Experimental NeoLemmix player - Pack conversion available!

[Nepster]

New-Formats NeoLemmix Player - Experimenal Release

Download links:
Everything except styles: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5qxxmtdr10t71uk/NeoLemmix_Full_2017-11-28.zip?dl=1
Styles: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hklgf36wqqtfmju/styles_2017-11-28.zip?dl=1
NeoLemmix player: http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=16&exp=1
Editor: http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=17&exp=1
Pack Toolkit: http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=18&exp=1
Graphic Set Tool: http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=19&exp=1
Pack Converter: http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=46
Graphic Style Converter: http://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=45

Components:
1) NeoLemmix player (version 11.15.24): The new-formats player. It can be used from now on, as the file formats are stable starting with this version. It is fully functional, except for the online options (and of course any bugs it might have certainly has). New features include:
- namida's level selection menu, that allows jumping between packs.
- Options and hotkeys can be changed on every page, even when playing a level. Press F3 for this.
- The level selection menu is available from every page, too. Press F2 for this.
- Hatch markers to show preassigned skills. The same appear when moving the cursor over zombies, or in clear-physics mode when moving over a usual lemming.
- Radiation, Slowfreeze and anti-splat pads removed from the game.
- Time limits are now displayed in red, instead of the usual green.
- Updated options menu with far less hardly used options.
- The hotkey for the talisman menu is now F4, no longer F6.
2) Various helper files: The new-formats version reads a lot of info from external files, which are included as well.
3) NL Editor (version 1.5): A new editor for new-formats NeoLemmix levels.
4) Pack Toolkit (version 1.2): A tool to create and modify level packs for the new-formats version. It offers not yet all the options the player supports, so if you are missing something, please tell me.
5) Graphic Style Tool (version 1.0): A tool to create and modify graphic styles in the new-formats version.
6) Pack Converter: A tool to convert your old level packs automatically and (almost) completely to the new-formats version. Please see the next post for more details.
7) Graphic Style Converter: A tool to convert your old graphic styles to the new-formats. For details, please see the conversion topic.

Installation:
- Create a completely new directory and extract the file "NeoLemmix.zip" from the first download link into this new directory.
- Extract the file "styles.zip" into the same folder. You should now find a subfolder called "styles" containing all currently available graphic styles for the new-formats. Warning: Due to the large number of files, extracting this zip file may take a while.

Further advise:
- If you want to retain your options from V11.13.XX, copy the file "NeoLemmix147Settings.ini" into the same folder, where the new NeoLemmix.exe is located. This has to be done before starting the NeoLemmix.exe for the first time!. If you then start NeoLemmix with this file present, then it will read the options from this file, and save it in the subfolder "settings". Afterwards you can again delete the file "NeoLemmix147Settings.ini".
- If you want to retain your hotkeys, do the same but with the file "NeoLemmixHotkeys.ini".
- I do not guarantee that previous new-formats versions (up to any version 11.14.19) will work correctly or are compatible in any way with any of the other tools. There have been a few slight changes to the file formats in the meantime.
- I strongly encourage to delete any previously downloaded new-formats styles. Even the styles you got from the general download in the graphic set conversion topic contained a few bugs, that I fixed now!

[Nepster]

Conversion of existing level packs

1) Download the newest new-formats version:
You get it from the links in the post above. And of course install them... Check that the file "NXPConverter.exe" is present in the same folder than the "NeoLemmix.exe" file.

2) Check for converted graphic sets:
Before you can even start converting your pack, all used graphic styles have to be present, including the ones that are contained in your level pack (and this includes any VGASpecs!). If even one of these styles is missing, then the NXPConverter will silently crash!
So what to do, if some style is missing?
- If it is one of standard styles released here on the forums (probably creates by someone else), then you cannot do anything at the moment. Please wait until an official conversion of the style is available, i.e. one that I post in this thread.
- If it is one specifically made for your pack, then convert the style yourself, see the graphic set conversion topic for instructions. However please make sure to rename your style to "special" and rename all of your pieces to "[nickname]_[piece name]". The reason for this is, that the "special" style is there to collect all single graphics that are not part of a big style, as we don't want to get thousands of almost empty style folders each containing a few VGASpecs. So the "special" style is a free-for-all folder, where we should try to avoid naming collisions, which is most easily done by adding nicknames to every piece.

3) Use the NXPConverter.exe:
If you are sure that you have all graphic styles, then drag your level pack file (the one ending with ".nxp") onto the file "NXPConverter.exe". Due to recent problems of Flopsy, I recommend first copying the pack file to the same folder where the converter is, and then dragging it from there onto the converter file.
This should start a console window and some general info should be displayed. Press enter here, and the conversion process will start. The console window will list all already converted levels while working. When it is finished, a success message should appear. Press enter again and the console window will close.
You will now find your converted level pack in the subfolder "levels" in a subsubfolder having the same name as your level pack.

4) Check whether all levels look correctly:
Although all style designers and I myself have been careful with the conversion process, some bugs might have been introduced in the translation tables. Usually this takes the form of one specific piece always being shifted by a few pixels or it being replaced by a completely different piece. In that case, please notify me of this bug and I will post a fix.
Depending on the severeness of the problem, it might be wise to wait for the fix and then reconvert the whole pack.

5) Check all levels with radiation, slowfreeze or anti-splat pad objects:
In the first two cases, you will probably have to modify the level in order to keep it solvable or backroute-free. In the case of anti-splat pads you just have to check that the updraft replacing this object works as intended.

6) Check for missing custom sprites:
The pack converter will handle the most frequent custom sprites automatically, including the logo and the rank sprites. But it most likely will not handle custom lemmings sprites. There is an easy way to fix this: Look whether the new pack toolkit already supports these custom sprites, and bug me if they are missing.

7) Check for missing background images:
There have been problems with converting background images (not moving background objects), so please check whether they are still set in your levels. If not, you have to set them again with the level editor.

8) Check talisman descriptions:
The new-formats version automatically creates the talisman descriptions for you, so you don't have to type in "Solve MadRank 42 with only 3 fencers". It still supports titles for talismans, in case you want to give them unique names like "Award bee!".
As the pack converter cannot distinguish between these two types of names, it will simply use the exiting description as a title, which may not be what you actually want. So better check this. Btw. it is totally fine to keep the title empty; the NeoLemmix player will then simply ignore this line.

9) Check music files:
As the new-formats now drops the support for music packs completely, all your music files have to be placed in the folder "music" and have to be in one of the supported music formats (.ogg, .mp3, .it and others). As with pieces in the style folder "special", this has the potential problem of multiple packs using different tunes of the same name. We should try to avoid this, so please use descirptive names! "Nepster_Final.ogg" is fine, "Beethoven_Symph7_2.mp3" is fine, but just "final.ogg" or "fire.mp3" are better to be avoided.

Conversion of single levels

While the NeoLemmix player and the NL Editor can still read old level files, this is only a good method if you have only a few levels to update.
If you have several dozens of levels (probably due to a yet unfinished pack), then I would suggest creating a pack with just one rank containing all your levels, using the old Flexi Toolkit. As this pack is just for conversion purposes, you won't have to set any of the other pack options. Then apply the conversion process as described above and you'll get all your levels in the proper new text-based file format.

[Nepster]

List of already updated level packs:
- Nepster: NepsterLems, DeceitLemmings

[Nepster]

Just a brief heads-up: There is a bug either in the player itself or in some lemmings animation, that prevents playing any level. I am currently working on it...

EDIT: Found the bug. To fix this, download the attached Hotfix.zip and extract it in your NeoLemmix folder. It should add one sprite and replace the scheme.nxmi in the default style.

EDIT2: The download content is now fixed, too. So everyone who downloaded after reading this second message resp. after 2017-9-23, 18:40UTC doesn't need the hotfix attached to this post.

[Nepster]

Attached a slightly improved version of the NXPConverter:
- If the previous one works fine, then there is no need to replace it.
- If an error occurs, then the attached version presents you with more info about what went wrong, instead of just crashing.

[Nepster]

2017-09-28: Graphic style update

A lot of new graphic styles have been converted and some errors have been fixed.
To upgrade from the previous release 2017-09-23, please extract the attached zip file into your NeoLemmix folder. Integrate all folders and allow replacing all single files contained in the upgrade.
For a completely new download, plese see the first post. The download links there provide the most recent style version, etc.

ChangeLog:
- Fixed error in l2_shadow: exit top is now removed from the levels.
- Fixed error in gronkling_beast: The waterfall object can now be resized vertically.
- Added sound file for the l2_space teleporter.
- Added new styles: flopsy_scrapbrain, flopsy_starlight, gigalem_battalio, gigalem_dragon, gigalem_dread, gigalem_fortune, matt_marble and proxima_tile.
- Added Flopsy's additions to namida_honeycomb. Added translation file for honeycomb_mod.
- Added two special graphics by IchoTolot.

WARNING: I removed lots of duplicated pieces from GigaLem's styles, including several that were exact mirrors of others. This means that converted levels will probably look somewhat different, because some pieces have to be interted or flipped again.
Sorry about that, but given the low number of existing levels that make use of these styles and the huge number of pieces in the original styles (usually about 200-300), I felt that the advantage of a faster piece selection in the editor (and less confusion where to find some piece) outweights the conversion problems.

[Nepster]

IchoTolot found some bugs:
- Christmas lemmings are not working, due to the same bug that was fixed by the hot-fix for the default style.
- Most of the indexes of the City style are off by one.
And Raymanni notified me of the following bug:
- The NeoLemmix player will not read in correctly when a preplaced lemming is a blocker. So there is currently no way to see preplaced blockers in the player

They will be fixed in the next update.

[Nepster]

One more bug: All translation tables have the wrong indexes for background images, so none of them is preserved.

[Nepster]

2017-10-01: Player, editor and style update

To upgrade from the previous release 2017-09-28, please extract the attached zip file into your NeoLemmix folder. Integrate all folders and allow replacing all single files contained in the upgrade.
For a completely new download, plese see the first post. The download links there provide the most recent versions.

ChangeLog:
- NeoLemmix player version 11.15.21:
  - Fixed bug: If edge scrolling was disabled, then hold-to-scroll didn't work either. No further changes to hold-to-scroll yet.
  - Fixed bug: Cap number of different skills at 8. All further skills are ignored.
  - Fixed bug: Player now ready preplaced blockers correctly from level files.
- Editor version 1.1: see the editor topic for the detailed changes.
- Styles:
  - Fixed translation tables, so that they convert backgrounds properly now.
  - Added new style jarv156_future.
  - Included Raymanni's sounds.
  - Fixed custom christmas lemmings sprites.
  - Fixed indexes in the City style.
  - Replaced the l2_egyptian object "staff" with its new animation.

[Nepster]

2017-10-12: Player, editor and style update

To upgrade from the previous release 2017-10-01, please extract the attached zip file into your NeoLemmix folder. Integrate all folders and allow replacing all single files contained in the upgrade.
For a completely new download, plese see the first post. The download links there provide the most recent versions.

ChangeLog:
- NeoLemmix player version 11.15.22:
  - Added music four the four special levels in L1.
  - If zooming in, the window centeres around the cursor. When zooming out, the center of the screen is still kept and the cursor ignored.
  - Fixed bug: Release-rate changes are now loaded properly in the player.
  - F2 and F3 only open the menus while playing a level, if the player has not chosen another function for them. In all other menus F2 and F3 works as before.
- Editor version 1.2: See the editor topic for the detailed changes.
- Styles:
  - Added Minim's styles Dark and Factory (converted by Nessy)
  - Added GigaLem's styles Ghz, Glacier, Hideout, Jade and Lagoon
  - Fixed colors of one-way-arrows in the xmas style.
  - Fixed tranlation table for xmas style to adapt to cropped snow pieces.

[IchoTolot]

Ok, all my standard packs are working now + replays (Reunion, DoveLems and PimoLems conversions). Will only need to make the adjustments I have already planned to some of the levels over the next time before releasing a new formats version to the public.

Also my NepsterLems replays are all functional as well.

Will most likely try and convert my United custom levels over the next days and see if any more errors come up during that conversion. As they use the new skills and objects and more custom sets (mostly L2+3, Gronkling, zanzindorf and namida), I bet I'll find something there not working as intended as well.

But I found one more little bug in the pack selection: If you select a pack (not a rank or level) you have already beaten (green checker) in the level selection screen, it will show the standard pack graphics in the main menu + "rank sign not found" signs. Intended would be to show the normal menu in the style of the selected pack.
Also, if all packs are beaten the standard pack graphics + "rank sign not found" signs will become the standard starting pack.
If you try to play when this standard pack is active, you'll get a nice little access violation crash error.    You first need to specificly select a level and quit that to get a normal menu screen again.

[Nepster]

But I found one more little bug in the pack selection: [...]

The game tries to choose the first unsolved levels. I guess that if everything is solved, this function gives buggy results. Will look into it.

[IchoTolot]

Was trying to convert my United custom level stuff and indeed while converting the nxp an error occured, but this one could be rather simple:

An error occured while loading a new level:
Error loading the level: Could not find object piece: gronkling_beast:o7

On the first Gronkling_beastII (or gronkling_beast in the new formats version) level encountered this error happened. I think this should only be a reference error in the translation tableor so.

Investigation in the old GST: O7 is the exit top, so this should be another exit top merge error.

When this is fixed, I will contiue trying the conversion progress and search for more bugs.

[Nepster]

Both bugs found by IchoTolot will be fixed in the next update. Their cause was exactly what I expected it to be.

[namida]

Just working on converting my packs to the new formats now, and I notice some of the translation tables (specifically those for Desert and Psychedelic) incorrectly reference "namidai_xxxx" instead of "namida_xxxx" in the object sections. This causes levels using the affected objects (Desert radiation and Psychedelic teleporter / receiver) to not load / convert correctly.

In the styles, specifically LPV Honeycomb, there are issues with the "Zombee" object. You may want to double-check the object is included and that it's got correct translation table data (by the time I thought to mention this here, I'd already fixed it in my copy. I don't know if any levels outside of LPO2 have actually used that object, though.)

I'm also wondering why the term "Exploder" rather than the more-common "Bomber" is used in the editor?