NeoLemmix V12.10.0-RC Released [Stable released]

[zanzindorf]

I reworked my background a little. There were a few formations that were noticeably tiling, and the color I think needed a little more tweaking. Attached are my examples.

Draft 1: Already shown in my last post, included for quick comparison. 540x540

Draft 2: Tweaked color and tiling, also increased to 640x640 to match the default width for backgrounds.

Draft 2 with Logo: Here's an alternate idea that turned out kinda interesting, kinda a mashup of the original background and Lemmings 3D which has a diagonally tiling logo.

(Any feedback is cool, I'd be happy to rework these if needed.)

[IchoTolot]

I think Draft 2 with the logo looks a bit out of place.

I would vote for the standard Draft 2 here.

[Proxima]

I'm not wild about the logo. Both Draft 1 and 2 are much better than the current graphics, and I have no preference between them.

[namida]

Draft 2 (no logo) is my preference so far.

[Strato Incendus]

No Logo for me, please! The default should be as close to original Lemmings as possible.

If I want such additions (as in Lemmings 3D), I'll just customise the background for a specific pack myself.

[namida]

* Move the talisman icon to the lower-left, moving all the text down. We can then decide on whether to adjust the spacing between lines.
* If you're worried that the space in the lower-left might not be enough for multiple talisman icons, have a single icon with numbers, e.g. "2/3" for "2 out of 3 achieved". Clicking the icon would bring up information on all talismans (and also have a hotkey to call up this information during play).
* Keep the talisman information in words. If you're really dead against this, at least make it an option.

Do you specifically think the text info should be accessible here, or do you just think it should exist somewhere? It's still used in the overall talisman lists for a pack / rank (with one slight tweak: save requirements now show as eg "29/30" instead of just eg "29").

Regarding the bottom-left - I'm not sure if this is going to feel unbalanced when everything else is centered?

It's probably quite viable to move the title a bit further away from the level preview, while still keeping the talisman icons more or less as-is.

[Proxima]

During play, if I solve a level and move on to the next and it has a talisman, I want to learn the requirements without going back out to the level select screen, and I find the skillbar format confusing. I don't especially mind whether the text info is visible via clicking on the preview screen or via a hotkey during play or both, just so long as I don't have to go back out (and, as I've said, I don't want to go back to having them written in full on the preview screen; that takes up far too much of it).

I still think using the lower-left (lower-right would be fine as well, I can't entirely explain why I thought of left first) would feel more balanced overall, taking vertical balance into account and the fact that the majority of levels don't have any talismans, so wherever we decide the icon should go, they will just have blank space there.

[mantha16]

I've only just had a chance to download this  but my first thoughts are how much nicer it is for a simplistic user like me lol.

[namida]

I tried just moving the title (and correspondingly, the other elements) downwards a bit. No changes aside from this.

First two screenshots are with it moved downwards, last two are original position.

[Strato Incendus]

Moved-downwards looks better to me!

[namida]

RC3 update released. A few fixes, mostly talisman related.

Please double check that your talismans are being described and awarded correctly.

Note that it's not a bug if:
(a) A requirement is hidden, but it would have had no effect anyway. For example, if a talisman has "save 25" as a requirement but the level requires saving 30; or there's a "max 2 bashers" requirement on a level that gives 2 or less bashers (and yes - it takes pickup skills into account).
(b) A requirement is not explained in exactly the same way, but it is functionally 100% equivalent. For example, if you set each skill's individual limit to zero, NL will actually describe this as "without any skills" + show the graphical representation for "0 max skills" rather than 0 of each individual skill. However, if there's even the slightest practical difference, this should not be happening and it's a bug if it does.

You can use the attached ZIP to update from RC1 or RC2.

[kaywhyn]

So far looks good, although the green text at the bottom of the level preview screen still looks blurry to me. Also, just wondering if this was intended.

Was it intended to remove the ability to left-click on empty space in the title screen in order to get to the level preview screen?

[namida]

So far looks good, although the green text at the bottom of the level preview screen still looks blurry to me. Also, just wondering if this was intended.

Was it intended to remove the ability to left-click on empty space in the title screen in order to get to the level preview screen?

Yes, though undoing this is not out of the question.

In short - the code for the menu screens was, not completely rewritten from scratch, but pretty close. In particular, the code for handling mouse / keyboard input is completely replaced. Initially, I had only the clickable items (and keyboard shortcuts) on all screens. This felt awkward to me on the preview etc screen, so I restored it there, but it hasn't really bothered me on the title screen so I figured I'd leave it as is, rather than introducing an unexpected (to those not familiar with prior version behaviour) "click in empty space" behaviour.

[kaywhyn]

So far looks good, although the green text at the bottom of the level preview screen still looks blurry to me. Also, just wondering if this was intended.

Was it intended to remove the ability to left-click on empty space in the title screen in order to get to the level preview screen?

Yes, though undoing this is not out of the question.

In short - the code for the menu screens was, not completely rewritten from scratch, but pretty close. In particular, the code for handling mouse / keyboard input is completely replaced. Initially, I had only the clickable items (and keyboard shortcuts) on all screens. This felt awkward to me on the preview etc screen, so I restored it there, but it hasn't really bothered me on the title screen so I figured I'd leave it as is, rather than introducing an unexpected (to those not familiar with prior version behaviour) "click in empty space" behaviour.

I see. Yea, I would love to be able to continue clicking on empty space to go to the level preview screen, so when it didn't work anymore when I tried out the RC2 update it took me by surprise. I'm definitely used to it due to how I grew up with the Dos version of Lemmings since the behavior was present there. Besides that, one could also press F1, but I never did that. I generally use the mouse way more than the keyboard when I'm playing Lemmings. By the same argument, clicking on the level select menu card will be familiar to those who grew up with Lemmings on engines that only allowed you to click on the level select menu card on the title screen in order to get to the preview screen.

So really, if the clicking the empty space behavior to proceed was restored, then that would be the best of both worlds, as the ones who grew up with the Dos version will have the empty space behavior they're familiar with, while those who could only proceed by clicking on the level select menu card in other platforms can either continue to do so because it's familiar to them or they can occasionally use the empty space behavior to proceed because the option to do so is there as well. Of course, it shouldn't be brought back just because I want it. Instead, let's see if anyone else also wants the empty space behavior. Quite frankly, I've always felt clicking on empty space is much faster than clicking on the level select card. And I'm not saying that because I grew up with the former behavior.

I do want to make it clear that the green text on the preview screen is a very welcome addition, especially for those who are completely new to NL or who never ever played the game to make it easier for them to learn to play the game. Nevertheless, since I'm very used to clicking on empty space behavior, that's what I'm going to keep using to enter the level from the preview screen even though the option to click on "continue" at the bottom of the screen is there. In this case, I'm happy the behavior's still there on the preview screen. Now if it can be restored on the title screen as well, that would be awesome and would make me a happy camper. However, let's see if others agree, as it should be brought back only if there's much demand for it. The only other compelling reason I can think of to bring it back is that this is inconsistent, since it's enabled on the preview screen but not the title screen.

Finally, in case you haven't heard it from me enough, I appreciate all the maintenance and update work you been doing on NL and continuing to improve and make it wonderful.

[WillLem]

I'm having a look at the RC build this evening. The new menu looks amazing. Just a few things I'd suggest to improve the gfx:

Logo - I've made the Lemmings' hair bigger. This version I've made is intended as a mockup/template - zanzindorf, if you agree that the hair is a better shape now, maybe you can work your magic with the colour shading.

Card Text - The size and proportion of these is now much better, but I really don't like the font on the cards; I'd suggest Showcard Gothic instead (or, go back to the "spray painted letters" effect). I've attached a very rough mockup of the LEVEL SELECT card using the Showcard Gothic font for reference (note that I had to remove the text so the shading has gone, the image is purely to showcase the font itself in relation to the card graphic).

EDIT: As a general suggestion, it might be good if the cards and text are separate graphics, so that players can easily customise the text to their own liking, if they so wish.

Scroller Lemmings - I've made them taller so they're more in proportion with the scroller itself. Also, I've attached a version with twice the number of frames so that it's slower. NL won't let me preview this one though so I'm not sure if it works...

I'll give more feedback once I've had a chance to explore the other updates. Looking great so far!