SuperLemmini 0.104a

[Tsyu]

Version 0.100 is here, and so are Santa lemmings! No longer will you need to put up with non-Christmas graphics in your Christmas levels!

Changes:

• Added the ICU library to support certain text operations that Java itself does not provide. Unfortunately, it adds about 5 MB to the download size (and that's after removing lots of language-specific data that isn't currently needed). Hopefully it doesn't make the download too big.
• If a player name is entered that contains non-ASCII characters or characters that are known to be illegal in some file systems, such characters are replaced with an escape sequence in the form of "_xxxx" when creating the player file, where "xxxx" is the four-digit hex code of the character's Unicode code point. Supplementary characters are replaced with two escape sequences, each representing a surrogate code point used to represent the character in UTF-16. The "_" is also escaped to prevent ambiguity. If the entire player name is known to be illegal in some file systems (such as "com1"), then every character of the name is escaped.
• Removed the need to use numBackgrounds when using backgrounds in a level.
• Added support for background scaling and tinting. See the level documentation for information on how to use these features.
• Lemmings now wear Santa suits in the Xmas/Holiday Lemmings levels. Custom level packs may also use the Santa lemmings by using the "xmas" mod (add the line "mods = xmas" somewhere to the pack's levelpack.ini file).
• Hints no longer need to include explicit line breaks; word wrapping is now done automatically.
• Hopefully fixed the key-repeat problem that happens under Linux.
• Made a tiny tweak to how the climber behaves when it's near the top border (to match the Amiga version).
• Fixed a bug that prevented certain images from the gfx/misc folder of mods from being loaded.

[Tsyu]

Version 0.100a is now out, mostly to improve level loading performance under certain circumstances.

Changes:

• Readded some optimizations to level loading that were removed in version 0.100.
• Slightly reduced the fall distance of LVL levels that use the Cheapo gimmick to 152. SuperLemmini doesn't currently support the other changes to game mechanics that are supposed to be used when that gimmick is enabled, however.
• The Xmas number font and terrain pieces 12 and 36 of the Xmas style have been updated to look a bit nicer.

Does anyone here feel that Java 7 support is still important? I'm asking because I have been planning for some time to move to Java 8 sometime after Java 7 stops receiving public updates (more specifically, once the Java 7 links are removed from this page). If people still want Java 7 support, however, I will continue to support it.

[Tsyu]

Version 0.101 is out now. While this is mostly a bugfix release, do take note of the first change in the list below.

Changes:

• Level lists in levelpack.ini can now use "level_n_m" (where n is the rating's index number, and m is the level's index number in the rating) instead of "[lowercase name]_m" as the key for each entry. This new format is now prefered, with the older one being deprecated.
• Removed the ICU library, at least for now.
• Updated the IBXM, and Apache Commons Lang libraries.
• Added support for the latest NeoLemmix LVL format.
• Supplementary characters in player names are now represented in file names using the form "__xxxxxx" (two underscores), where "xxxxxx" is the six-digit Unicode code point of the character.
• Fixed a bug where author names of imported LVL files weren't being escaped with backslashes, sometimes resulting in certain characters (typically backslashes) not being displayed.
• Fixed a bug where, if the level selection dialog is opened while a level is being played, the list would not be scrolled down to ensure that the level's entry was visible.
• Fixed a bug where the level-info fields of the level selection dialog would always be empty initially, even if a level is selected initially.

The Genesis pack has also been updated to fix the way that certain object types are drawn. (Specifically, it seems that the Genesis version always draws entrances, exits, and passive objects [but not flags] behind terrain.)

This will most likely be the last version of SuperLemmini to support Java 7, with future versions requiring Java 8.

[Chib]

Just found this today and wanted to say thanks, this is an awesome program!

I wanted to make a few suggestions for you to consider too:

• Allow re-binding of shortcut keys, including separate keys for scrolling left/right and selecting a lemming moving left/right (from advanced select). I mostly want this so I can bind the WASD keys for moving the screen (while maintaining the ability to select left/right moving lemmings). Something like space to pause would be much more handy than P/F11 too.
• Make it so when you hit shift-F2 or shift-left clicking the increase release rate button automatically puts it to 99 (since you can pause and do this slowly, it shouldn't impact the game play). Perhaps a shortcut for the converse to, so shift-F1 to set it to the minimum release rate allowable for the level.
• Add a shortcut key to restart the level (ctrl-R maybe?) to avoid having to use the menu with the mouse.
• On the end level screen, rename "Replay" to "Watch Replay", just to make it clearer that it's not a button to replay the map (I clicked it several times before realising what was going on).

Finally, I have a bug report. I'm seeing the slime water where it shouldn't be in one of the levels imported from the Windows Lemmings:

http://i.imgur.com/cDB1mv4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nNA8Btd.png

Shown on both the level title screen map and in the level itself as per above. If you can't replicate it, let me know what information you need from me.

Thanks again!

[Tsyu]

I wanted to make a few suggestions for you to consider too:

• Allow re-binding of shortcut keys, including separate keys for scrolling left/right and selecting a lemming moving left/right (from advanced select). I mostly want this so I can bind the WASD keys for moving the screen (while maintaining the ability to select left/right moving lemmings). Something like space to pause would be much more handy than P/F11 too.
• Make it so when you hit shift-F2 or shift-left clicking the increase release rate button automatically puts it to 99 (since you can pause and do this slowly, it shouldn't impact the game play). Perhaps a shortcut for the converse to, so shift-F1 to set it to the minimum release rate allowable for the level.
• Add a shortcut key to restart the level (ctrl-R maybe?) to avoid having to use the menu with the mouse.
• On the end level screen, rename "Replay" to "Watch Replay", just to make it clearer that it's not a button to replay the map (I clicked it several times before realising what was going on).

I'll look into implementing all of these into the next release.

Finally, I have a bug report. I'm seeing the slime water where it shouldn't be in one of the levels imported from the Windows Lemmings:

That's not a bug. As ccexplore said earlier in this thread:

That's actually exactly how it looks in the Amiga version.  It's the DOS version that removed the liquid objects there (plus many other places in many levels).  I guess it's trying to depict tubes of bubbling liquid.

Although the Amiga version probably renders this effect a bit better. I can look into making SuperLemmini handle this more like the Amiga version does.

[Chib]

Awesome, thanks!

One amendment though, it seems double tapping F1/F2 actually minimises/maximises the release rate, so don't worry about that one. It must've been implemented in Lemmini originally and not documented.

[Chib]

Small bug report:

The file levels\1_orig\levelpack.ini has the following as the final line:

level_5_20 = demomulti2,15

Instead of:

level_5_20 = demomulti2.ini,15

Edit: I forgot I renamed those variables so I could play the multiplayer maps, I think the line was originally something like:

demo_20 = demomulti2,15

[Tsyu]

Thanks for reporting that error. Since multiplayer isn't supported yet, I won't release a new version just to fix that line. It will certainly be fixed in the next version, though.

[exit]

Is manually editing player files meant to be done? I tried to edit the file and entered everything in(completed=true, time elapsed, skills used, lemmings saved, score), but it didn't work. I copy-pasted it and changed the group and level numbers to the correct ones.

Edit: Looks like I didn't think to see if the level numbers started on 0 instead of 1. It seems, though, that the next level is marked as completed, but it doesn't load the next level(the level just says completed and has all of the things I entered in it, it's just that the next level isn't accessible). I suggest that you do something that makes the program reload the player file on startup or something of the sort.

[Tsyu]

Player files aren't meant to be edited manually, although it is possible.

All the "completed" field does is add "(completed)" next to the level title in the level selection dialog. It's not meant to cause any levels to be unlocked--that's the job of the random-looking numbers at the ends of the lines containing the names of the level packs and ratings. (And in case you're wondering, those numbers are simply bit fields expressed as decimal numbers. I can explain how they work if you want me to.)

I suggest that you do something that makes the program reload the player file on startup or something of the sort.

It already does...? I mean, if the game didn't load the file on startup, it wouldn't know what levels should be unlocked. (In other words, it would be as though the file didn't even exist.)

[exit]

I suggest that you do something that makes the program reload the player file on startup or something of the sort.

It already does...? I mean, if the game didn't load the file on startup, it wouldn't know what levels should be unlocked. (In other words, it would be as though the file didn't even exist.)

I really don't know why I said that. If player files aren't meant to be manually edited I guess you can always just edit the level itself!

[namida]

Shhh. If you tell him that, he'll find a way to prevent that too.

[Ron_Stard]

I've just found a package for Lemmini with all the Lemmings 2 Classic Tribe leves. I have not tested yet on Superlemmini, though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hviZ0oX_fSU

The link for the package is posted within the video description:

http://www.mediafire.com/?chefe6ow61wndf5

[Ron_Stard]

It seems that all the Lemmings 2 levels that I mentioned before have problems with the exit detection: once the lemmings reach the tipi, there is no way to make them enter on it. According to the info within the levels, they were edited with Alpha version of Lemmings Level Editor. Is that program not compatible with SuperLemmini?

[namida]

Yes and no. Yes in tha it's compatible with Lemmini; and all Lemmini levels are compatible with SuperLemmini. No in that it doesn't support SuperLemmini-exclusive features (only the NeoLemmix Editor does, as far as I know).

With that being said, the end result here is still the levels will be fine. The problem is with the graphic sets; Lemmini graphic sets are not 100% compatible with SuperLemmini ones, primarily due to a difference in how trigger areas are handled. The NeoLemmix Graphic Set Tool is capable of loading Lemmini graphic sets and saving SuperLemmini graphic sets (these options are in the "Import" and "Export" menus respectively); you can use this to convert them without having to do the work manually.