3D Lemmings

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3D Lemmings

Developer(s)	Clockwork Games
Publisher(s)	Psygnosis; Sony Computer Entertainment
Release date(s)	1995
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	DOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Saturn

a level in 3D Lemmings

3D Lemmings is a computer game released in 1995, developed by Clockwork Games and published by Psygnosis. The gameplay is mostly the same as the original Lemmings game, requiring you to lead all the lemmings to their exit by giving them the appropriate "skills". While all previous games of the series were 2-dimensional, this was the first to be in 3D. It was released for DOS, PlayStation and the Sega Saturn.

1 Storyline
2 Gameplay
3 Passwords
4 3D Lemmings Winterland
5 External links

[edit] Storyline

The storyline in 3D Lemmings appears unrelated to previous Lemmings games, presumably because the story in All New World of Lemmings never got completed, and because the previous developer, DMA Design, was no longer involved in the series. Instead, there is an introduction movie showing a completely flat (2D) lemming popping out of a computer's floppy drive, and finding a "3D" button to press, which makes him 3-dimensional. After that, the PC blows up and the (now 3D) lemmings inside it escape.

[edit] Gameplay

3D Lemmings is played by using four different, movable cameras to fly around and get an overview of the level. While some levels have fixed cameras, most of the time they can be freely moved at any time, although without the ability to tilt up or down. Another viewing option is the "virtual lemming" (VL) which allows the player to see through the eyes of a selected lemming.

All skills from the original game are available, with one new one: the turner. A turner is similar to a blocker, in that he stands in one place and can only be removed by being blown up or dug out from underneath. However, instead of making other lemmings turn back, he directs them 90 degrees either left or right, as chosen by the player. Diagonally positioned blocks in levels will also make lemmings move left or right (basically reflecting them).

One of the by-products of being 3D was the importance of the camera-handling. Even though most of the levels didn't need complex camera setups, some levels could only be solved if the player was skilled enough to move the camera in the correct way - or by using the Virtual Lemming mode: One level featured a massive indestructible block of wall with the lemmings arriving on top - the only way the player was able to deliver the lemmings to the bottom floor was by digging through a certain part of the block which was left destructible - the only way to handle that was to use the VL mode because the player was unable to fit the camera through the hole. Some levels included rooms or halls where the camera couldn't go in to (or come out from) and the player had to peek in through windows or use VL mode.

The release rate buttons, i.e. to increase or decrease rate of lemmings; instant replay mode; and fast forward button all return from previous games. Levels are once again divided into four difficulty settings: Fun, Tricky, Taxing and Mayhem. There are 20 levels of each setting, with 20 more practice levels to learn about different game elements. Each level has a set amount of lemmings again, and can be returned to through the use of passwords.

Cutscenes are shown at the end of certain level milestones, which feature lemmings from the various 3D Lemmings themes (army, computer, etc).

[edit] Passwords

The passwords in 3D Lemmings were not a random series of numbers-and-letters, but real—if unusual—words: e.g KURTOSIS and NGULTRUM. This was highly unusual for a game of this kind.

[edit] 3D Lemmings Winterland

An additional level pack/playable demo named 3D Lemmings Winterland was released for 3D Lemmings on the PC, which included six levels with in a new winter style. The gameplay stayed the same.