Pickup skills should completely disappear when picked up? [SUGGESTION] [PLAYER]

[Wafflem]

So I'm playing through Minim's PS3 remakes pack and one small detail that I liked about the pickup skills that Minim added - when you pick them up, the pickup skill itself completely disappears, much like in the PS3 version. This is different from how pickup skills behave in NeoLemmix - when a lemming picks up the skill, only the picture of the skill disappears, leaving a blank circle.

I feel I prefer the pickup skill completely disappearing upon pickup; it minimizes distraction, and the blank circle becomes a stand-out distraction. As I understand it, namida wants the pickup skill graphic to be consistent across all sets in a future NeoLemmix update, so I'm wondering if the pickup-skill-completely-disappearing-on-pickup should be taken into consideration.

[Minim]

It's interesting that you mentioned this, because when I uploaded the graphic sets I added the blank circle back. Primarily because while I was creating them every time I needed a pickup skill icon I found it hard to find in the objects menu with the circle not appearing on the first frame. AFAIK the NeoLemmix editor is only able to display the first frame of each object, unlike the old LemEdit that show every frame continuously. That IMO will need to be fixed if we go ahead with this idea, ideally by showing a different frame.

So yeah, I like this idea myself, but a little blank square is not easy to find on the level editor.

[namida]

I'm open to this if enough people want this change. One of the reasons for the current system is so that the user can see where the pickup skills were just by looking at the level (indeed though, in a level with lots of them, this provides no information about what they were, so may not be any more helpful).

[Ben H]

I would prefer them to completely disappear once they have been picked up.

[IchoTolot]

There could be one problem I can see with this:  If you are solving a level and you picked-up some skills, you cannot see your progression for overthinking your actions that easily anymore as the locations for your picked up skills arent there anymore.

[Colorful Arty]

I am completely in favor of pickup skills disappearing after you collect them.

[Flopsy]

I too am in favor of them disappearing, that's how it was in PS3 Lemmings and that is where I first encountered pick up skills.

[namida]

It seems we have a strong preference towards them disappearing.

Just wondering, for those who prefer it - how do you feel about this claim?

One of the reasons for the current system is so that the user can see where the pickup skills were just by looking at the level (indeed though, in a level with lots of them, this provides no information about what they were, so may not be any more helpful).

There could be one problem I can see with this:  If you are solving a level and you picked-up some skills, you cannot see your progression for overthinking your actions that easily anymore as the locations for your picked up skills arent there anymore.

(Both are essentially saying the same thing.)

The most likely outcome at this point is that an actual test of the change is conducted, after which I'll see if people still feel the same way, and if they do, make the change permanent.

[Nepster]

One of the reasons for the current system is so that the user can see where the pickup skills were just by looking at the level [...].

Precisely this concern was my very first thought when reading the topic title. I stongly agree with namida, that we should test this first before making a final decision.

[bsmith]

My biggest annoyance with the current setup for pickup skills is that they are completely opaque, even after being picked up.  I prefer Minim's blank-out when picked up, but that only works when the pickup skills are in open blank space.

What I would want to see is once a pickup skill is picked up that it is replaced with an open circle, transparent in the middle to show what was behind the skill.

[namida]

Okay, here's a way you can try out the various alternatives.

Using the latest experimental version, put all relevant files in. "<NeoLemmix folder>/styles/pieces/default/objects".

For bsmith's suggestion
Use the first "pickup.png" file; leave "pickup_mask_border.png" unmodified from default.

For the original suggestion
Use the second "pickup.png" file and the "pickup_mask_border.png" file.

[Wafflem]

I myself agree with the concern about not know where the pickup skills are anymore after picking them up, this is what I thought after posting this topic.

The transparent open circle idea could work; it can still be distracting, but not as distracting as the translucent blank circle. But we'll see what other people think.

[Ben H]

It seems we have a strong preference towards them disappearing.

Just wondering, for those who prefer it - how do you feel about this claim?

One of the reasons for the current system is so that the user can see where the pickup skills were just by looking at the level (indeed though, in a level with lots of them, this provides no information about what they were, so may not be any more helpful).

There could be one problem I can see with this:  If you are solving a level and you picked-up some skills, you cannot see your progression for overthinking your actions that easily anymore as the locations for your picked up skills arent there anymore.

(Both are essentially saying the same thing.)

The most likely outcome at this point is that an actual test of the change is conducted, after which I'll see if people still feel the same way, and if they do, make the change permanent.

Why do we need to know the location of something we've previously picked up?
We've picked it up already.

[namida]

For if you're looking at what you've done, and trying to see somewhere you can improve. If you can't see there was a pickup skill there, you might wonder "why did I even go there", especially in levels with lots of them.

[Dullstar]

Would an option for this work?