configuration of the UI for level selection

Started by littbarski, November 05, 2024, 02:19:00 PM

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littbarski

Hello everybody,

I played Lemmings as a kid in DOS and am discovering some old games in DosBOX-X these days. So I did for Lemmings and by hazard I just found out today that this great Neolemmix exists. So first of all I would like to thank namida and all the others here involved for this wonderful program.

Well this is my first topic and as it happens so often, the new user just has a question about what he wants to be better :). As we have some need for accessibility in our family (and we love playing Lemmings in our family also with the kids), I just wondered about the following questions. I have seen that probably bugs or new ideas won't be implemented so soon or at all in Neolemmix, but perhaps someone has a hint for the existing solution or an idea how to improve it.

My questions are only about the level selection screen (this Windows-style window with tree structure for the levels at the left):
- are there any (hidden?) settings so that we can change the font size in this list of the level selection?
- perhaps even change the appearance also of the little arrows for the trees?
- is there anything I can do that in my system (Windows 10 and 11) the tree (open/close arrows) does not react quite often and also sometimes the levels are not displayed for an open tree?

Thank you!

WillLem

Hi littbarski, welcome to the Forums! :lemcat:

Quote from: littbarski on November 05, 2024, 02:19:00 PMI have seen that probably bugs or new ideas won't be implemented so soon or at all in Neolemmix

NeoLemmix 12.14 is set to be namida's final version, and he has stopped taking feature requests and bug reports some time ago.

I am currently working on a fork of NeoLemmix called SuperLemmix, which is currently very much open for business in terms of user suggestions/feedback. There is also the possibility that I may decide to continue working on NeoLemmix itself beyond namida's final version, as a new fork which would re-open the platform to community suggestions - however, this isn't definitely going to happen and will be very much dependent on Forum demand at the time.

In the meantime, I heartily recommend SuperLemmix; it's ideal for playing the original games, and can also be used to create/play custom content; although, fair warning, a lot of NeoLemmix content isn't compatible with SuperLemmix due to physics differences and other changes which directly affect gameplay. NeoLemmix is still the platform to play most Forum content.

Anyways, to address some of your queries:

Quote from: littbarski on November 05, 2024, 02:19:00 PM- are there any (hidden?) settings so that we can change the font size in this list of the level selection?

There are no hidden settings for this. Something to try which might make the text bigger:

1) Right-click on NeoLemmix and select "Properties" from the popup menu.
2) Select the "Compatibility" tab.
3) Click "Change high DPI settings" button (near the bottom).
4) Under "High DPI scaling override", set scaling to be performed by Application rather than System.

If that doesn't work, try the opposite setting (i.e. System rather than Application) and see if that's any better.

I'd also recommend scaling up your Windows display to 125% or even 150%. I have mine set to 150% because I also struggle to read small text. Here's how to do this (on Windows 11):

1) Right-click anywhere on the Windows desktop.
2) Select "Display settings" from the popup menu.
3) Under "Scale & layout", set "Scale" to either 125% or 150% (try both, see which works best for you).
4) Make sure that the Display resolution is set to the (Recommended) setting; you may also wish to experiment with other resolutions, but make sure that your scaling is also set appropriately.

Quote from: littbarski on November 05, 2024, 02:19:00 PM- perhaps even change the appearance also of the little arrows for the trees?

The arrows can't be edited, but the check mark and talisman icons can. This can be done by heading to gfx/menu and manually editing the relevant .pngs using an image editor - note that NeoLemmix no longer uses "level_attempted.png" (but this has been brought back in SuperLemmix.)

In the meantime, I'd be happy to have a look and see if there's anything I can do to enhance the readability of the treeview. It's been made slightly wider in SuperLemmix so that more text can fit on, but I could also look at increasing the size of the text as well (or at least making this optional), if possible.

Quote from: littbarski on November 05, 2024, 02:19:00 PM- is there anything I can do that in my system (Windows 10 and 11) the tree (open/close arrows) does not react quite often and also sometimes the levels are not displayed for an open tree?

I'm not quite sure what you mean here. Could you elaborate/provide some screenshots to show the issue you're having?

littbarski

hello and thank you very much for your answer and the many ideas. Yes, I have already setup some things in the past in Windows concerning the font, did not think about it here indeed, so I tested. But it does not increase the size or change the behaviour of the level select tree.

About the reaction to clicks: the level selection tree is not always directly responsive, my guess was this is normal and known to other players, so when I click on a level area to open a tree then sometimes the click does not change anything, when I wait and click again then it works. In addition sometimes the tree opens but all tree rows are empty and filled later. Actually my system is quite fast :). And about screenshots, the behaviour is better explained by words actually than by an image (I know normally an image helps but not really in this case where I describe what does not happen so is not visible...).

I also tried already SuperLemmix and it's great too, thank you. For me I am open to both of the programs. And in both programs the level selection window is based on the same version.

After all as said, my hope was that this is known somehow and there is some hint to change it (font size, size of the symbols before the trees, perhaps click behaviour). When it is not the case, this is absolutely ok to me, just have to be more patient while clicking. Thank you again.

littbarski

Hello WillLem again :)

I tried a bit but in the meantime I enjoy just playing the levels and do not care too much about the level seletion tree... of course it would be nice to have, that the font size and especially the symbols left of the tree would be a bit larger. I also had two times a system freeze in the tree of NeoLemmix, but this is perhaps because of the laptop I used that case, it has some freezes from time to time.

Not depending with the initial topic and the level selection tree, I actually played more with the SuperLemmix and really like it - thank you for the hint! I like the idea of playing the original levels and having also the look and feel.

If you will consider new ideas:
- add an option to disable the advanced options (at the right) of the level selection screen just like in NeoLemmix (or can I add a row in the settings file for that?)
- add font and symbol size option for the level selection (as discussed)
- allow different cursors in menu (I actually took the files from the normal playing cursor also for the menu...)
- perhaps: allow disabling the level countdown timer / counting up, but only an option, I like both ideas.

Some of the ideas are also because we play this in family with kids.

(I just saw the SuperLemmix topic section, I will add a topic there...)

WillLem