[ALT-FIX][BUG][Editor] Pick-up skill types are automatically added to the skillpanel

[IchoTolot]

So I've used this little workaround for quite a few situations where I needed more than 8 skills: Simply adding some needed permanent skills to pre-placed Lemmings -- therefore not needing the skill panel slot.

But I marked the pre-assigned skills with unreachable pick-up skills and that's causing problems now in the new format:

- Let's say I've got 8 needed skills for a level that are activated in the editor for the skillpanel -- the floater is not one of them.

- I used a pre-placed floater in that level and marked the pre-assignment with an unreachable pick-up skill.

- This pick-up skill is automatically added to the skill-panel now, replacing an actual needed skill --- regardless if I have deactivated the floater in the skillpanel and the slot will forever be empty!

This seems to be a case where the program wants to be smarter than me and failing to do so. Only skills that the author activates shall be added to the skillpanel!

My proposed solution: Only adding actually activated skills in the editor to the skillpanel, regardless if a pick-up skill with a deactivated skill appears in the level.

EDIT: Also cases where this breaks a level is usually not covered by the mass replay checker unless the converted level was loaded and saved in the new editor -- then it seems to be covered in the report.

[IchoTolot]

Investigating a bit more: It seems like the activation marker has been removed overall in the editor, so that skills cannot have a 0 count at all unless a pick-up skill is there --> pick-up serves as the activator.

I still would recommend readding the basic skill activation in the editor as it's no additional hassle for creators to check a box.

Otherwise situations like these can't be reliably indicated with markers anymore and the players are left guessing what skills the pre-placed Lemmings have --> they are forced to use the hotkey for displaying permanent skills for clearence. And I think the overall goal is still to provide those informations for free.

The markers for pre-assigned hatches are nice, but they can't solve the issue for pre placers. There we still need the pick-up markers -- or the game needs to do something like to display the hatch markers for pre placers in the starting phase of the level.

Automatically getting empty skill slots in the panel, blocking and filling the places there, for your markers ist just not good at all. Only the creator shall control which skills are in the panel!

[Nepster]

I disagree with several of your points:
1) You misused the pickup skills as markers for pre-placed lemmings. So I don't consider myself responsible to keep such levels functional.
2) Activations of skills has one huge problem: If someone reaches a pickup skill of a non-activated skill, the really should get this skill, but if the level designers disabled the skill, this does not happen.
3) That this problem isn't recognized by the mass replay checked is the real problem here and a bug. Actually when converting levels, this should already be checked.

I am open to suggestions how to solve this, but getting back to manually activating skills is not the way to go.

[IchoTolot]

I am open to suggestions how to solve this, but getting back to manually activating skills is not the way to go.

There only needs to be a workaround for pre-placed lems to inform the players more easily on what skills they already have, as hatches with pre-assigned skills already seem to be covered.

...or the game needs to do something like to display the hatch markers for pre placers in the starting phase of the level.

maybe this could work.

[Nepster]

...or the game needs to do something like to display the hatch markers for pre placers in the starting phase of the level.

At first I hesitated, because the code structure seemed not to support such time-dependant marker very well. But it might actually be easier to implement than I first thought. We will see...

[Nepster]

Ok, I managed to implement that: Now preplaced lemmings display their skills during the first two seconds of the game.