Lemmings: these poor rodents that we massacred by dozens

If I tell you Rockstar Games, you will probably instantly answer me Grand Theft Auto, and you will be right.But did you know that the team behind this mastodon of the video game made its start in a small house in Dundee, in Scotland, to torment sympathetic rodents through more tortured levels than the other.Yes, today we are going to talk about lemmings.

At the antipodes of the Battle of Teraflops, 4K and 60 FPS, Neo · Classics offers you a return to the origins of video games. Du titre 2D en gros pixels au moins lointain jeu à la 3D hésitante, cette chronique vous invite à (re)découvrir les pépites vidéoludiques qui ont ouvert le monde au 10^e art...

Today based in Edinburgh and known as Rockstar North Limited, the company founded by David Jones, Miek Dailly, Russell Kay and Steve Hammond, then called DMA Design, had first "planted his tent" to a smallhundred kilometers north, in the city of Dundee.Rather talented, the buggers quickly stood out by the Psygnosis publisher of which they have become one of the most emblematic studios, just like reflections.We are talking about the blessed time of Amiga 500 here.

A DMA Design Game…

In 1987, David Jones and his companions settled in a small house in the heart of Dundee.They of course have the idea of developing video games and producing their first "exploits" in the category of the Them Up shoot.In 1988, threat released on Amiga 500, then very quickly on Atari St, Commodore 64 and PC-Dos.It's a card ... well, at least for the time and for a very young team, since we only talk about some 20,000 copies sold.

The "success" of threat above all enabled the team to believe in their skills and to finance a new project, still in the field of shoot Them Up, offering a direct sequel to threat with the famous Blood Money.

Today, you will not find a single former Amiga 500 not having your eyes sparkling when the intro of Blood Money.While it was still extremely rare, the studio was largely put forward with this famous sequence in full in digital voice (on Amiga): "First, There was threat" / "Now Psygnosis Presents" / "A DMA Design Game" / "Blood Money… ”.Memorable!

Blood Money was a "beast" Shoot Them Up.Technically very successful, with a gameplay with small onions and a skillfully dosed difficulty, certainly, but a simple shoot them up anyway.However, the genre is very, very popular at the end of the 80s and other studios will quickly show that they are more good than DMA Design on this niche: games like Battle Squadron (Innerprise), R-Type (Factor 5) or Xenon 2 Megablast (The Bitmap Brothers)-to name only the best in Amiga 500-are substantially above Blood Money.

DMA Design will therefore spend a few years looking for.The studio employees will thus distribute an action game featuring a species of AT-St-Star war-Walker-but without meeting a great success, and several projects are just started before being quickly canceled(Gore!, Cutiepoo).DMA Design is even entrusted with the portage of Shadow of the Beast on PC-Engine and Commodore 64, proof that the studio lacks ideas ... Until the Lemmings Revolution.

Let’s Go!

At the end of 1989, Mike Dailly experienced different graphics on his Amiga with the inevitable Deluxe Paint drawing software.The little story wants an animation created on this occasion to hit the eye of other DMA Design employees, and give the idea of the concept at the very base of Lemmings.The latter will be developed jointly by three of the main programmers of the studio, Russell Kay, Mike Dailly and David Jones, starting from a formidably basic gameplay.

The three accomplices are based on the commonly widespread idea that lemming is such a stupid animal that it is able to follow its pack until "mass suicide".A comic strip from the 1950s explained in particular that lemmings could throw itself in number from the top of a cliff simply to follow the others.If this widely picked up photo has since been widely beaten, it will still have served as a basis for the development of the video game Lemmings.

The idea of Lemmings is therefore to take control of completely stupid rodents in order to guide them through very simple levels, which quickly become real labyrinths.At each level the lemmings enter through a kind of hatch which makes them fall vertically, and they must be driven to the output point, a much more classic door.Of course, on the way, we must face various traps and other precipices that quickly shorten the life of our rodents.

For each level, the player is awarded a certain number of lemmings, which arrive one by one in the table.In the same way, each level requires bringing a number of these rodents out to prevail and unlock the following puzzle.

And the number of "survivors" required varies considerably, a level that can very well request the rescue of the entire cohort!The task was obviously increasingly hard over the game and the last levels have also been praised for the Devors Spirit of their creators.

Oh no!

We said it, in Lemmings, in addition to the labyrinths, the main problem was above all the stupidity of the rodents who advance in a straight line without stopping until meeting a wall.They then turn around and continue their way without ever stopping.To carry out their mission, make them bypass certain obstacles, avoid precipices or simply a fatal fall, the player fortunately had some accessories at his disposal ...

Full playable mouse - a blessing compared to future consoles versions - Lemmings indeed has an icon bar in the lower part of the screen where these "tools" are gathered.The term is put in quotes because it is rather roles that we attribute to such or such lemming by simply clicking on it.The role of the blocker imposed, for example, a lemming to stop, preventing his fellows from passing.That of the Creuser made it possible to create an underground gallery to gradually descend to a point, closer to the exit of course.

"Tools" there were many others: the climber lemming, the paratrooper, the creator of bridges ... Problem, once a role was attributed to a lemming he kept it until the end of the level.In the case of the creator of bridges, it was limited to a few "boards" and that of paratrooper was only active when making a potentially deadly fall.The blocker, on the other hand, was condemned for the level, and we did not even talk about the explosive lemming which, five seconds after being affected, gratified us with a heartbreaking "Oh, no!"Before exploding in a wreath of pixels.

Why spray your own lemmings?Because, as we have said, some of the levels were particularly devious, with puzzles to tear their hair to succeed in reaching the "saved" lemmings threshold, requested by the developers.

The ancients will remember this level where the lemmings fall on the hatch placed far too high and crush miserably on the ground.In reality not so difficult, this level simply involved giving a parachute to each of the lemmings and as we had 20 parachutes for 20 lemmings to save, the account was good ... provided you avoid misclicks!

Suites, extensions and conversions to overdose

The levels of the game were organized in four large groups with progressive difficulty and, it was also possible - sometimes essential - to change the arrival speed of the Lemmings in the level.The mastery with which the developers have designed the strata of the basic game is for many in the success of Lemmings.DMA Design was not satisfied with this first opus and then chained the suites, extensions and conversions.

From the basic oh no!More Lemmings, which simply added a shovel of additional levels, to the special Christmas extension, passing by consoles versions and variations on all the machines of creation to the acorn archimedes, yet not so popular,Lemmings was on all fronts.In 1993, the first real sequel - The Tribes - was launched before a third, a fourth and a fifth opus arrived, each time based on this same concept.It must be said that the principle of the Puzzle Game - if he was not born with Lemmings - was widely popularized by the DMA Design franchise.

Many other games were inspired by the concept of Lemmings and it was on this plan that the talent of DMA Design made the difference ... at least at the beginning.We said it all the lemmings salt lies in the quality and genius of its paintings.This is true for the first opus, perhaps even more Machiavellian on the continuation, but less and less verified on the following episodes, which made the series more routine, less inspired.Lemmings has also experienced a transition to 3D - very unconvincing - but there has not been (yet?) Question of real revival of this memorable title.

The first big Theft Auto - Signed DMA Design - has finally aged quite badly © iphantom3d

For DMA Design, there was not really after Lemmings ... or rather if, a huge after lemmings since, as we said in the introduction, the studio was bought by Rockstar Games following the success of its projectNext, a certain big theft car.Since then, Dundee's studio has migrated to Edinburgh to work tirelessly on GTA and its various suites with an even more incredible success than that won by these sympathetic little rodents, who ultimately have nothing suicidal!