The Lemmings The Ports Book

607 · January 27, 2018, 03:54:11 PM

Hello, I just found out about this book.
There is a topic about it here, but I didn't want to bump it: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=1863.0
I can't find it anywhere online; it seems the webstore that sold it is gone completely. Does anyone know if there is any way to get this book? I think I'd really like it!

Flopsy · January 28, 2018, 01:54:11 AM

It's sad that this book went out of print so quickly.

I bought it from Amazon UK for £34.99 a year ago but it's unavailable now.

I don't understand why the webstore has disappeared, because they were selling PDF copies of the book for about £10, they could have carried on selling that.
Perhaps Castle Books no longer has the license to sell the book anymore.

If you manage to find this book anywhere, definitely pick it up. I've got a copy of the book and I don't regret the high price I paid for it.

Leo · January 28, 2018, 03:36:02 AM

PDF is not on sale anymore because only insane man would want to pay 10£ for it, when author himself gave the book for free to everybody (before over a year now).

607 · January 30, 2018, 03:34:52 PM

It's a shame. :/

I might pay £10 for it, but I'd prefer a physical copy, to exhibit and look at.

Leo · January 31, 2018, 04:37:45 AM

You might pay for what? Physical book or PDF? Or you want the physical book for 10 pounds? It wasn't 10, as Flopys said, it was 35.

And, by the way, Flopsy, you didn't bought it a year ago (unless you've bought it twice, but I doubt that). In your post (23 may 2015) you said, "I purchased this book this week". So, it's about 2 years and 8 months now (yes, I know, time flies, it does't look so long ago).

Flopsy · January 31, 2018, 08:10:31 AM

Quote from: Leo on January 31, 2018, 04:37:45 AM
You might pay for what? Physical book or PDF? Or you want the physical book for 10 pounds? It wasn't 10, as Flopys said, it was 35.

And, by the way, Flopsy, you didn't bought it a year ago (unless you've bought it twice, but I doubt that). In your post (23 may 2015) you said, "I purchased this book this week". So, it's about 2 years and 8 months now (yes, I know, time flies, it does't look so long ago).

Well with everything that's happened to me recently, it feels like a year ago.

That was when I purchased the book, so it is more like 3 years ago.

How come the author was giving the book away for free as well?

OT: This book can't have sold much because it doesn't even pop up on eBay so it is going to be truly a collectors item now it seems

In the original topic, I do have a video on my channel where I have a flick through it and show off a few of the pages and the general layout of the book.

Leo · January 31, 2018, 09:24:26 AM

It was on 11. December 2016. He said it is a Christmas gift for everybody.
I already posted link to the page with download links for the PDF on previous topic, but here it is once more:
https://cd32covers.blogspot.hr/2016/12/unofficial-cd32-release-more-lemmings.html
There are two versions:
uncompressed 418MB
and compressed 48MB
Also, as I already said, there are some mistakes in the book. For example, he claims in the book that Atari ST version of the original game doesn't have intro animation. As we can see here it's not the truth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D0i8CyoKT0
But, Jay is not here on the forum anymore, so I suppose he don't want to be bothered with such details about his book.

And yes, I saw your video where you showing the book. It is nice to see how it looks 'for real'. It was a good idea to put that video on Youtube.
I suppose, there were not many books printed at all. And if all are sold out, what is the point of trying to sell more? Maybe he should make the second edition, but how much interest would be for that book, and how complicated is to do the whole thing again, I don't know.

lemfan101 · January 31, 2018, 10:40:56 AM

This is a great book!Thanks for sharing it.

Nihilist Comedy Hour · February 05, 2018, 01:43:24 AM

0/10 Missing Satellaview port.

(joking by the way)

jaycee900 · February 07, 2018, 10:39:54 AM

Hi all, i am the author of the Lemmings book in question.

A couple of things to answer.

1) Yes the paperback edition was retired a while back after sales dried up after the first year on sale, also i had a couple of people state i said it was a limited edition, so in respect to those i took it off sale to keep it at that so any future sales would be digital only.

2) Yes i gave the PDF version away free from Christmas 2016, its available from:
https://jaysretro.blogspot.co.uk/p/books.html
https://issuu.com/amigajay/docs/lemmings_the_ports_compressed_pdf_v

3) Sales wise its was very underwhelming which is why i cancelled the original Kickstarter as i had very low feedback before it went live, for those interested, the paperback version only sold 50 copies, plus 6 copies i had personally made to sell from different sources, so yes its a nice collectors item for those who managed to get a copy, i also originally sold it with a matt cover but changed to a gloss one, from memory there should be more gloss covers than matt, also the PDF version sold 38 copies, so yeah very low numbers for 2 years and alot of man hours work.

4) I understand there are a few errors in the book, its not that i dont want to address these, its the whole project took alot out of me mentally i didnt want to return to it for quite a while! But i feel the time is maybe right to fix and update some errors, please feel free to make a list!

I think thats it for now, again many thanks to those who bought a copy originally, it was appreciated at the time!

Ron_Stard · February 07, 2018, 02:15:53 PM

Quote from: jaycee900 on February 07, 2018, 10:39:54 AM
Hi all, i am the author of the Lemmings book in question.

A couple of things to answer.

1) Yes the paperback edition was retired a while back after sales dried up after the first year on sale, also i had a couple of people state i said it was a limited edition, so in respect to those i took it off sale to keep it at that so any future sales would be digital only.

2) Yes i gave the PDF version away free from Christmas 2016, its available from:
https://jaysretro.blogspot.co.uk/p/books.html
https://issuu.com/amigajay/docs/lemmings_the_ports_compressed_pdf_v

3) Sales wise its was very underwhelming which is why i cancelled the original Kickstarter as i had very low feedback before it went live, for those interested, the paperback version only sold 50 copies, plus 6 copies i had personally made to sell from different sources, so yes its a nice collectors item for those who managed to get a copy, i also originally sold it with a matt cover but changed to a gloss one, from memory there should be more gloss covers than matt, also the PDF version sold 38 copies, so yeah very low numbers for 2 years and alot of man hours work.

4) I understand there are a few errors in the book, its not that i dont want to address these, its the whole project took alot out of me mentally i didnt want to return to it for quite a while! But i feel the time is maybe right to fix and update some errors, please feel free to make a list!

I think thats it for now, again many thanks to those who bought a copy originally, it was appreciated at the time!

I bought the PDF version back in the day. Your book is very complete and well designed. It's a pity it didn't sell many copies.

Leo · February 20, 2018, 03:44:49 PM

As I said, there are lots of mistakes. Certainly, I can't find all. But, here are some of them, and some suggestions/questions (e.g. Why 'New Year Lemmings' game is not mentioned?). Numbers at the start of the lines are page numbers.

17 doesn't mentioned intro in ST version
41 4 pictures from the game (Amiga) in 320x256, should be in 640x200
example how it should be is on the page 250 'X-mas 91 Amiga' and 254 'X-mas 92 Amiga'
43 there is ST version with intro, has 2 disks version, and all 120 levels
45 PC doesn't have 100 lemmings (only 80 max) CD-ROM version is not the same as the floppy version it has CD audio tracks (although version without CD audio also exist), control is also with joy/keyboard
51 CDTV pictures not in 640x200, game doesn't have normal scroll, just fast scroll (used with right mouse button on the Amiga) RMB here is used for some kind of pause (time and animation are not on hold, just the lemmings, suppose this is added to make easier with joypad control)
59 Mac B/W version is included with color version, automatically will run B/W and lover resolution if machine can't run color version
73 FM Towns doesn't have 100 lemmings (only 80), it's more similar to
PC than Amiga version
79 C64 doesn't have 100 lemmings (max 50, in Taxing level 23)
83 CD32 again, not in 640x200
89 Windows version only 80 lemmings not 100,
Fast Forward in not useless, it works normally if PC is not too fast, music is midi, of course it's not the same as the DOS version, it depends on audio card instruments, it's not mentioned that some levels are missing in this version
119 Oh no Amiga pictures not in 640x200
123 Oh no PC not 100 only 80 lemmings, there is CD-ROM version with CD audio but it plays tunes from the original game
125 Oh no Mac B/W version included with color version
127 Oh no Archimedes music - songs are different
131 Oh no Windows not 100 lemmings only 80, not mentioned some levels are missing
153 Lemm 2 Amiga also needs more memory (chip memory exactly) for the full sound effects
155 Lemm2 ST doesn't have intro, but original Lemmings has
157 Lemm2 PC doesn't have the same graphics as Amiga, it's enhanced, controls also with joystick
159 Lemm2 SNES doesn't have the same tunes as the Amiga (only Amiga, PC and ST has the same tunes), many levels are changed, resolution is lower, and has graphics speech effects and snow effect on Polar tribe
161 Lemm2 Megadrive, tunes are changed but only Amiga, PC and ST has the same tunes, some levels are changed, Skier skill is not included, there is mouse support
163 Lemm2 GB doesn't have all the skills, but also have some new skills, many levels are changed
165 Lemm2 Archimedes it's not the only version that requires extra memory for the sound (Amiga also requires), has 10 tunes for Classic tribe
167 Lemm2 FM Towns graphically most similar to the PC, tunes are not somewhat different - completely different
169 Mobile phone version is not "Lemmings 2", it's "Lemmings tribes" completely different game
177 Holiday 93 Amiga resolution of the pictures should be 640x200
179 Holiday 93 PC not 100 only 80 lemmings
207 Holiday 94 Amiga resolution 640x200
209 Holiday 94 PC not 100 only 80 lemmings
221 3D Lemmings PC also keyboard support
248 X-mas 91 Amiga/PC levels 1 and 2 the same, levels 3 and 4 are different
251 X-mas 91 PC not 100 only 80 lemmings, joy/key support
255 X-mas 92 PC not 100 only 80 lemmings, joy/key support
259 3D Lemmings Winterland keyboard support
261 Covox PC not 100 lemmings only 80
267 Prima PC not 100 lemmings only 80
268 skill bar resolution of Amiga should be 640 not 320
New Year Lemmings Amiga is not mentioned
OS/2 version (demo) is not mentioned
also some other demo versions are not mentioned, e.g. Lemm2 Amiga and Lemm2 PC both have some 'new' levels and 'User' skill

jaycee900 · February 21, 2018, 05:12:11 PM

Thanks for some of the mistakes and omissions, as im sure you can imagine it was a monumental task to gather everything and undoubtedly i was going to miss some bits.

Regarding the screenshots, as much as i'd like to be perfect, these dont bother me so much and will require more work than i feel addressing to the project, so just grammer and information mistakes and omissons will be addressed when i find time.

I didnt add New Year Lemmings as i wanted to include just ports based on the official games and not hacks as such.
OS/2 demo is mentioned on page 272.

LJLPM · February 21, 2018, 10:16:44 PM

already said in the original topic... but I really enjoy reading your book! Excellent job!!!!!!!!

I would buy a revised version, with no hesitation.

Leo · February 22, 2018, 05:26:44 PM

Oh yes, my mistake OS/2 demo is in the book, but not on the page 272. It's on 274.

Amiga screenshots can be easily captured from the emulator. I can do it if you want. Of course, I can't capture exactly the same moment, but something similar... I can.
As I tried to explain here:
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=1868.msg46992#msg46992
Amiga version doesn't work in 320x200. It's much complicated. But, screenshot will be correct, if it is captured in 640x400 (or 640x512 to simulate PAL screen). If it is shown in 320x200, skill icons and mini map are degraded and this unique Amiga feature is neglected.

Gather everything about the Lemmings in one book is task I wouldn't even dare to think about. I really admire you for this work. My intention wasn't to criticize. I just wanted to help. But, as I already said, I am not familiar with all that ports enough to check them all. It would be nice if other people want to help with their knowledge about the games and check as much as they can. Unfortunately, I don't see much interest.