Lemmings at Play!

1 154 Vr I 1r' •a. ••ek 411i# -41111111 1.11, l••• , 1i •111 OOP rr---Well, we couldn't help LTJ ImIrlysorissirr ') ourselves. Last month we 4 brought you the first Lcuf:1 1 Thy, should tx q drfitlft r instalment of the Batman . 11 r IlumbEr oF LethinGiS ZS Diary. This month we t 50 Jo 1st Samd 1 r t decided to go one better, RE I kitt 11 r— ,[DK 4 filleftr and bring you the gossip 1 .1 r- htirc- 0 T OITA on Lemmings as well, . L11 M I I / CI3 EEPEI TT courtesy of its OrtIss button to 0.3ntinue - I+ 1L-•wiLl• Lf• 167 programmers (Alter Developments). So, here's the Work in Progress section — we hope you find it interesting and informative. Oh, and there's a mystery prize for anyone who can suss out Roy Bannon he's a complete loony. furry fellas walking around to inciuddlreT at a reasonable speed, but on the other hand this •samples. S Go' meant the actual playfield would only cover half the a Another problem was speed. I needed a routine screen — it's impossible to have more than eight that would enable 100 Lemmings to be on screen sprites alongside each other. Having chosen this and check whether they were climbing, digging, way of scrolling, I started to program the bob- blocking, or any of the eight functions they're able routine using Lemmings converted from the original to perform, as well as their basic movement — t Amiga game. When I got them walking. I finished had to be walking and falling at a reasonable six demo versions which were sent to Psygnosis. speed too. This was probably the biggest reason When they saw how brilliant the demos were they for me to choose the sprite-scrolling method, as offered us the contract — you could say I was one this doesn't slow the computer down as much as of the happiest men on the globe. the usual scrolling method. After this brief moment of joy. I had to return to The biggest help with programming Lemmings reality and consider the daunting task of creating was my computer set-up; instead of using only Lemmings on the C64. My biggest enemy was the C64. I linked two together. In the past, I've memory. Try and fit in 120 animations, background connected the C64 with a 0-modern link, graphics, music and sound effects into 64k of programming on one and transferring the data to The Programmer memory and still have space for your code — another, to see the result immediately. Nowadays, THOMAS MITTELMEYER is the guy who somehow, I've managed to do so. All the I've got rid of the cable and use my only working manipulates all the bits 'n bytes in the right order animations featured in the Amiga version can now disk drive (the one Remi gave me doesn't work to ensure those Lemmings walk across the screen. be admired on the 064 version as well. properly) as source for both computers. It's much THOMAS: After long (and tedious) discussions Unfortunately, not everything from the Amiga faster to save the data from my programming with the rest of Alter Developments, we all agreed version could be retained — the level size for computer to the drive, then switch to the test .9 that I was the best man to do the job. The first example. In the 16-bit version of Lemmings, the 11computer and load the data from the drive. Another thing I did was try out different ways of scrolling the levels can be up to five screens wide. You could do big help was the turbo assembler Jerson Tel background. I made six demos and then chose the the same on the C64, but the five screens would fill rewrote- Instead of the usual 4000 lines, this best one — a sprite multiplexer for the background, up the entire memory — so each level had to be assembler enables you to program up to 8000 with the Lemmings 'bobbed' in characters. This reduced to a maximum of two screens. On a more lines and is still compatible with my computer link- 7 method of scrolling enabled me to have 100 of the positive note. I managed to save enough memory up (coz Jerden uses the same one). You might FLOATER — EXPLODER BLOCKER A nifty Use this on Acting as a umbrella that any critter barrier, a LEMMINGS AT PLAY! will slow down and watch blocker can This shows the rate at CLIMBER — a Lemming's what be used to which the Lemmings Enables a descent happens stop a are reteased-and the Lemming to should it fall when the Lemming percentage which clamber up from a great time limit walking need to be saved. a wall. height. expires. past. 1 4111 ,I ( § r• • info: 1_7.71-1) LI!I n Ll1 1 • 3LI. , a 1 B,LI' 12'1:7 • , orn ET3 WO C-FORCEWO No.9 • SEPTEMBER 1993 in Ni l r 1. al 1 '‘' , .- all the ri3curing objects and animati - as the entry and exit points. With these Ba very74 special level. completed, it meant I could focus on the e At-7 first, I found Lemmings to be the ultimate - backgrounds more — there was a lot to work aproject, but now I've worked myself halfway Rocks, columns, bricks and other sluff needed sthrough- it, I've realised it's also my most to be created — and created well challenging project to date, especially t Problems occured while re-designing several considering- the limitations I've got to work with. levels, On the Amiga, levels could be up to five .Still, I think I'm doing a great job, and I'll gladly screens wide, while the maximum the C64 could Tfinish it. cope with was two. Because of this, I had to cut h - out all the unnecessary parts and if the levels i still exceeded the maximum of two, I had to re- sAs Alter Developments didn't have a musician, design and make sure the solution would be the rwe enroled another freelancer to work on the same as the original Amiga level. I found this a eLemmings project. And who would be suited real pain with some levels, but luckily most of fbetter than JEROEN TEL? Jereon accepted our them could be compacted onto two screens. roffer, so everything you'll hear while playing Animation presented another dilemma, as the Lemmings will be done by the master himself. C64 screen is built up with characters. Each e JEREON: When Remi asked me to do the character is 4 pixels wide and 8 pixels high, the musics for Lemmings, I was working on a CD screen is 40 characters wide and 24 characters featuringh Nintendo game music. I've been high. I needed to draw the animations pixel- workingi on it for months, but took a break wonder why this turbo assembler can handle perfect so they'd fit exactly into a set amount of nespecially to do the Lemmings music. and I've 111. characters. If not, it would be impossible to gbeen doing it with great relish — I didn't see that's the down side of it. Jereon hir include all the animations. This isn't merely gmuch of a problem in adapting the original removed all utilities which can be found " necessary for the water and lava, but for every Amigar music and converting it to the C64. I'm "in 'normal* assemblers. With the single moving object — such as traps and the - tryinga to make the music as cute as the Amiga Lemmings code already exceeding entry and exit-point graphics. I can remember tunes, but I trying to make them 'funkier', as I ' p 1 ,o6000 lines. I'm glad that JT made this drawing several levels and when finished I'd feel the simplistic style of the Amiga wouldn't Oditor — otherwise, it'd lake me even more tested them, only to find that several items were quiteh have the same effect on the C64 — ,4 time to program all those routines. placed wrongly and had to be moved several althoughi I'll try to keep them as sweet as t But hey, I've been having great fun being the pixels. This soil of thing gets really annoying — possible.c One thing's for sure — it's going to w one responsible for programming Lemmings especially when you've just finished a difficult havea that 'MANIACS OF NOISE' touch, like my i (especially when the cheque arnved). It's the level. Speaking of difficult levels, I found the fire otherl soundtracks have. Another point is that c best project any C64 programmer could wish for and lava stages the most taxing to work out. I I'ms limited to using the SID chip sounds on the e Everybody said it was impossible, and voila! I'm only had three colours at my disposal needed C64,t as well as having to compensate for other making it possible! a at least four or five) but I tried my best and I'm '64y limitations or possibilities, as I would say) s quite proud of the result. Another annoyance in speed and memory. However, recently I was would be the amount of times I needed to alter a l m The Graphicer 'given' some extra memory by Thomas for the The second man employed on the Lemmings level. Every time I finished a stage and passed e a sound effects.

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