Lemmings Universe - Lemmings Info and Discussion

Terrain

This menu lets you add terrain pieces to the level. The terrain pieces are numbered from 00 to 63. Click Next to view the next piece in the graphics set, or Previous to view the one before. You can also scroll by pressing the up and down arrow keys, or if you know the reference number of the piece you want, you can type it into the Piece # box. Where it says '048x011 PTS' it displays the dimensions in pixels of the selected piece. Click Add This or press Enter to add the piece. Then, if you wish, you can give it special properties as discussed in the Properties section, and place it where you want on the screen.

Clicking Change Graphics lets you type in the reference number of the graphics set you wish to use. When you select a different graphics set, it will change the entire level. You cannot use pieces or interactive objects from different graphics sets in one level. Also, not all graphics sets contain 64 pieces. If you try to select a piece that isn't in the graphics set, it will say 'Invalid Piece #' where the preview should be, and you cannot add it.

Prefs

Prefs

This menu allows you to set the preferences you wish to use in LemEdit. Any changes you make to these settings do not change the level in any way, only the way it is viewed in LemEdit, as well as the LemEdit interface.

Show Objects, Show Steel and Show Terrain are checkboxes to choose whether or not to view certain elements in your level in LemEdit. When a box is unchecked, these parts will not be shown. By default, steel is hidden until you check Show Steel or you add a steel area. If you add an item that you have chosen to hide, all other such items will also be shown.

Steel is represented by flashing chequered squares, and can sometimes get annoying unless you are currently adding or moving them. Furthermore, they do not appear in the game.

Draw Select Box decides whether or not a box appears around selected pieces. This option is by default switched on as it makes it easy to see which piece is selected.

The Selecting Priority box allows you to decide which type of piece is selected when you click on an area containing more than one type. Click on an item in the list and click on the up or down arrows to change this priority.

Ignore Ground Flag causes all interactive objects to be shown in their entirety when Draw on Ground Only is selected for that object.

Force Overdrawing lets all interactive objects be shown above terrain pieces and interactive objects if No Drawing Over Other is selected for that object.

Show Black Pieces shows any piece normally with Draw it as Black Area selected.

Force Overdrawing does the same as it does for interactive objects.

Shift Size lets you choose how fast in pixels you want the screen to scroll.

When Push to Scroll is selected, you will need to push with the mouse in order to scroll as opposed to just leaving the cursor on the left or right edge of the screen.

Misc

Misc

About LemEdit shows the 'About' box.

Editor Colors lets you choose different colour schemes to be used in the editor. This does not change your level in any way.

Change Graphics lets you choose a different graphics set to be used in the level as discussed in Terrain.

Fast Screen Jump allows you to choose the initial screen position when the level loads in the game or in LemEdit.

Usage Statistics displays how many interactive objects, terrain pieces and steel areas are used in the level. You can have a maximum of 400 terrain pieces, 32 interactive objects and 32 steel areas in any one level.

Level Check looks for items with invalid reference numbers and ones lying outside the accessible screen area. Such problems may occur when changing the graphics set of a level, or if the level has been badly edited in a hex editor. You can choose not to search for certain types of items with certain problems if you wish by unselecting as appropriate. Click 'Start' to begin the search. If LemEdit finds a problem, it will prompt you before deleting the invalid items.

Skill #

Skills

This menu lets you choose the number of each skills available in the level. Click on an icon to edit the number and press Enter to confirm, or Esc to cancel. Each skill allocation can be from 0 to 99.

Objects

Objects

This menu is similar to 'Terrain', except now you can add interactive objects. Available objects will include an exit, exit top, trap door, a variety of traps, water, and one-way arrows. LemEdit lets you browse through 16 object slots, although no graphics set has more than 12.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Because LemEdit has compatability issues with the later versions of Windows, such as XP, it either doesn't run at all, or it opens without mouse support. For this reason, here is a comprehensive list of useful keyboard shortcuts which can allow you to make small changes to levels if you are limited to modern operating systems.

alt+f = Files menu
alt+e = Edit menu
alt+g = General menu
alt+t = Terrain menu
alt+p = Prefs menu
alt+m = Misc menu
alt+m = Skills menu
alt+o = Objects menu

From the Files menu:

l = Load level from pack
s = Save level in pack
r= Remove level from pack
d = Load level directly
v = Save level directly

From the Edit menu:

p = Properties
r = Replicate
m = Remove
s = Add steel area
c = Clear the level
f = Bring to front
b = Send to back
o = Select by order, although there's nothing you can do in this screen.
t = Select through. Again, you can't do anything in this menu without a mouse.
u = Unselect part

Nothing can be changed in the General menu, but you can do all that fairly easily with a hex editor if you save the level in the uncompressed format first.

From the Terrain menu:

enter = Add this
down or right arrow = Next
up or left arrow = Previous
esc = Cancel
s = Change set

Nothing can be changes from the Prefs menu without a mouse.

From the Misc menu:

a = About Lemedit
c = Editor colours, although nothing can be changed in this menu from the keyboard.
g = Change graphics
j = Fast screen jump
u = Usage statistics
l = Level check

From the Skills menu:

1 - 8 for the corresponding skill, and 'enter' to accept or 'esc' to keep the original value.

The Objects menu works exactly the same as Terrain.

Press 'esc' to exit Lemedit.

In every box, press 'enter' to exit and keep changes, or 'esc' to exit without changes.

When a piece is selected, press 'delete' to remove it or 'insert' to replicate it.

For further level editing if you don't have mouse support in LemEdit, RT has decoded the individual level 2 KB file format. You can view his explaination at this url: http://members.shaw.ca/okmot/lemmings_file_format.txt

Troubleshooting and Bugs

Please refer to the original LemEdit readme file for possible error messages.

Here are a few bugs I have noticed:

Interactive objects with the Y coordinates below 0 (above the top of the screen) cause the game to crash when scrolling to or from that object.

Interactive objects with the Z coordinates above 15 sometimes don't work. If it's a trap or water, it may not kill the lemmings, and if it's an exit, they may not go in. Trap doors, however, still work. So I suggest prioritising your Z coordinate order in levels with over 15 interactive objects. Objects with no effect, such as the top to the exit or flags should have a higher Z coordinate, as should the trap door(s), but the exit(s) and traps should have lower Z coordinates. Please note that only I have had this trouble to my knowledge; it may work better with you! But I suggest testing each interactive object before releasing the level.

Sometimes, even though an exit or a trap is touching the ground, it may not work because it is too high. The exact cause of this is still uncertain. If this is the case, try making it a little lower, or, in the case of an exit, you could put a small block piece behind it to elevate the lemmings when they walk into it.

No level can have more than four working trap doors.

A lemming sometimes can't mine right when standing on one-way terrain pointing right. Instead, he will take one strike and turn.

Well, that's about it. Now all you have to face is the cheap joke awaiting you after closing LemEdit: Thank You for using LEMEDIT . Have a nice DOS !

If you would like to play Lemmings levels other people have made, please visit Garjen Software. There may also be other sites from which you can download Lemmings levelpacks. Why not do an internet search and find out? If you want your levels to be downloadable to players from around the world, by all means e-mail the administrator of such sites and they may upload them for you. Failing that, why not upload them to your web space if you have one? You can advertise and talk about levels on Garjen Software and Lemmings Universe. I look forward to playing your levels!

If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or corrections to offer, please e-mail me at the address below, or contact the editor of the site.

By Benjamin Conway.

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