXX. This is a single icon as a shortcut rather than typing them out individually.



V10.011.XXX and V10.12.XX

To do these, you use two smileys together - the first one states the version, and the second states the compatibility.

Versions

:compat-ver-10-11:


:compat-ver-10-12:

Compatibility

:compat-yes:
Signifies full compatibility. You can use this even if the version would display a warning message, as long as everything works.


:compat-semi:
Signifies partial compatibility. This is for use if, for example, the pack works functionally but the custom graphics might be messed up, or if the pack should work in theory but there have been some minor physics changes and you haven't retested.


:compat-no:
Signifies incompatibility. The pack will not load, or some levels will crash or are confirmed unsolvable. You can also use this if it might be compatible in theory but you're not intentionally supporting the version in question.

Examples

:compat-ver-10-11::compat-no:
:compat-ver-10-12::compat-yes:

This would mean the pack is not compatible with V10.011.XX, and is compatible with V10.12.XX.

Compatible with older version icons

:compat-143:
Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.43n-* only.


:compat-dual:
Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.43n-* and V1.47n-*.


:compat-147:
Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.47n-* only.


:compat-147-148:
Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.47n-* and V1.48-* / V10.010.XXX.


:compat-148:
Compatible with NeoLemmix V1.48-* / V10.010.XXX only.

Note that V1.48 and V10.010.XXX are the same thing (just different numbering schemes, and versions within V1.48 / V10.010.XXX's life cycle have used both schemes), which is why they're grouped together on a single part of the icons.

[Flopsy]

Can I also add that if users must use dropbox to host their level pack content.

You'll get a link which looks like the one below most of the time (this is just an example, not an actual link)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/user/filename.zip?dl=0

Could you please change the end of the link from an zero to a one so it instead looks like this.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/user/filename.zip?dl=1

This is so the download link downloads easier and does not require someone to have a dropbox account to download your content, it means your content will be accessible to more Lemming forums users

I may have already edited some posts already to make this change for you if I have seen an instance of this.

[namida]

I have added a new rule, stating that users must not create more than one in-development topic, nor more than one release topic, in any 30 day period. To avoid doubt, this doesn't mean you can't release updates and/or add new packs in a series topic or similar.

This is not retroactive, so if you have already made a topic recently that's not in line with these guidelines, you may leave it up - just don't create further ones until the 30 days have passed.

[namida]

A possible situation has been brought to my attention that could justify releases quicker than this, that I'd rather staff didn't have to be approving every time. (To be honest, I'd rather not have set this rule in the first place...)

In light of that, I've altered the rule a bit so that it's now just "two total topics in the levels boards" rather than specifically "one in development, one release". This should be sufficient for the situation in question.