[OLD] Player Bugs / Suggestions

[namida]

Alright, let's keep everything in one place. If you know of any bugs, or have any suggestions (note: only minor changes are likely to be considered at this point), for the NeoLemmix Player make them in this topic. In the case of bugs, be sure to mention which version (and game, if it only happens in one of them) it happened in; even better if you can attach a replay.

Things that may be worth reporting are any mechanics-related glitches, anything that causes a crash, or any levels that are impossible or disproportionately difficult to beat in their respective NeoLemmix players if the level is included in a player in the NeoLemmix update stream - if the issue is with a version of the level other than the included one (eg: the DOS version levels used directly in NeoLemmix) then that's simply an issue of the level not being made for NeoLemmix (or adjusted to fit it), and if it's someone's custom level, that's obviously something you'd have to take up with the level author.

Anything that's been struck out has been added (or fixed, in the case of bugs) for the next update. All bugs (but not suggestions) are ordered by most important first; this doesn't nessecerially mean they'll get fixed in that order though (especially if I plan to fix them all in the same update; I'll generally fix the easiest-to-fix ones first rather than the most serious).

Note: There will be no further updates to V1.xxn branch players, unless there are critical bugs. "Critical" means that something actually doesn't work, not that there's a behaviour that probably shouldn't happen as a result of a very obscure and specific setup and combination of skills / objects / gimmicks (though if an update is needed for the former reason, fixes of the latter type may possibly be applied at the same time).

Currently noted suggestions:
> Add an option to display total number of lemmings in level (minus those who have died / exited) for OUT, rather than only those that have already spawned
> Don't count zombies / ghosts in the lemming count on preview screen

Currently known high-priority bugs:
none

Currently known low-priority bugs:
> When cheat mode is used to access non-existant secret levels in NeoCustLemmix, they act like clones of the first levels of each rank
    This bug won't be relevant anymore in V2.00n, and doesn't affect gameplay, so won't be fixed.
> The first frame of a trap animation is skipped.
    This bug (which carried over from regular Lemmix) could open up a lot of backroutes if fixed. As such, I'm leaving it as is until V2.00n, at which point due to being a rewrite re-testing levels would be highly recommended anyway.

Levels that need checking:
H94 Frost 12 - Impossible in current version

[namida]

Question: Do people think it'd be worth having hints, and pre-level / post-level custom text screens? (In which case, I'd probably get rid of the hard-coded congrats screens as a post-level text on the last rank could be used instead)

Just for the record, these would almost certianly be unavailable for standalone (NeoCustLemmix) level packs since I don't want to make further modifications to the level format; but they'd be usable in Flexi packs (as they can just be a seperate file).

For hints, it'd be a matter of that the player has to specifically choose to see them.

[Wafflem]

That sounds like a great idea! How will the hints be displayed, though?

Also, how do pre-level and post-level custom text screens work? For post-level screen, would the text display be similar to how it was if a level had a Karoshi gimmick (i.e. the Karoshi post-screen text is different from the normal level post-screen text).

Another thing I remember you mentioning as I looked at the changelog: there was a feature of the save system of records of most lemmings saved, quickest time for completion and highest score in each level. Is there any way to have those displayed yet? I'm thinking these can be displayed in the level preview screen; you can press a button on the keyboard to have those displayed.

[namida]

The preview screen would stay as-is, it'd be a seperate screen before playing the level (probably only the first time, if you play the level more than once in a row). This could be used to, say, give a description of how things work in a tutorial level. The postview text would probably work similar to how the Congrats screen does; not sure yet if I'd display it before or after the normal results screen.

As for the hints, it'd probably be a matter of press a button (maybe H?) and a popup box with the hint appears.

[keiya]

There should probably be some sort of, like, warning or something before you get to A Task For (Blockers And) Bombers that there's major mechanical differences. That was very confusing and unpleasant.

(Also a version with Lemmix physics but the save feature would be nice but that's a little more of a request )

[namida]

I'm not planning to do further modifications on the traditional Lemmix verisons, sorry (unless there's important bugfixes particularly in Cust or Flexi).

[keiya]

Eh, it doesn't need to be pixel perfect, I just want a version that doesn't change gameplay in ways that change normal solutions in significant ways, that doesn't require me to write down passwords. (Think zdoom, not Chocolate Doom, if you're familiar with Doom source ports?)

Actually is source available? I could try to do it myself... and probably fail but learn something along the way.

[namida]

Source is available for traditional Lemmix. I haven't put a download link up for NeoLemmix source (as I'd rather wait until I'm not doing much more with it first), but it's available on request.

I can't say I'm very familiar with Doom at all, sorry.

If you don't want to write down passwords, you can use cheat code mode. You activate this by entering the game's cheat code on the password screen (for all traditional Lemmix players of official games, the code is "CHEATCODES"), then you can just choose a level by entering the rank name and level number (eg: TRICKY15). On the newer updates you can also use the rank number instead (eg: 0215).


With that being said, there are very few if any levels where NeoLemmix makes a major difference to the solution. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are ones that use bombers (you no longer have to time them, you just assign them in the exact spot you want the lemming to explode rather than 5 seconds beforehand; but apart from this they're the same), and PSYCHO 23 from Lemmings Plus DOS Project (one of my own packs).


EDIT: The preview/postview text screens have been implemented. If you fail the level and play it again, it won't show the preview text a second time. It will if you go to a different level then come back.

[Wafflem]

As for the hints, it'd probably be a matter of press a button (maybe H?) and a popup box with the hint appears.

Will it also be possible to have more than one hint in a level?

[namida]

As for the hints, it'd probably be a matter of press a button (maybe H?) and a popup box with the hint appears.

Will it also be possible to have more than one hint in a level?

Should be possible. I haven't implemented the hints system at all yet, so it's still somewhat open as to exactly how it'll be done. I have implemented the pre/post-level text system; take a look at the update I posted for Lemmings Plus Omega to see how it works. There's pre-text on Breezy 1 through 8 and Playtime 1, and post-text on Breezy 8, Mental 30 and Playtime 15.

[namida]

Can strike one off the list here:

> Documenting the VGASPEC format on the website

This has now been done. This means that information on all file formats used by NeoLemmix is now available on the website (except for the save file and the encryption scheme, I don't plan to document those. And, of course, general file formats such as OGG aren't explained there either).

I've also removed a few from the list that I don't see myself as likely to do, either due to difficulty of implementing them or lack of usefulness for them.

[Wafflem]

Saw the pre-screen / post-screen texts; great job! This is something that also would have worked very well with Lemmings Plus III, Holiday Lemmings Plus and Lemmings Plus Flashbacks.

NeoLemmix:

• The locked exit should make an opening sound when all buttons are pressed. Perhaps the same sound as the opening trapdoor?
• Is there a way to display your score while playing a level? I'm thinking that this can be done by pressing a button on the keyboard, which will then display the score by replacing the Out/In and Timer parts?
• The Xmas style needs the slowfreeze object (and maybe the one-way arrows).
• Should the styles from Lemmings 2: The Tribes and All New World of Lemmings also be included, since I believe there are levels out there that use these styles (like Lemmini)? This should be possible since 32-color and full-color graphic sets are now supported.

LPII Neo:
I know that this isn't the official version of LPII, but should Cheeky 8 be moved to a later rank? I'm thinking it should be Cheeky 8 --> Genius 16 --> Cunning 19 --> Cheeky 8.

NeoCustLemmix:
Since the New Skills Tutorial Pack can only be accessed if there are no existing levelpacks, there should be something like an "erase to default" button to be able to play the NeoLemmix Tutorial Pack.

[namida]

NeoLemmix:
- Locked Exit sound: Not a bad idea. I'll make a note of this.
- Display Score: The main problem with this is that the score isn't finalised until the end of the level; there's also the fact that it counts down instead of up (ie: you start at the maximum possible, and lose points based on various factors). In particular, points lost for unsaved lemmings are not applied until the level ends.
- Xmas Style: I don't plan to make any further modifications to existing styles, except to fix issues (such as the graphical fix for the Desert style in V1.26n-C).
- L2 / L3 Styles: I'm not going to port them; but if someone else does, I'm happy to include them by default with the editor / Cust / Flexi.

LPII Neo:
- I'm not making any changes to the level ordering. I don't want different orders between the Traditional and Neo versions, and while I do agree Cheeky 8 should've been in a later position (though my preference would be a direct swap with Cunning 19, leaving Genius 16 where it is), LPII has been around far too long to start making those kind of changes now.

NeoCustLemmix:
- You can point it to a level pack that doesn't exist, or to an actual DAT pack of the tutorial levels. There's a copy of the tutorial pack included with it in the DropBox download links; I'll add a download of it to the website too.


EDIT: Regarding preview/postview texts; I've added quite a few of them to the NeoLemmix update stream versions of LPII, LPIIB, LPIII and LPIIIB. There's also two of them in Orig as well (not including the Congrats screen).

[Wafflem]

There seems to be a glitch in Test Mode the Lab style.

I've placed the one way arrows on a wall, but when I play in Test mode, they seem to have disappeared.

[namida]

Make sure you click the "One-Way" attribute on the terrain piece info. Only pieces with this flag set will accept one-way walls.

Alternatively, if you choose "One-Way Invert" in the level properties, this is inverted, and only pieces *without* this flag set will accept one-way walls. This is more in line with traditional Lemmings behaviour.

Just for reference; you don't need to set the "Only On Terrain" attribute for one-way walls anymore (though you still can). The player automatically applies that attribute to any one-way walls.