[Android] Lemmings-like game (WIP)

[LJLPM]

Since I use .gif images and a .ini file for my tilesets (just as Lemmini does actually), yes, all the tilesets could work with/could be converted to NeoLemmix.

But please remember :
I'm working on this hobbyist project for 2,5 years, and I will probably need 8 to 12 more months to finish it (the whole project includes the game's level-editor -jLevelBuilder- which I started working on around april/may 2013).
Because of the huge amount of work I put in this project, I would appreciate my tilesets to be used exclusively for designing Android game's levels, during a temporary period of time, after the release of the game (maybe something around 6 months after the release of the game???). Thank you for your understanding.

- dev WIP status:
This week, I fixed another subtle sync problem with the replays.
And I also added some new small (but nice, anyway) features to the game (nothing too fancy, but the game is better now )
I'll try to work on the gfx/tilesets this week-end.

[LJLPM]

At last!!! It seems that I finally succeeded in creating a "Dirt" tileset that has the Lemmings feel.
I was definitively looking for that visual style, but I struggled with achieving this result. Now I'm on the right track

edit:screenshot updated.

[RubiX]

Looks beautiful.  Well done!

[LJLPM]

Thanks
I'm not a graphic artist, and I find making gfx/tiles to be a very difficult task!

[LJLPM]

For the new year, here's the 1st ingame-screenshot taken on a smartphone with a 5' screen (Android 4.4).
- top screenshot is the default view, when game starts.
- bottom screenshot: zoomed-in view of the game

It's the 1st time I tested the game on a 5' screen, and the result is very good!
I have to slightly resize down the skills' counters, but everything else is perfect and readable (the game experience is really, really, really nice on such a device).

I slowly progress on the making of the tilesets (no more work on the source-code now), but be assured that my goal is to deliver the best tiles I can create, and make the game good-looking on screen

ps: sci-fi tileset used, and please remember that the skill icons are not final (prototype purpose only)

[Ben H]

Dirt tileset looks awesome. You've really managed to capture the feel.

The sci-fi set also looks great.

[LJLPM]

Thanks
In order to capture the "Lemmings" feel, the "Dirt" tileset really gave (gives) me headaches. It starts to look good, but I still want/try to improve it! (in a general manner, existing tilesets start to look good enough for creating decent levels)

Today, I spent some time to fix the cropped text for skill counters on a 5'' screen with a 540x960 res: text is now fully visible (see screenshot).
(by the way, I will probably leave text sizes as they are now: hence text will be cropped on smartphones whose screen-res is < 540x960. On tablets, no cropped text, of course.)

- smartphone: game's original view when level starts, on a 5'' screen (540 x 960 resolution).


- smartphone: slightly zoomed-in view.


*** floaters are gliders on the screenshots ***

[LJLPM]

I've just coded a new feature, I thought about 2 days ago:
"Push Level to Online Database", directly from the level-editor.

In order to upload your level, you no longer need a web-browser, and you no longer need to go to the database's dedicated online webpage. Now, once your level is finished, simply click a single button directly from jLevelBuilder, and that's it! Your level is instantly online, and freely available to all players!

This feature is fully working.

[RubiX]

wow, excellent addition ^
So are you going to have a way that all incoming levels that people create can be automatically placed in some kind of structured database for easy sorting?
Just a thought, but this is how I see a very useful way to have them sorted into 2 databases.   (original skillset / new skillset)

Example:    If you create a level, there are field(s) to select before it will be accepted for upload.


1) Estimate your level difficulty:   

Frozen            ▀
Cold               ▀
Warm             ▀
Hot                 ▀
Scorching        ▀   


2) Map uses the standard lemmings skillset or includes the use of new abilities?      
   
My map only uses abilities from the original Lemmings game       ▀       
My map includes or only uses the new abilities                           ▀     

--------------
Then if there would be a possible way for people to give a 1 - 10 rating for uploaded maps, this could be very helpful for people wanting to download and play the best rated maps.

[607]

Do you need to have solved the level before uploading it? I'm not sure if that's easily possible, but it would be a helpful addition, I think. After all, we won't want some people uploading unbeatable levels.

[RubiX]

That is a very good thing to bring up ^ 

[LJLPM]

Thank you for your inputs

Example:    If you create a level, there are field(s) to select before it will be accepted for upload.

1) Estimate your level difficulty:   
Frozen            ▀
Cold               ▀
Warm             ▀
Hot                 ▀
Scorching        ▀   

in the editor, level-designers can already set an estimated level-difficulty (from 1 to 5) for their levels. This "difficulty rank" is then an available info within the database. But since I'm not sure it would be a reliable info as it is (casual gamers may not have the same "difficulty" scale as here, in this forum), I designed the database to allow players to rate the levels' difficulty: this way, I think we may get more reliable difficulty ratings (average ratings)... => but the associated code isn't done yet.

2) Map uses the standard lemmings skillset or includes the use of new abilities?      
   
My map only uses abilities from the original Lemmings game       ▀       
My map includes or only uses the new abilities                           ▀     

Currently, the game officially supports 3 new abilities:
- swimmers
- gliders
- walkers
But I still should tweak the code a little bit between jLevelBuilder and the game, in order to easily create levels using Swimmers and Gliders (I already done the job for Walkers). What I mean is most of the levels will pretty much look like to the original Lemmings' levels, regarding to the abilities...

Then if there would be a possible way for people to give a 1 - 10 rating for uploaded maps, this could be very helpful for people wanting to download and play the best rated maps.

Yes, I designed the database to take in account such a vote. Players will be allowed to give a 1 - 10 rating for levels (but I still have to code this function).

Do you need to have solved the level before uploading it? I'm not sure if that's easily possible, but it would be a helpful addition, I think. After all, we won't want some people uploading unbeatable levels.

I see no reliable way to verify the level is OK before uploading it.
Maybe one solution is: before proceeding with the upload, ask the level-designer if she/he has tested her/his level, and if she/he certifies the level is feasible.
Moreover, players and level-designers can upload level-replays. Maybe I can work something out for level-designers to attach replays to their levels... I don't know...

[RubiX]

Ok, you have clearly thought things out, looking forward to testing it one day!

[namida]

Do you need to have solved the level before uploading it? I'm not sure if that's easily possible, but it would be a helpful addition, I think. After all, we won't want some people uploading unbeatable levels.

I see no reliable way to verify the level is OK before uploading it.
Maybe one solution is: before proceeding with the upload, ask the level-designer if she/he has tested her/his level, and if she/he certifies the level is feasible.
Moreover, players and level-designers can upload level-replays. Maybe I can work something out for level-designers to attach replays to their levels... I don't know...

I've thought about this, for a possible future online database for NeoLemmix levels. While I don't know that I'd go as far as outright preventing potentially-impossible levels from being uploaded, most likely what I'd do is ask for replays to be submitted alongside the level. Checking this would be local; so for someone sufficiently determined, they could fake it (by editing the replay file to set the "level passed" flag, for example), but chances are most people who are likely to be slack enough to not test their levels properly, aren't going to bother doing this.

[Proxima]

Suppose some designers are working on a level together: you want it to be possible for one to upload a partly finished level that the other will download and continue. This partly finished level may not itself be solvable.