I made one level and now I can't think of anything else! Part of this is probably because I have a hard time choosing the right graphics set. I was wondering how other people choose a graphics set.

Was the level for Cheapo or Custlemm?

My impression is that people generally have a few favorites amongst the graphics sets, and so will tend to pick the ones they like.

It depends on how you create the level.  If you start off with a specific trick/solution/idea in mind, you'll probably need to fit the graphics set to the solution.  And so you'd choose differently than if you approach it first by creating some visual concept or picture of a level with no solution whatsoever in mind.

Why not think about which levels in Lemmings are your favorite, and then design levels based on their graphics sets and terrain layout?  Feel free to look at other people's levels for inspiration or ideas, just refrain from wholesale copying.

The level was custlemm and used the pink brick set.

I do the opposite; I deliberately try to use the styles about evenly, though I know I still have a certain bias towards my favourite Pink style.

How I pick a style when I have a level idea: sometimes the idea will demand a certain style (like my Rhapsody in Blue, which of course used the Blue style -- or The Three Tools of Death, which used Dirt because the idea involved the boulder trap which is unique to that style); otherwise, I'll think of which styles I haven't used for a while, and pick the one from those that fits the level best.

Are you still having problems with the level or have the problems been sorted?

I have made another level with the dirt set. It isn't very hard so if I make a pack it will be the first level.

Actually, style selection is more dependant on what your level contains, than anything. For example, if you want a level that requires a lot of straight vertical walls, the dirt style probably isn't the best choice. If you need a non-constant trap (I.E., one that doesn't kill every lemming that walks into it, instead killing one lemming at a time and allowing lemmings to pass it unharmed if they pass while it is killing a lemming) in your level, the fire style won't work for the level. If you need any steel terrain, the ONML bubble style isn't any good. After this, it really all comes down to which style looks best for your level. If you need a lot of straight edges, the ONML bricks style and the pink style are good choices. If you really don't need straight floors, and are instead going for aesthetic appeal, perhaps the ONML rock or snow styles are good. Of course, you can have a theme level; the yellow columns style is great for recreating the ionic style of ancient Greek civilization. [Or, I think it was the Greeks that used ionic pillar styles. Not 100% sure.]

If all else fails, pick a style you haven't tried in a while and see what you can do with it. I, personally, require straight terrain and never used the dirt, OMNL rock, or ONML snow style, but your design style may vary. Good luck!

I deliberatly chose the dirt set because it's lumpy and adds variety. I said it wasn't very hard before, but I think it is now.

The dirt set is lumpy but I prefer levels with straight edges. My upcoming level Someone's in my garden is lumpy so check that out when JM16.dat is released.

I'd just like to mention that in my new Cheapo styles, the fire style does have a trap object :D

In my new level pack JM16.dat I have a level with extended graphics and the objects have been edited. You can download the level from the level pack topic or you can get it here http://www.geocities.com/jmjm0052005/B2SB.zip

It takes me quite a while to make a level. Probably because of my design process. I think of a really simple idea, then find a graphics set that fits it. Then I make it a bit more complicated and try to find the hardest solution. I keep doing this until it is sufficiently hard and only has one solution (aka removing backroutes, this part takes a long time). Then I end up with a really hard level and I try do it (this can take a while). How long does it take other people to make a level?

That's actually a method I believe many people used, to just start with something, and then gradually adjusts the skills (and possibly the terrain) until it becomes an interesting level to solve.  Come to think of it, I'm sure quite a few of the original Lemmings levels are probably made that way.

I'm intrigued now when you said something about removing backroutes.  I'd love to see how successful you are.  :devil:  ;P

With the guest around, you are NEVER successful! But I'd say you're successful if the only backroutes he finds are sufficiently obscure...

Yes, but having someone else find backroutes can really improve a level. A couple of examples: on my "Repton 3: Toccata", you have to save 59/60, but guest found a backroute that saved 100%. I fixed it up to make the backroute much harder, so now my solution is still the main solution, but it's possible to save 100% if anyone wants a challenge. On my "Zorn's Lemming", the main puzzle is to use a diggers' staircase to get as high as possible up a wall; guest kept finding backroutes, but by incorporating the ideas from his backroutes into my main solution, I was able to raise the gap in the wall you have to reach to around double its original height.... and I love the resulting level, because when you first look at it, it looks truly impossible!

As for how long it takes me to make a level.... gosh, I don't know; it depends so much. A long time, usually, because I'm very fussy about getting it to look perfect, even decorative terrain that has no role in the solution. And then of course there's removing backroutes, which can be very quick or very convoluted, depending entirely on what the level is like! So there's no simple answer to that question.

Ya. The guest found about a million backroutes to my level "The Mon0lith" -- and I still think there's a couple in there, but they are all much harder to execute than my intended solution.

In my first six LemEdit levelpacks, also, Martin Zurlinden managed to find enough back-routes to make two brand new packs. Seriously. I've always had a huge problem with my levels being back-routable. I've taken a few tricks from these back-routes and made whole new levels with them. Which, in turn, get back-routed. And the cycle continues.

And @Ahribar -- when are your sets going to be available for download?

If a backroute is harder or the same difficulty as the intended solution it doesn't matter so much, and it can be used for a new level idea. But if someone finds a backroute that is easier, say it was the intended solution and hope people believe you. I expect the guest will find some backroutes in my levels...no matter how hard they are. ;P

Well, my main sets, like yours, are an ongoing thing; I'd like eventually to have six difficulties with thirty levels in each. But I'm planning on releasing a "taster" with about twenty levels in my new styles, as soon as guest finishes doing the music for them :D

As for the Repton levels, that one's my fault..... I want to make six, but I've only got round to doing three. So those will be available as soon as I force myself to finish the others.

I have encountered another problem which makes levels take longer to make. It is basicly an I-wrote-a-program-and-it-is-hogging-the-CPU type of problem. ;P
It isn't a problem when one of them is running but when I have two running it makes it hard to run any other program. This may add to the delay of making my levels because I might not be able to wait for one program to finish before starting another one. ;P
All of that may have seemed weird but it caused me to not be able to work on my levels today until now (11:05 pm).  X_X
My levels take a long time to make anyways so don't expect my pack to be done soon (I am working on my 3rd level).

Why do you need to run your programs in the first place?  And why so CPU intensive?  Just curious.

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If you use Win XP/2k/etc., you can press Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the task manager, and then go to the "process" tab.  There you can right click on the process corresponding to your program, and set the priority to "Low" or "BelowNormal".  This may help allowing you to run other programs alongside, at the expense of slowing down the process whose priority you lowered.

Oh, thanks, setting the priority to below normal works fine. The reason I am running them is because they perform a very long calculation, and it is interesting to see the result. It is so CPU intensive because I wrote it. If you are interested in what the program does, just ask and I will try to explain it.

Yeah I'm curious what calculations you are doing.  Finding the next largest known prime number or something?  ;)

You probably haven't heard of cellular automata. Here is an explanation:

The universe consists of a grid of cells that are either on or off. The state of a cell in the next generation is decided based on the rule, its state, and the state of the surrounding 8 cells, like this:
bbb
bab
bbb
The rule will look something like this: b3/s23. What this means is, if a cell is off then it will only turn on if exactly 3 cells are surrounding it, and if it is on then it will stay on only if it is surrounded by 2 or 3 cells. A rule can have any of these: b12345678/s012345678. Just ignore what happens with b0 because it is very weird.

Here is the best program that plays it: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jbontes/

There are many types of interesting objects but I am most interested in gliders. A glider is a pattern that reappears in a different place after a certain number of generations. The program that I wrote searches for gliders.
A glider can be very small, like this:

#R B35678/S34678
.o..
.ooo
oo.o
ooo.
.o.o
.oo.

Gliders can also be very large and yet still be found easily:

x = 12, y = 46, rule = B357/S1358
o2bo4bo2bo$o10bo$2bobo2bobo$2b3o2b3o$2b2o4b2o$3bo4bo2$3b2o2b2o$
2o8b2o$2bo2b2o2bo$2obob2obob2o$b2o6b2o$4b4o$3b2o2b2o$5b2o$3b6o$3b
o4bo$5b2o$3bob2obo$4b4o2$4b4o$4b4o$3bo4bo$5b2o$4b4o$b2ob4ob2o$bo
bo4bobo$2b2o4b2o2$3bob2obo$3bo4bo$4bo2bo2$4b4o$3bo4bo$2bo2b2o2bo
$2bo6bo$2bobo2bobo$3bo4bo$3bob2obo$b2obo2bob2o$o2b6o2bo$b3ob2ob3o
$b2obo2bob2o$2bob4obo!

To view one of those gliders you must copy it, and then paste it into the program that I put a link to way up yonder in this post. The second one is encoded so it doesn't take up as much space. My program usually finds gliders instantly if they are small. The second glider took a few seconds.

Is that like the LifeGenesis game from the Windows Entertainment Pack?

That might have been a good assumption, but I do actually know a little about them (but not really anything more than your explanation of what they are).  Others may have heard of "Conway's Game of Life", which is basically what you are describing but using a specific rule, and is shipped as "LifeGenesis" in one of the Windows Entertainment Pack (as Shvegait mentioned).

It can also be very memory intensive. The program consists of 208 lines of C++. That is not much, but it is insanely fast.

________


On topic, I have finished my 3rd level.

Are you still working on the levelpak?

Yes, I am still working on it. Here are the levels I have made so far (in the order I made them):
1. Stuff In The Way (done)
2. Oh No, Not Again (done)
3. The Gr8 Escape (done)
4. The Very Large Staircase of Doom (in progress)
I think Conway made a level called "The Great Escape", but I found out about it after making level 3. That shouldn't be much of a problem because the levels are totally different, and "The Gr8 Escape" fits the level perfectly. If anyone has used these titles before, let me know.

Some very good level names.

EDIT: I haven't used any of those level names before but I can tell your levels will suit the names.