How to play Lemmings (1991) on a modern PC

[Simon]

Thanks! This weekend, I'll edit the first post, and it's a good idea to mention SNES emulators with SNES Lemmings 1. I'll then also link to your mouse support, it sounds like excellent quality-of-life for SNES emulation.

-- Simon

[CrystalCore]

See also:
How to play and create custom levels
List of Lemmings engines (2013)

Running original Lemmings from 1991 on a modern PC isn't as simple as grabbing a copy of the game and double-clicking the EXE file. It was for DOS and Amiga, but modern Windows has no support for these. Even Lemmings for Windows 95 won't run without problems....

If you're looking for another way to play it via DOS:

https://dosbox-staging.github.io/

https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/wiki/Game-issues#lemmings-1991

https://discord.gg/WwAg3Xf is Dosbox-Staging's Discord chat channel.

[Simon]

Thanks! I didn't know about Dosbox Staging. You have extensive documentation; I haven't tried any of it but it looks excellent already. I'll add your links to OP these days.

-- Simon

[jkapp76]

I agree with Crystal Core. DosBox Staging is miles ahead of the standard DOSBox. It has a documents folder inside with all the instructions.

[CrystalCore]

Thanks! I didn't know about Dosbox Staging. You have extensive documentation; I haven't tried any of it but it looks excellent already. I'll add your links to OP these days.

-- Simon

No problem. If you or anyone else on the Lemmings Forums wants to contribute to Dosbox-Staging, don't hesitate to do so within reason:

https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging

The Dosbox-Staging devs also hang out on that Discord link I provided, so if you need live help in the future, go there as well.

The rest of the wiki is at https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/wiki/

[WillLem]

May I request that SuperLemmix be given a spot in the OP? By now, the feature set is solid enough that it easily stands beside the other engines mentioned there, and it's currently-maintained which I'd say affords it a bit more Forum visibility in topics such as these.

I'd also suggest adding the various options for Amiga emulation, which (whilst not free) do offer a generally good user experience for those who want to emulate the Amiga version.

Finally, I'd recommend renaming the "SuperLemminiToo" section to "Lemmini Series" or similar.

Here are the suggested entries, please feel free to make any necessary changes:



SuperLemmix

A fork of NeoLemmix tailored towards those who prefer a more traditional gameplay style. The player assist features are still there, but they can be easily deactivated by pressing the "Classic Mode" button. Classic Mode makes it possible to enjoy a more retro Lemmings experience alongside the more modern conveniences that these engines provide.

SuperLemmix ships with the full set of classic DMA levels, unedited and presented in the original Amiga colour scheme. As with NeoLemmix, it's also possible to play custom levels and create your own using the dedicated Level Editor, which has been updated with SLX features and given similar UI upgrades to make it easier and more accessible to use.

SuperLemmix also adds a few new skills (Ballooner, Ladderer, Freezer, Grenader and Spearer) as well as re-introducing the Timebomber as its own skill (alongside instant Bombers). There are plans to add 2 more skills to bring the total up to 28 - get involved in the discussion here!

Physics tweaks include re-implementation of Direct Drop, plus the Shimmier -> Climber overhang transition and Jumper wall bounce from Lemmings 2: The Tribes.

There are also several UI improvements including a Playback Mode for binge-watching replays (or checking your pack for backroutes!), an updated Replay Manager, and larger menu screens with full keyboard support for easier browsing. There are also a number of other bugfixes, tweaks and general spit and polish.

Click here for a full list of the differences between NeoLemmix and SuperLemmix.

Visit the SuperLemmix board for fanmade level packs, discussion and suggestions for development, records tables and more to come - the engine is currently maintained and open for suggestions and bug reports.



Amiga Emulation

There are several options for the Amiga route, but these are not usually free. The Kickstart ROMs are still under licence, and at the time of writing this are only legally available from Cloanto. You can get them as part of the Amiga Forever pack, or with a bit of effort you can get hold of the Amiga Forever Essentials for Android set (for less than the price of a cup of coffee!) and copy them to your PC using this method.

The 3 main options for Amiga emulation are:

FS-UAE - free (but you'll need to get kickstart ROMs) - very user-friendly and attractive interface, perfect for those that want a quick plug-and-play experience. It's not as powerful as some of the other Amiga emulation options, but it's more than enough to play all Lemmings games.

Amiga Forever - not free (value edition is €20 at the time of writing) - more than enough to run Lemmings on an emulated system you can customise and build yourself. It's essentially WinUAE packaged in a more user-friendly interface, whilst also providing support from the friendly devs at Cloanto.

WinUAE - free (you'll still need to get those ROMs, though!) - if you just want to play Lemmings, this might not be your best options because it takes some effort to get everything set up and configured properly, but it's an excellent choice for Amiga fans that want a more finely-tailored emulation experience.

There is also RetroArch, which is a free and open source frontend for emulation of many retro consoles including Amiga. Get the Kickstart ROMs and a copy of the Lemmings ADFs and you're good to go; setup is fairly straightforward, and RetroArch offers many customisation options.

All of these options offer save states, current support, and other mod cons.

[AsahiNyan]

would just like to add to the amiga emulator section, there is a FOSS amiga emulator called fs-uae its avaliable on pretty much any OS and comes with free remakes of the kickstart roms but if you have the original roms you can add them too.

[Simon]

Happy to add SuperLemmix, but WillLem, your section is too long. Can you cut it to half the size? E.g., to play L1 levels in a remake, we don't need to know about new skills. Or can you hide some parts behind spoilers? Why should a newbie pick SuperLemmix over SuperLemmini? Over NL? What do I have to install? Link directly to the download (or to the page with the download). Minimal extra steps, assume user wants to play L1 (or the remade L1 levels) and nothing else.

Thanks to both of you for the Amiga resources. Yes, if we point to DOS and SNES emulation, we should point to Amiga emulation, too.

I think all of this warrants splitting the OP into two new topics, (1) emulation and (2) remakes, and link from this OP into those two new topics. (Edit 2024-06-15: I don't think that the topic should be split anymore.) I'll get to all of these things over the next days.

-- Simon

[WillLem]

Happy to add SuperLemmix, but WillLem, your section is too long. Can you cut it to half the size?

Yes, see edited version below.

I think all of this warrants splitting the OP into two new topics, (1) emulation and (2) remakes, and link from this OP into those two new topics.

I'm not sure this is entirely necessary, to be honest. Perhaps they can be grouped using spoiler tags (or, to keep the OP more readable, give each entry its own spoiler tag)? Having everything in one topic is a good idea, it helps users find what they're looking for whilst also promoting the fan-made content. It's how I originally found Lemmini years ago!



SuperLemmix

A fork of NeoLemmix tailored towards those who prefer a more traditional gameplay style. The player assist features are still there, but they can easily be deactivated by pressing the "Classic Mode" button. Classic Mode makes it possible to enjoy a more retro Lemmings experience alongside the more modern conveniences that these engines provide.

SuperLemmix ships with the full set of classic DMA levels, unedited and presented in the original Amiga colour scheme. As with NeoLemmix, it's also possible to play custom levels and create your own using the dedicated Level Editor, which has been updated with SLX features and given similar UI upgrades to make it easier and more accessible to use.

Following in the footsteps of the finely-tuned NeoLemmix whilst reaching further back to the game's original roots, SuperLemmix aims to offer a one-stop package for everything you need to enjoy both classic and modern Lemmings gameplay on the same system, with a rich feature set and clean, accessible UI. Get the latest version here.

Visit the SuperLemmix board for fanmade level packs, discussion and suggestions for development, records tables and more to come. It's more up to date than many of the other options, the engine is currently maintained and open for suggestions and bug reports, and will be for the forseeable future.

[WillLem]

Updated the Amiga section to include FS-UAE as mentioned by paiy, another excellent (and free + kickstart ROMs) choice

[Simon]

Thanks.

I agree that it's good to keep everything on one page. If it's too long, we should shorten the entries instead of splitting the post.

How-to-install shouldn't be hidden behind spoiler tags. Instead, for every engine, how-to-install should become a numbered list. Reason: Picking the easiest-to-install is an excellent heuristic for the newbie. We're onboarding new people; getting the L1 levels to run ASAP is the goal.

The other nice things are secondary to ease of installation. All of the following are interesting and should appear unhidden, but should be succinct: Convenience tools, how close the physics are to DOS/Amiga L1, how popular the engine is, what custom culture it supports.

-- Simon

[Mindless]

Golems

Golems is a clone of DOS Lemmings.  The gameplay is mostly bug-compatible with the original engine and adds fast-forward/fast-backward/framestepping for reduced tedium/frustration in executing solutions.  The Golems game engine is available as a Windows application, but it also runs in your browser, making it the easiest almost-authentic way to play.

You can find the Lemmings/ONML/Xmas levels here.  Just click the game/difficulty (oldest/easiest will be at the bottom) and then click "Play" next to the level.  Also, if you've signed in, the website will keep track of your progress.

For the authentic DOS Lemmings experience, you can also play Lemmings on the Internet Archive via DOSBox in your browser.

[namida]

Maybe we should consider cutting the list down to just a few options:

- Emulation; covering only significant ports. DOS as the most well known one and likely what people are looking for; Amiga as the original; Genesis due to its high quantity of good unique content.
- An "exact" clone; like Lemmix or (if it's far enough along) Golems. I would lean more towards Golems here if it's ready, due to browser-based running making it pretty much cross-platform vs Lemmix being Windows-only.
- A modernized clone that acts as a "gateway drug" into custom content. NeoLemmix is the obvious choice here; the few things SLX offers that NL doesn't that are relevant to replaying the official games (such as timed bombers) are either "there's an option to disable a feature that can also just not be used if the player doesn't want to", or regressions rather than improvements when it comes to the modernized angle. If Lix ever chose to allow official Lemmings content, it would be a stronger contender for this, but sticking to 100% free content is a significant value held by Lix.

A footnote mentioning the existence of other options and perhaps linking to a few of them could be added as well. Debates around the exact features of various engines for custom content should indeed be a seperate topic; this is about people who want to replay the original games.

Something from the Lemmini family would be worth mentioning for cross-platform purposes, but if Golems has that covered...

[WillLem]

Maybe we should consider cutting the list down to just a few options:

So basically, you just don't want SLX to be included in the list, even though it offers the closest experience to playing the original game out of all available clones.

:shrug:

[Silken Healer]

I agree with including SuperLemmix in the list.