[Android] Lemmings-like game (WIP)

[LJLPM]

well, sometime in 2015, I suppose (sorry for the lack of precision but I really have no estimated date yet )
For instance, it takes me more time than expected to create the tilesets because I want nice "Lemmings-like" tilesets for the game, and I don't want them to be bad and spoil the game experience.
I will also have to re-design all the Lemmings (there are a lot of animations, but it shouldn't be too long to do).
And lastly, I'll have to create some levels of course (at last 50 --- people will be able to create unlimited new levels*).
There are also more minor things to do (like creating a proper title-screen, creating nice in-game icons/buttons, etc, etc...).
So, it looks like I will be busy working on this project for some more months but my goal is to release the best Lemmings-like game on Android (and please note there are some in-game features I didn't talk about yet ).

*: level-designers will be able to create level packs: in the game, a pack simply consists of a group of levels located in the same directory (easy!). When the player completes a custom level, then the game will load the next level found in the current custom-level directory (according to the alpha-num order of the levels' filenames => ex: 01filename.ini, 02filename.ini, 03filename.ini, etc...).

[Ben H]

Yeah, I understand. I was just being a bit facetious. 

[607]

Wait... I think my sister has an Android phone! Maybe, if I ask nicely... I might be allowed to get this on her phone... that would make me even more excited!

[LJLPM]

I've updated the game's "Rock/Jungle" tileset (actually it's more like Lemmings' "Dirt" than Lemmings' "Rock").
It's not finished yet (100- tiles are currently available), but it already looks pretty good (results attached below).
On the screenshots, I used different zoom factors to better show you what this tileset looks like:
- tablet version: first, zoom-out to see the whole level on screen + standard view after.
- smartphone: "wide view" enabled (no map makes more room for the actual game) + 3 different zoom factors (=> to see the maximum zoom factor, please refer to previous posts)
FYI, I made a lot of trials with this tileset before getting tiles I was pleased with.

ps: on smartphone's screens, yellow numbers are just tiles' creation ID (debug purpose)

[Ben H]

^^ This is probably one of your best tile sets yet.

[LJLPM]

^^ This is probably one of your best tile sets yet.

Yeah, I think, too 
It's a convenient tileset for making rocky landscapes (or jungles/gardens, if you add some green touches with the foliage).

By the way, I expanded it with more tiles (100+ tiles, including color variations of tiles), and I've just made a new test with it. Here's the result:

[LJLPM]

I think the tileset I'm currently working on (see my 2 previous posts above: it's the same tileset) succeeded in "capturing" the "Lemmings" spirit  (and I'm really struggling with this, as DMA made such a good work on the tilesets!!!)

I hope you like this tileset ; I'm very happy with it. I think it will allow the making of good-looking, well-designed, and fun puzzles (and that's what Lemmings is all about, isn't it?).

Once again, please remember that, when the game is released, you'll be able to freely use any tileset of it, and create and share your own levels (I think this tileset will probably have some success)

- "RollerCoaster" level (jLevelBuilder + tablet + smartphone screenshots):

[607]

Looks nice! I think some of the green is too bright, though. May just be me.

[LJLPM]

Looks nice! I think some of the green is too bright, though. May just be me.

yeah, I'll probably lower the brightness a little bit to find a better global color balance.
(but, as it is now, it works quite well during the game, though)

[LJLPM]

Since I couldn't use Lemmings' "Marble" tileset in my game (copyrights), then I created my own "Marble" tileset (100+ tiles)
(please refer to this topic's 1st post to have a global view of all the tilesets which currently exist for the game)



... and a teaser of the next tileset 

[namida]

Just wondering, how different (in terms of capabilities, not format) are your graphic sets from Lemmings ones? If they're not too diferent, and there's enough interest, would you like me to add support for them to the NeoLemmix Graphic Set Tool?

[LJLPM]

I don't see graphics your tool couldn't convert from my game.
So, yes, of course, you will be able to use/convert/do whatever you want with my game's tilesets once everything is ready
I will be more than happy to see these tilesets live


Nevertheless, when I release the game and the tilesets, I will have a simple request for the people who want to use my tilesets:

- I put a lot of work, efforts, and time in making this clone of Lemmings for Android (and I include jLevelBuilder in the project, as it is where everything started, back in 2013!). And I hope to deliver the best Lemmings game people could expect.

Because of that, and while the tilesets are new, I would really appreciate if people who want to use these tilesets focus on creating Lemmings1-compliant levels. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less.
(since my game is based on Lemmings1, those levels would be fully compatible with my game)

Of course, once they're a bit older, I will be fine with using my game's tilesets for creating NeoLemmix-specific levels, using features that are only available in Neo-Lemmix. But, in a first time, I would really appreciate to use the game's tilesets for creating levels that are, at-least, compatible with my game (-> good old Lemmings1).

---
quick notes: I re-work my "Brick" tileset because I wasn't happy enough with it. It's better now, and I'll post updated screenshots soon.

[namida]

I was thinking both ways - ie: enabling the tool to make graphic sets for your game too, not just import them. Even if you use a format like text files + raw image files, the advantage is having a menu to select properties, view trigger area on the object, etc, rather than having to work all that out manually. And if you'd prefer, I'm happy to put in some kind of protection to make it not load your "official" graphic sets (until you're fine with them being used), although do be warned that I plan to make the tool open source so people can probably get around that fairly easily (and that's assuming they're not already in a format that can already be imported with a bit of extra work).

[LJLPM]

Thank you for your help!
Actually, your topic about your graphic editor made me realize it would be convenient to have such a tool in jLevelBuilder for generating my game's tileset config-files.
Hence, in jLB, I added a very basic tool to do it (latest version of jLB not released yet). The tool in jLB is very basic and not comparable to your editor, but it allows the user to set the type of Objects (exit door, entry door, ...), the type of animations (always animate, triggered animations, ...), ... User can also visually sets Objects' trigger areas. And of course, one can generate the tileset's config file. Even if it's quite a basic tool, this will be a time-saver, indeed.

And about the "protection", thank you for the idea, but it's not something I would find cool as a user Actually, I will release all my tilesets along with the game, and people will be able to freely use them and do whatever they want with them. No protection. No ban on doing this or that. People will do what they want.

I would simply appreciate if people who find my tilesets useful could realize it takes a lot of time to create these graphics, and then show some support by creating levels that are fully compatible with Lemmings1's skills before starting to make levels that are not compatible with my game...

Moreover, I wanted to ask if some people would be interested in making levels for the final game (when the tilesets are finished, of course! -> early access to the game), but I have a bug when playing some replays, so it's annoying for validating the levels people would submit...

[namida]

I'm working on a new project of my own at the moment, but you're welcome to use any levels from any of my older packs (or variations of them, or levels inspired by them) if you feel they'd suit.