jLevelBuilder 1.88 (june, 9th 2021)

[LJLPM]

No, no, no. jLevelBuilder sticks (and will stick) to original Lemmings1's mechanics* (reason is: currently, my main dev-project is the Lemmings-clone game I'm coding for Android, and, because of time issues, I just can't dissipate my efforts on multiple projects).
SuperLemmini's extra features are not supported (I would advise people to use Neo Lemmix Editor for these new features), but for players who want to design good-old Lemmings1 levels, then they can try jLevelBuilder, as created levels are fully playable in (Super)Lemmini, and this is what I meant
I've edited my topics.

*: just talking about Lemmings1 level design here (=> jLevelBuilder's normal edition mode), because my Android game supports newer game mechanics (=> jLevelBuilder's advanced edition mode, but I haven't detailed advanced mode's features yet... I'll do it when the Android game is released.)

[BradLee]

Can the Lemmings be replaced with other animals/characters?
It might be fun to see different critters in place of the Lemmings!
Or even to use console game characters lol

Maybe if not in the free jLB, then perhaps in an advanced/paid editor.

[namida]

Can the Lemmings be replaced with other animals/characters?
It might be fun to see different critters in place of the Lemmings!
Or even to use console game characters lol

Maybe if not in the free jLB, then perhaps in an advanced/paid editor.

jLevelBuilder is only a level editor. I'm not sure how his own game or Lemmini / SuperLemmini handle sprites. If you're using a Lemmix-based engine (Lemmix or NeoLemmix) or the original DOS games, you can customize the sprites by editing the MAIN.DAT file (using a tool called LemMain), though currently there's some heavy limitations on the palette usable for this. I'm considering reducing these limitations in a future NeoLemmix update, just haven't got around to it yet.

EDIT: I can confirm, this will be supported in the next update.

[BradLee]

If you're using a Lemmix-based engine (Lemmix or NeoLemmix) or the original DOS games, you can customize the sprites by editing the MAIN.DAT file (using a tool called LemMain), though currently there's some heavy limitations on the palette usable for this. I'm considering reducing these limitations in a future NeoLemmix update, just haven't got around to it yet.

That would be cool. 

[LJLPM]

Yes, jLevelBuilder is a level-editor ; it's not a game-engine, and thus it doesn't handle the Lemmings.

As for the Android game:
- because of obvious copyright issues, I have to redraw all the graphic assets you know from Lemmings (I already started to create new tilesets). So, yes, for the Lemmings, I'll create alternative tiny sprites.
- moreover, yes, I could code/enable the use of external custom sprites, too (the game already allows level-designers to import and share their own external custom tilesets), but I'm not sure many people would actually use this feature (people would have to redraw the complete sprite-sheet of Lemmings' actions!) + it takes time to code/add this behaviour (and, from now on, I switched to the graphic part of the game creation), so it's unlikely I'll add this option.

[namida]

I would argue that it doesn't hurt to have the option there. More so than completely custom sprites, people may see recoloring the sprites for certain styles as beneficial, and that isn't a huge effort by comparison.

[BradLee]

That's a shame.

I think that people would really go-to-town with this ability and it would spawn a lot of new interest. Creating their own custom "theme packs" and whatnot.

So maybe even if you don't do this for your normal level designer, you could consider this for an "advanced designers/developers edition."

I know it's not your primary goal, but it could also help to compensate you for your own time/trouble spent working on the project.

Anyway I understand that you're too bust to include any such requests atm.

I would argue that it doesn't hurt to have the option there. More so than completely custom sprites, people may see recoloring the sprites for certain styles as beneficial, and that isn't a huge effort by comparison.

Yes, that's more so what I was referring to. Not having it open-ended, but keeping them the same original tile size.

[LJLPM]

In the v1.0, it's pretty sure, the "load custom sprites" feature won't be there (because, atm, I focus on the game's core features). Then, when the game is released, I'll probably have to update/tweak/fix things according to the players' feedbacks. After that, I may update the game with new features, so I've added your inputs to my TODO list.

[BradLee]

In the v1.0, it's pretty sure, the "load custom sprites" feature won't be there (because, atm, I focus on the game's core features). Then, when the game is released, I'll probably have to update/tweak/fix things according to the players' feedbacks. After that, I may update the game with new features, so I've added your inputs to my TODO list.

Ok, thanks.

[WillLem]

Hi,

Once a level has been created in this builder, how can it be played?

I use Windows Lemmings. I tried copying my .lvl file into the WINLEMM/LEVELS folder, but it isn't appearing in the standard level selection list.

Advice very welcome, and thanks for creating this editor, it's very user-friendly.

Cheers!

[namida]

WinLemm is notoriously annoying to get custom levels working with. It's not impossible if you're really determined (if that's the case, let us know again and we'll help you with the process, but be aware it's quite annoying), but it'll be much easier to use one of the unofficial Lemmings clones to get this working. I would recommend using NeoLemmix, but you may want to try them all out and see what your preference is (but from what I've seen, most people who initially prefer something other than NeoLemmix or Lix, eventually gravitate towards one of those two).

The viable engines (and whether you'd want to save your level as a LVL or INI file for them) are:

Lemmix (LVL): This one is quite nasty to set up by today's standards, but the advantage is it mimics the gameplay of the DOS version accurately, even including the bugs. If you do want to use it, let us know and we'll give more info, I don't want to type out a setting up tutorial unless it's the one you want to use.

Lemmini (INI): This is the one that jLevelBuilder is primarily intended for editing (other than LJLPM's own game which hasn't yet been released). Not too complicated, but is considered quite out-of-date. I think it has a "Load single level" feature somewhere.

NeoLemmix (LVL): NeoLemmix is the most popular these days. To play your level, all you have to do is run NeoLemmix, you'll get a popup box asking you to select a level or level pack to play; find your LVL file and select it, and there you go.

SuperLemmini (INI): This is similar to Lemmini, but I know for sure SuperLemmini has a "load single level" option.

Lix (LVL): Lix is the second most popular (after NeoLemmix) these days, it's worth noting that these days it and NeoLemmix probably have more in common than they have that sets them apart, with the engine of choice coming more down to preference and content than anything else - in a way, you can think of them as the PS4 and Xbox One of Lemmings engines, including that many people just use both. I don't know anything about how to get a LVL file to load in Lix, apart from that it's possible (native Lix levels use a custom format that jLevelBuilder does not support); I'm sure someone else will come along soon enough and fill in this gap, though. In general, the author of Lix discourages use of official Lemmings graphics for making levels (by comparison, NeoLemmix and SuperLemmini are fine with it), so if Lix is the one of most interest to you, you might want to consider working with the made-for-Lix graphics instead.

It might also be worth looking into moving to one of the more popular choices (NeoLemmix or Lix, or possibly even SuperLemmini) and getting the most appropriate editor for them, but we'll leave that more in-depth discussion for another time - if you want help with getting into editing for any of these other engines, just start a topic on the respective engine's board and we'll be only too happy to help you. For now, let me know if this info helps get you playing your level, and if not, feel free to ask for further help.

[LJLPM]

namida sumed it up very well.

I can only add that the currently-available version is not final, and I keep on working on jLevelBuilder, since the release of v1.76 -a year and half ago.
Now, we're approaching v1.80, and I update jLB regularly to match my needs for designing levels for the Android Lemmings-like game (many of the new features are also compliant with classic Lemmings' .lvl and .ini levels).

...by the way, something that, maybe, you don't know: you can press "SPACE" to show/hide a menu with some convenient action shortcuts.

[WillLem]

@LJLPM

I'm getting the following error message when attempting to load a .lvl file in the editor:



I have followed all of the instructions in this post, and all of the tilesets are present. I can't see any other reason why this error would be coming up.



EDIT: Lana has sent me her copy, complete with resources, which works just fine (thanks Lana ). I copied the resources across from SuperLemmini as opposed to Lemmini, which I think is why it wasn't working.

In case anyone else encounters this, it's very likely that the resources must be Lemmini-extracted in order to be usable by jLevelBuilder. Hopefully, the program may be updated at some point because it seems to be a decent editor for creating and managing .ini and legacy format (.lvl) levels.

[LJLPM]

Hi,

- Sorry for the late reply!!
I haven't noticed there was a new message in this topic.
I'm glad you succeeded in solving the issue you had.

- Unfortunately, I can't often work on my Lemmings-like game for Android (https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=1758.0): at some point, I'll probably release the Android game, for free, in its current, unfinished, state (it won't be finished/polished but it's fully playable for loading and playing one-shot custom levels).

Because of this situation and because there are some good news about SuperLemmini, I've decided to release the latest version of jLevelBuilder (v1.88).
You can download it for free here : http://www.lesjeuxlesplusmieux.com/jlevelbuilder.html

jLevelBuilder is mostly designed to fulfill my needs for creating levels for my Android game, but you can use it to design classic Lemmings' ".lvl" levels and Lemmini's ".ini" levels, too. (SuperLemmini's specific features don't exist in jLevelBuilder, though).

jLevelBuilder doesn't include Lemmings/Lemmini's tiles, so you have to manually place them in the "jLevelBuilder_beta_1.88\resources\tilesets\Lemmings" folder (with the dedicated config file too, such as "dirt.ini"). Without the tilesets in the relevant folders, jLevelBuilder won't launch (@WillLem: hence the issue you had).

Unfortunately, there is no documentation about jLevelBuilder's features, so you'll have to play with the buttons/menus to find what's going on ... but many features are quite obvious when designing levels for Lemmings.

One last thing: jLevelBuilder v1.88 is a major update compared to the previously-available v1.76. There are many new features!

Hope you will find jLevelBuilder useful for making levels for (Super)Lemmini (".ini" files) or for classic Lemmings (".lvl" files).

(note: some features -such as "rotate tiles"- are enabled, but they are not compliant with Lemmings/Lemmini, therefore don't waste time trying to use them in your levels. And jLevelBuilder can't create full level packs à la NeoLemmix: it can only be used to create single levels)

[LanaAndCo]

Aw yeah, my favourite level editor got updated! Thanks a lot LJLPM!