Lemmings Plus V - Development Topic

[namida]

Somewhat slowed down again lately, but it's still going ahead.

I just made what might be one of my favorite LPV levels so far. I've currently got it placed in late-Edgy, but I'm strongly considering moving it to early-Unruly.

"Lemming Workout Routine"
Save 18 of 20
Release rate 30
No time limit
1 climber, 1 bomber, 1 blocker, 5 builders, 2 bashers, 2 miners, 2 diggers

[namida]

Updated style counter report (as usual, this includes a single copy of the filler level for not-yet-filled slots):

Style counter report

Total levels: 63
---
lpv_abstract: 19
lpv_honeycomb: 13
lpv_machine: 13
lpv_mineshaft: 18

---------------------------

Music report
---
abstract1: 6
abstract2: 5
abstract3: 7
abstract4: 1
honey1: 6
honey2: 7
machine1: 6
machine2: 7
mine1: 9
mine2: 8
silence: 1

Honeycomb and Machine are starting to catch up to the other two styles a bit better now. As another interesting tidbit, I've also noticed that, assuming the current first and last level of each rank is kept, every graphic set in Lemmings Plus V is used at least once for a rank-first level, and at least once for a rank-final level - neither of which has happened before in a Lemmings Plus pack (unless you count Holiday Lemmings Plus, that is ).

[namida]

Well, Unruly has become the first rank to hit the full 15 levels!

With that being said, lately I've found I'm not really having much level creating brainwaves. While it'd be awkward to reduce the number of levels per rank at this point (like I did with Lemmings Plus III), I'm strongly considering moving a few levels forward in position and throwing together some easier filler levels to fill up the early ranks - of course, it's always possible I'll manage a stroke of genius and come up with a hard level during this. There's already plenty of great, challenging levels in here.

This won't nessecerially mean the pack sees a release too soon though - there are some levels in particular that are still proving themself to be very backroute-prone, so I still need to iron out these.

[namida]

Maybe I spoke too soon. I just came up with quite a nice level. The difficulty is borderline between Touchy and Edgy, so I've currently got it placed at Edgy 2. It might get moved, though.

"Bee Plus"
10 lemmings, 9 to be saved
Release rate 95
No time limit
Skillset: 10 Platformers


(EDIT: I suppose I should also mention, in case it wasn't obvious by now - Lemmings Plus V is not going to have VGASPEC levels.)

[namida]

Up-to-date style counter output (still includes a filler level, as always).

Style counter report

Total levels: 70
---
lpv_abstract: 19
lpv_honeycomb: 18
lpv_machine: 15
lpv_mineshaft: 18

---------------------------

Music report
---
abstract1: 6
abstract2: 5
abstract3: 7
abstract4: 1
honey1: 8
honey2: 10
machine1: 8
machine2: 7
mine1: 9
mine2: 8
silence: 1

Honeycomb has caught up to Abstract and Mineshaft now! Machine is still lagging slightly behind.

[namida]

Three levels to go - two for Blissful, one for Touchy.

At the current point in time, all styles have an equal number of levels:

Style counter report

Total levels: 73
---
lpv_abstract: 19
lpv_honeycomb: 18
lpv_machine: 18
lpv_mineshaft: 18

---------------------------

Music report
---
abstract1: 6
abstract2: 5
abstract3: 7
abstract4: 1
honey1: 8
honey2: 10
machine1: 10
machine2: 8
mine1: 9
mine2: 8
silence: 1

(The filler level is in Abstract style, which is why I say they're equal even though Abstract shows one more.)

I'll mostly keep it even, but obviously one style has to have one level fewer. It's most likely going to be Machine - the once per rank level uses Abstract, and there's a Part 1 / Part 2 level in Mineshaft, so those effectively have less unique maps, even if the number of levels are the same. Honeycomb vs Machine comes down to partly that the Honeycomb set seems to have had more interest, and partly that I like making levels with it more than Machine.

After that, it's just backroute testing, maybe some reordering, coming up with some more talismans, and the pack's ready!

[namida]

And, we've hit the full 75 levels now, as well as getting rid of all currently-known backroutes. The first complete version is now in testers' hands, and since I started testing early (so many of the levels that aren't newly-added in this version have already been tested quite extensively), this should be shorter than earlier Lemmings Plus packs' test periods were. While I'm not making any promises - partially to avoid putting pressure on the testers - I'd say you can probably expect a release within a week or so.

[namida]

So just to keep everyone updated... things are going a bit slower than expected, but still coming along.

One reason for the delay is that I'd like to ensure that on release, Lemmings Plus V is compatible with both V1.43n-F and V1.47n (although V1.43n-F is the primary target for now, so V1.47n might have some backroutes that slip through if those backroutes aren't possible on V1.43n-F; once V1.47n becomes stable, I'll make that the primary target). This means some extra testing work - many of the V1.43n-F replays also work on V1.47n, but not all of them do.

[namida]

At this point, all levels are confirmed solvable with V1.47n, and while some backroutes may remain, I'm fairly confident that the majority of them have been ironed out.

As such, I'm going to finish patching up the currently-known backroutes, finish picking talismans, possibly do a bit of last-minute level reordering, and then release this pack. Expect a release very soon.