NeoLemmix V12.7.0-RC release [V12.7.0-RC6 update]

[namida]

At this point, the target date for V12.7.0 stable is November 9th.

The Release Candidate build for V12.7.0 is now here.

Known bugs / issues

- Update of Milla sprites (most GigaLem / Plom styles)

Matters still under discussion between RC and stable

- Neutral lemmings - do we want a count to be displayed when mousing over?

Download V12.7.0-RC6: https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?id=333
If you have a previous V12.7.0-RC build, please delete the "styles" folder (make sure to back up any WIP styles that aren't in the standard download first!) before extracting this over the top of it.
The download includes the latest (V12.7-ready) editor, as well as the "Style127Fixer" tool which can be used to automate most of the style updating. However - unless you've got unreleased styles, you probably don't need to use this tool - all styles included in the download have already been updated.

If you have a custom hotkey setup you'd like to keep, run the new version once, then copy settings/hotkeys.ini across from your V12.6.5 folder; it's completely compatible with V12.7.0.

Please keep in mind that most content made for V12.7.0 will not be compatible with older releases. The exception is replay files; V12.7.0 replays will work fine with at least V12.6.5 (probably with any new-formats version, or at least any V12.6.X, but I make no guarantees beyond V12.6.5).

What is a Release Candidate build in the context of NeoLemmix?

A release candidate build could be thought of as a pre-release version of an upcoming release. The idea is that except for bugfixes, or issues that were specifically noted as "should be tested during the RC phase before deciding", there won't be changes between it and the stable version, and thus it can be used to start updating content, as well as for ironing out last-minute bugs. Content specifically targetting it should not be released, though styles targetting it can be submitted for the next styles download.

Changelog from V12.6.5

FEATURES
--------
- Custom pickup skill objects are now officially supported, see: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4435.0
- Neutral lemmings (lemmings that can be saved and interact with objects, but cannot be assigned skills except the nuke)
- Zombies always infect any blocker they bounce off, regardless of trigger areas

PHYSICS CHANGES
---------------
- Antisplat pads have been re-added
- If one-way arrows of different directions overlap, they now cancel out instead of creating a combined state
- Skills cannot be assigned to former-ohnoers, even if they revert to a state in which a skill usually could be assigned
- The nuke now affects zombies

FORMATS
-------
- Tweaks have been made to the formats of several files. Backwards compatibility will exist up to and including V12.9.X.

STYLES
------
- All custom pickup skills have been removed, so that they can be re-added with the appropriate V12.7 updates
- All L2 styles use the L2 lemming colors for the respective styles
- Changes to some trigger areas in official styles (default:button, orig_crystal:trap_03, orig_pillar:rope_trap)
- Changes to trigger areas and resizability in various namida styles (these changes were intentionally not included in the V12.6.5 October styles update)
- Default and Xmas now have a new Disarmer sprite
- namida_bridge, namida_basement and namida_garden all have new pickup skill objects
- "orig_dirt_md" has been removed; NeoLemmix will automatically use "orig_dirt" in its place
- xmas:lights is now horizontally resizable

BUGFIXES
--------
- Assigning a skill to a highlit lemming when impossible did not queue the assignment
- Auto-saving of replay was not prevented when playing a level twice in a row
- Clear physics mode color shift sometimes freezes if game is paused
- Cloner-stacker and Cloner-builder skill shadows are sometimes off by one brick
- Fixes to the postview text selection algorithms
- Levels in unordered packs still tried to use rank/position for replay filenames
- Level select menu could still be accessed in test mode via pretext / posttext screens
- NeoLemmix may hang when switching rank from the preview screen under certain conditions
- Several fixes to alpha-blended terrain
- Skill panel icons may use zombie and/or athlete graphics in some cases
- When a specified music file cannot be found and the standard rotation is empty, the previous level's music was reused
- When attempting to assign a new skill on a frame where an assignment already exists, the old assignment got priority

OTHER
-----
- "Cleanse Levels" feature. Press F8 on a pack's title screen to save an up-to-date-format copy of all levels in the pack. (You can create a pack with old-formats, (Super)Lemmini and/or Lemmins levels, and run this on them, to quickly convert them all to up-to-date NXLVs!)
- Color of objects in clear physics mode is now slightly darker
- "No Hotkey Assigned" in preview texts is now "None"
- Skill panel graphics have been moved from "styles/default/panel" to "gfx/panel"

It's possible I've missed some things here.

Editor V1.15 changelog

- Editing of preview / postview texts and talismans is now supported.
- Fixed most (or hopefully, all) incorrect implementation details in saved level files.
- Greatly improved handling of secondary animations.
- Supports the new V12.7.0 versions of formats. Note that this means levels edited with it will NOT be compatible with V12.6.5 or earlier.
- Fixed bug: Editor always thinks levels containing specifically-paired teleporters/receivers haven't been saved.
- Fixed bug: One-way arrows with the "no overwrite" flag are rendered incorrectly.
- Fixed bug: Resizable objects' trigger areas are assumed to be the same size as the object itself.

I will stress again - levels saved in Editor V1.15 or higher will not be compatible with V12.6.5 or earlier. If you intend to release your content before V12.7.0's stable release, please continue using Editor V1.14 for now.

For upgrading content, please refer to the tutorials board posts on Level and Style formats, or to this topic: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4442.0

The included "styles fixer" tool can be put inside a style's base folder and run, to quickly update the styles. This covers text file changes, as well as the "_mask.png" deprecation in lemming sprites.

Please report any bugs you find! One of the two major reasons for the RC build is to avoid the stable build needing several updates (like V12.6.X did). The other of course, is to give creators some time to get their content updated before the stable release hits, with a version that they can be fairly confident will have only the bare minimum necessary changes.

[Strato Incendus]

If we continue to use Editor 1.14 for now, does this mean we should also keep player 12.6.5 to go along with it? As I said before, my conversion of Lemmings World Tour is almost complete, so converting every single level once again, this time to editor 1.15, is not exactly something I'm looking forward to, especially since you're currently advising against it yourself.

I guess you're doing so because you want to avoid people creating levels with editor 1.15 that have no backwards compatibility and then might be incompatible with the stable version 12.7. as well in case further things about the editor change?

[namida]

Basically - anything that works on V12.6.X will work on V12.7.0 (and 12.8.0, and 12.9.0), except for the custom pickup skill objects. However, V12.7.0 content generally won't work with V12.6.X - it's backwards-compatible, but not forwards-compatible. If you prefer, you can continue working on your LWT conversion in V12.6.5 / editor V1.14, then just update the levels to V12.7.0 later - at the latest, during V12.9.X's time, but I would suggest don't put it off to the last minute, especially since this is a very easy task. (For reference - across all my packs combined, I found four broken replays. Two were due to trigger area changes, and two were already-broken replays in unreleased levels that I hadn't picked up on before.)

I'm not at all advising against updating your content - to the contrary, I advise that you do update the content, but just hold off on releasing it until V12.7.0-stable is released (sometime next month, probably more towards the start, all going well). In terms of updating levels, this is very easy - just run them through "Cleanse Levels" (press F8 on title screen, then look in the "Cleanse" folder), run a mass replay test just to be safe, and you should be good to go.

The one thing you'd need to do manually, is restore any anti-splat pads you previously had in your levels and want to put back. Automated tools aren't smart enough to pick up on this, unfortunately. EDIT: And, if you're using custom pickup skill objects that haven't yet been re-created for V12.7.X, you'll need to manually handle the levels that contain them. Likewise, if you want to switch from defaults to custom ones on certain levels (eg. any levels using LPVI styles, as these have had custom pickup skill objects added now), this also needs to be done manually.

[IchoTolot]

Tested my content with the RC: There are a few replays breaking and I don't know the reason.

Were some changes made to L2_Space? Especially with teleporter heavy levels, I have a few assignments suddenly not working anymore.

With the machine tileset: I would love details which changes were made there. You mentioned changes therefore I see why this 1 replay breaks, but details would be nice.

It ain't much replays that need to be updated, but I would like to know what causes the breakage.

I have 1 level not loading, but I know why as dux_renaissance needs updated custom pick-up sprites.

To the shrunken firepits:

Well, for me I would need to reedit almost every fire level I maintain as I usually place them on solid ground as decoration. Also they seem to be out of place horizontally as well.
Let's say after seeing the effects I am not a fan of the shrunken version and it would mean tons of extra work for me (and I bet for everyone here as well) and as I know the usual effort into fixing levelpacks here I would assume to would lead to a ton of weird looking fire levels that won't ever be fixed.

[namida]

Were some changes made to L2_Space? Especially with teleporter heavy levels, I have a few assignments suddenly not working anymore.

My first suspicion is that something's going wrong with the teleporter/receiver timings, in which case, this would be a bug.

With the machine tileset: I would love details which changes were made there. You mentioned changes therefore I see why this 1 replay breaks, but details would be nice.

No changes to the machine set; so this might again be teleporter related. (Although weird that none of my own levels broke.) See commit 375b7b9.

[namida]

Reported on Discord: Cleanse levels just quits if it encounters a level with style errors (most likely, due to them containing now-removed custom pickup skills). IMO - it should give a user friendly error message and skip that level instead, or even better, remove the piece and alert the user to that it's done so. EDIT: Fixed in source code, to the "give user friendly error and skip the level" extent. Will look into how feasible it is to implement the latter idea.

In regards to the above - I haven't had any issues with my own levels, so would be helpful if you could provide an example replay. (I recall there was a teleporter-heavy level in United that I've completed that uses the L2 Space set?) My guess - this might be a side effect of the fixes to the "new action doesn't interrupt replay on same frame" bug.

Definitely don't throw old replays away yet. Unless one of the mentioned physics changes (including the trigger area changes) explains it, anything that worked in V12.6.5 but not in V12.7.0-RC is likely a bug.

[IchoTolot]

I've got 3 replays affected, I've attached them.

2 are from rank 4 of United. 1 is from the bonus rank.

[namida]

This is mostly notes to self - I've been looking so far at "Beware Of The Overload". The replay first diverges, from what I can see, at the basher at frame 2109, and seems to be due to the lemming being one frame ahead of where he should be, or possibly, due to the assignment getting delayed until one frame later than it should. I can definitely confirm the issue is reproduced - the replay solves for me on V12.6.5 but not on V12.7.0-RC. (Or at least, doesn't diverge at this point. I didn't watch it right to the end, as I figured I had enough information to start looking into this issue.)

EDIT: I've narrowed the origin of this bug down to a few specific potential commits - 770842F, CCF2D35 or 431F48F. These are three sequential commits, only one of which actually compiles.
EDIT: 770842F is the offender. Just need to figure out why.

[namida]

Uploaded V12.7.0-RC:AB926CB.

Changes:
- The above bug (which turned out to specifically relate to flipped receivers).
- If the Cleanse Levels feature encounters an error on any level, it notifies the user and skips that level, instead of terminating without explanation.

Well, for me I would need to reedit almost every fire level I maintain as I usually place them on solid ground as decoration. Also they seem to be out of place horizontally as well.

To clarify - the trigger area is unchanged; the visual has been modified to accurately reflect the trigger area. This means it's shrunk inwards by 2px on all three sides. If your level breaks visually, it was misleading physics-wise before.

[IchoTolot]

Alright, everything solves now again.

(Apart of the 1 renaissance level which needs updated custom pickups)

[grams88]

For my packs I'm just using the traditional skills, I haven't used any new skills yet so hoping that might make it easier when it comes to updating it so to say. I have been using the vertical one for levels sometimes.

Are there any more traditionalists like myself, I think Crane might be one as well but I'm hoping its not a small amount of people.

[namida]

It won't make any difference; but if all you've made is levels, updating is very easy either way. Go to your pack's title screen in NeoLemmix, press F8. Now, look in the new folder "Cleanse" (in your NeoLemmix folder), you have an updated copy of all your levels. Remember - these will only work with V12.7.0 or higher, so shouldn't be used for released copies until V12.7.0 stable is released (but can be used to prepare for that, or for test versions, etc).

In terms of traditionalists - there definitely are other users here who prefer to stick to traditional stuff too. At any rate, I very much doubt anyone's going to dislike your packs just because you don't use new things - one of the most highly-regarded packs, Lemmings Reunion, doesn't use any new features apart from a few custom tilesets.

[Crane]

I have a showcase/test level for 12.7.0-RC.  This is my planned "Chaos 30" level, named "Last Lemming Standing".  It's not particularly difficult, just unique!  It has both neutral lemmings and zombies.  Let me know how it goes (also attached the level's tune).

I've noticed a couple of things.

• If you hover the cursor over a zombie, it shows any permanent skills they have even outside of clear-physics mode; this doesn't happen with neutral lemmings even though, as you will see in this level, knowing what they have might be important.
• For the brick tileset, the trigger area seems to be a bit too high; Swimmers hover in the air just above the average height of the water surface.

EDIT: Version 2 uploaded.  It's not really something that one can fix backroutes for, since the skillset makes the solution open-ended.  Getting the Talisman is not easy though!

[namida]

For the brick water - if someone wants to submit a new animation (as the trigger areas on official styles are now considered to be finalized) that resembles the original but fits the swimmer height a bit better, I'm happy to add it into NL.

For the neutral lemming permanent skills - I agree; I've noted this in the original post, and will make this change before the stable release.

[Crane]

I got a couple of suggestions with the neutral lemmings (besides their appearance... they look like Stoners!)

• Currently, if you hover your mouse over a neutral lemming, it doesn't display how many there are (like zombies). However, because neutral lemmings count towards the tally and can interact harmlessly with regular lemmings, I think the count should be displayed for neutral lemmings.
• A neutral lemming that becomes a zombie (or spawns from a trapdoor that has both neutral and zombie flags set) is called an "N-ZOMBIE".  This I feel is redundant because, regardless of what the lemming used to be, it is a zombie now and the fact it used to be neutral has no bearing on what the lemming does now, which is infect all non-zombie lemmings.  They are no longer neutral effectively.