Glitches in Lemmings

[Clam]

OK, got it working now, thanks. Like you say, it's not overly impressive. But, it's a definite glitch, which is what matters.

Now to continue catching up...

Another Sega Master System glitch to add to the list - changing the release rate can sometimes do absolutely nothing at all - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCLTJzsAxvA" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">like in this video.

I can't reproduce this. Can you please provide more details?

despite the fact that the starting build brick of the bridge in the dig pit isn't actually touching the pit bottom (at least visually anyway), the lemmings will nevertheless be able to walk up onto it.

While testing this, I noticed something else (which I'd guess experienced SMS players know about already): when you dig at a peak in the terrain, the lemming may take out a tiny bit of ground and then stop. Attached is a screenshot of Tricky 1 - compare that to the level screenshot http://www.smspower.org/maxim/uploads/Maps/Lemmings Tricky 1.png?sid=0e715ed33e1a57a77edbf79dadee4005" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">here.

edit: And another thing: sometimes the lemmings appear to bob up and down at random. This seems to happen more often when there are many lemmings on the screen at once.

[Pooty]

The lemming seems to only detect the far left pixel that he's digging through. This is most easily noticeable when you're playing on SEGA Four (Taxing 21 or Mayhem 18) at the beginning.

The lemmings bobbing up and down is an artefact of the game copying the lemming sprites into the background. It normally uses sprites to draw lemmings, but the Master System can only draw eight sprites per scanline (including the cursor). Eash surplus lemming then gets drawn into the background, and for some reason, one pixel lower.

That method differs from the NES version, which performs a sprite rotation so that different lemmings get drawn per frame (this produces a flickering effect). This also differs from the Mega Drive / Genesis version, which doesn't use sprites at all. That game draws its lemmings into a different background layer.

[Clam]

Thanks Pooty, it's always good to know why glitch behaviour happens. Also interesting to see how things are handled differently on different systems, with their technical limitations. It just goes to show how much work the developers did in creating so many ports of the game http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/thumbsup.gif" alt=":thumbsup:" title="Thumbs Up" class="smiley" />

[Clam]

Here's another one I thought of while making the tricks thread: Climbers ignore overhangs in the first few pixels of a climb, so in some cases they can pass through solid platforms. For example, on Havoc 18, you can climb the first thin wall with the platform extending out of it, by placing a build brick at its base first.

[DoubleU]

I disagree with some of these glitches, the only one I can think of right now being the interrupted basher making an upward ramp - after all, if it was a glitch, how did it get there?  Did the programmers make a mistake?  It can be useful, if only very rarely.

Oh, and Clam, may I make a friendly suggestion and not double-post?  (And anyone else for that matter; Clam's just the only one I saw do it.)  Not that it matters, but it, uh, takes up more pages and thus more room when you do?  At least I think so.  I've been wrong before, I'll admit.

[finlay]

I disagree with some of these glitches, the only one I can think of right now being the interrupted basher making an upward ramp - after all, if it was a glitch, how did it get there?  Did the programmers make a mistake?  It can be useful, if only very rarely.

Oh, and Clam, may I make a friendly suggestion and not double-post?  (And anyone else for that matter; Clam's just the only one I saw do it.)  Not that it matters, but it, uh, takes up more pages and thus more room when you do?  At least I think so.  I've been wrong before, I'll admit.

This forum gets so little traffic that it really doesn't matter. And it tends to only be a problem if it's excessive – bumping a post after two months of inactivity isn't really excessive. Also, tends to be the oldbies that tell the newbies off for it if there is actually a rule against it. Just sayin'.

[ccexplore]

I disagree with some of these glitches, the only one I can think of right now being the interrupted basher making an upward ramp - after all, if it was a glitch, how did it get there?  Did the programmers make a mistake?  It can be useful, if only very rarely.

It looks like the list on the OP includes both glitches as well as what we tend to now consider "non-glitch tricks".  Interrupted basher I definitely do not consider a glitch, as it is clearly the result of the bashing taking multiple frames of animation to complete.  The only alternative is for the bash stroke to take out terrain in a single go like a bomber.  There are also no precedent in the game for not allowing you to assign skills while it is in the middle of doing something; it may bar you from assigning skills when the lemming is doing some particular action, period, but not specifically around the particular timings of the action in progress.

Oh, and Clam, may I make a friendly suggestion and not double-post?

I don't really consider it a double-post when it's almost 2 months apart.  The forum system doesn't show edits under list of recent posts, so without posting no one would know that salient new information has been added to a thread that hasn't been last posted on months ago.

[Clam]

I disagree with some of these glitches, the only one I can think of right now being the interrupted basher making an upward ramp - after all, if it was a glitch, how did it get there?  Did the programmers make a mistake?  It can be useful, if only very rarely.

As ccx mentioned, this list was made before I had the idea for the non-glitch tricks topic. I haven't yet reviewed the list to see which ones would be better left to the other topic (and I kinda made a lazy cop-out by saying 'there may be some overlap' between the two http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />). I'll get around to fixing this at some point.

Oh, and Clam, may I make a friendly suggestion and not double-post?  (And anyone else for that matter; Clam's just the only one I saw do it.)

And in this very topic, somebody else tripleposted... The fact is, it doesn't matter, as long as the posts contain useful content and aren't spammy.

[namida]

Not every forum has a rule against double-posting, you know...

[DoubleU]

Oh.  Well, thanks for your help, everyone.

[mobius]

idk if this could be considered a glitch but in the windows version of original Lemmings, the speed up button is WAY too fast. In other words it speeds up the level to a point where its impractical  to use. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/huh.gif" alt="???" title="Huh?" class="smiley" />

[Clam]

I'd say that's more of a usability fail than a glitch per se. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" /> But that reminds me, I wanted to do some glitch-hunting on the Windows version, but I'm not in the mood to play through all the levels again to unlock them. How does that version track your progress? Is there a cheat code or savefile I could use to unlock the levels?

[mobius]

actually you can "cheat" any level by going to File (or some menu option) and select "chest this levle" and u can skip to then next. Also it can display all of the levels in a tree folder system making it very easy to look at any level u want. But you have to beat or cheat all the levels to see them.

[Clam]

Yes, that works, thanks very much. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/thumbsup.gif" alt=":thumbsup:" title="Thumbs Up" class="smiley" />

[finlay]

idk if this could be considered a glitch but in the windows version of original Lemmings, the speed up button is WAY too fast. In other words it speeds up the level to a point where its impractical  to use. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/huh.gif" alt="???" title="Huh?" class="smiley" />

Fast forward isn't intended to be useable, though – it's just supposed to mitigate waiting time after you've cleared a path to the exit but your lemmings still have to walk there. And I haven't seen a decent ff function since the Mac version, where you activate it by holding down shift (and caps lock too in ONML, although then you have to remember to turn it off before starting the next level) – having it as a function that toggles when you hold down something is better IMO than having it as a function that goes on when you press a button, and comes off when you press the button again. (the Mac's ff function also had fun bits because it worked by skipping i think 3 of every 4 frames, and at certain release rates including 88, on Fun 8 for example, you can make the lemmings walk "backwards" by holding shift)