Suggestions for a new Cheapo Copycat game

[Essman]

...But it could also lead to some very cheap and nasty levels, such as one hiding a vital timepiece in the terrain. And that's just the beginning.

You must've had a bad experience with a cheap level in a past life and have lost all trust in level designers.

[guest]

but any good idea can be cheaply exploited.

Heck, not just good ideas.  Even the most mundane, existsing ideas such as cut-and-paste of terrain can be cheaply exploited......

For example, it allows for the creation of "invisible" terrain.  [Well...almost.  To be truly invisible (guess why) you really need to be using certain styles out there (I don't mean something specifically created for this), and even then there are still ways to see it unless you use a custom style specifically for this.]  I can provide an example but I'm sure you can easily imagine how it can be done.

We'll let you know right away though once Essman finds a way for the new Cheapo level editor to detect cheap levels and refuse to save them.  

[Conway]

'We'll let you know . . .'?!? So you are in league with Essman in the design of the new game! Lol!

  Yeah, I see your point. Even in LemEdit cheap levels could be made. I even made some myself, so I shouldn't complain!

[Essman]

'We'll let you know . . .'?!? So you are in league with Essman in the design of the new game! Lol!

Nobody is helping me with the game, which is why it's taking so long to get anything completed. I'm also making the design way too complicated, which is why it takes even longer yet. For example, right now I'm working on a Windows Explorer plug-in to allow you to browse your level records right from Explorer. This is overkill, yet I'm doing it just because writing Windows Shell Extensions is something new.

[SyNTaX]

Adding a few suggestions to the wishlist "pot".

- Interactive objects. Think Revolutions.
*A steel door that opens if a lemming steps on a button or flips a switch.
*(Draw)bridges. Also activated using switches.
*"Weight lifts" - platforms that move a bit lower if a lemming steps on it. More lemmings = goes lower. As if there was a spring below.
*Cannons. Long range basher/miner/bomber effects.
*Gates that close after a certain number of lemmings have passed.
*Catapults (Tribes-way).
*Acid sparays which can cut through metal.

- Events. Such as pieces of terran falling maybe. Trapdoors that open at some time when the level is playing already (no more need for all those lemmings faling into the water, waiting for a bridge to be built below).

- Some skills.
Roper from L2.
Bomber from L2.
Teleporter - to any place you want.
Ballooner from L2, though it would require a bit of wind. I dunno, maybe not such a good idea at all.

- Baddies. Definately baddies. e.g walking traps.

[DragonsLover]

Adding a few suggestions to the wishlist "pot".

- Interactive objects. Think Revolutions.
*A steel door that opens if a lemming steps on a button or flips a switch.
*(Draw)bridges. Also activated using switches.
*"Weight lifts" - platforms that move a bit lower if a lemming steps on it. More lemmings = goes lower. As if there was a spring below.
*Cannons. Long range basher/miner/bomber effects.
*Gates that close after a certain number of lemmings have passed.
*Catapults (Tribes-way).
*Acid sparays which can cut through metal.

- Events. Such as pieces of terran falling maybe. Trapdoors that open at some time when the level is playing already (no more need for all those lemmings faling into the water, waiting for a bridge to be built below).

- Some skills.
Roper from L2.
Bomber from L2.
Teleporter - to any place you want.
Ballooner from L2, though it would require a bit of wind. I dunno, maybe not such a good idea at all.

- Baddies. Definately baddies. e.g walking traps.

- Interactive objects
- Skills from L2



- Trapdoors that open at a specified time
- Baddies



Also, teleporters already exist.

[SyNTaX]

I meant a teleporter skill Not to be used in many levels, just very few. Or maybe.. oh yea! Teleporters that only allow a number of lems to teleport! (Or should we call them Dimwits now )

[Isu]

I got a cool idea:mikecool:

How about the addition of blowers where a lemming gets blown in a certain direction until it hits something or enters the path of another blower.
Anyone who has played "Krusty's super fun house" will know what I'm talking about.

[DragonsLover]

More suggestions:

- When a lemming is digging, bashing, mining or exploding through the landscape, it could be nice to have a dirt graphic in the background at the same place where the landscape was. Like Worms. When a worm is making a hole, we don't see the background, the "sky", we see the dirt. You understand what I mean?

- Have like "checkpoints" where it could be easier to go from a place to another instantly. I mean, for example, you get a huge map, and there's a trapdoor a the top-left of the level and another one at the bottom-right. It's kinda boring to pause the game and change place all the time between the two trapdoors. Why not pressing Ctrl+"any number" to set a point for both trapdoors. Then, when you'll press the specified key, you could zoom directly to the specified point. That way, you only have to press "1" for a point and "2" to go directly to another point, then still press "1" to go back... and so on.

- Something cool in Lemmings would be a "sun" effet. In fact, you could get 4 effects: None (classically), Morning, Noon and Afternoon. Not the 3 last at the same time! With Morning, for example, landscapes ONLY could make shadows on Lemmings, background and objects diagonnally down to the right (because at the morning, the sun is at the left when you face South direction). At noon, the shadow would go down. And at Afternoon, the shadow would go down to the left. Also, on landscapes, it could be nice to see every pixels on the top of them lighter because of the light of the sun. Of course, if 3 effects aren't enough, why not "alien" suns where the lights are from "under" the level. Finally, it could be nice to change the color of the sun. What do you think about this idea?

- Have a color filter for levels. Imagine playing a level all in blue, red, or even black, where everything is darker than normal. It could give special atmospheres! It's a little bit like the sun effect (see above) excepted that it's the ambiant light and not a sun.

In other words, have LIGHT EFFECTS! This is something that is not considerated in some Lemmings games.

[SyNTaX]

in some Lemmings games.

90% i'd say, even more perhaps
But lighting effects are indeed the way to go. Lens flares perhaps as well? Those could be deactivated from the game menu.

[Timballisto]

INSERT ALL POSTS ABOVE INTO A QUOTE BOX

...

Um...wow...Essman will die of work before he can do all this stuff...I'm guessing...man he's doing a lot.

[Essman]

Um...wow...Essman will die of work before he can do all this stuff...I'm guessing...man he's doing a lot.

Yes I probably would die first. I've been working on the game for so long that I'm practically dead now. Actually for the previous month and the next few months I cannot even work on the game because something else has taken ultimate priority.

[Conway]

Oh well. Get well soon!

[Essman]

Oh well. Get well soon!

Ha, it's not health related. If I was that sick then I'd have tons of time to write the program.

[Proxima]

Well, good luck with whatever it is!

And I hope it's the same sort of thing that's been keeping me away from Cheapo for a while...........