Steady 1 - Penumbra Nice level to start off the new Lemmings Faithful update. However, I disagree with Armani that the talisman is easy, as the skill restrictions mean getting up the level is much harder. It's possible that I might had missed a far easier way to, though. IMo, it's a difficult talisman not only because of the skill restrictions, but also you're racing to stop both hatches from splatting with the very limited amount of floaters, and then later on you need to get the preplaced blockers who are all placed very high in the level down safely without the floaters. At least in my solution I didn't have any spare floaters for them. Then there's getting them all the floaters back up to the exit afterwards, which I've already explained is quite difficult when you aren't allowed neither climbers nor builders! All of these things combined is what makes me think the talisman makes it difficult for the first level of the new pack update However, the next level is much worse in this regard IMO (see below)

Steady 2 - Welcome to the World of Tomorrow! Ok, this is quite possibly the hardest level of the entire Steady rank when it comes to the talisman, as this took me several days over several sessions before I finally succeeded. As such, I did post-commentary after I attempted the talisman for apparently 2 hours Several things make this a very hard talisman: it requires some advanced maneuvers, such as turning a laser with a blocker, but I think the most critical one is interrupting the laser at the right point in order to make a turnaround point, and to do the latter you need to shoot it at the right spot, at a point where there's a slight rise in the terrain at the pipe join. Before I found this solution, I kept running out of lasers, though I suppose the visual terrain clutter in the pipes being a clue as to the blocker placements should had lead me to the laser/blocker trick much sooner. Even after the tip Icho gave of being short on shimmiers, I still struggled a lot with the level, eventually getting to the point of also being short with shimmiers, until I remember the laser turnaround mentioned earlier.

All of these facts combined make this talisman very difficult, especially for only the second level of the new Lemmings Faithful update. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice talisman with no more than 1 walker limit, but IMO this is quite bad when it's a really difficult talisman so early in the new update. At least when it comes to less experienced players, especially those who go for talismans and may likely rage quit when attempting it. You can even hear my rage slowly rising from time to time in my LP, though again I was a dummy with not realizing the laser/blocker interaction sooner (it's not new to me, as I've seen it before in Lemmings Uncharted, for example). In fairness, it's not easy to spot where to use it. Similarly, where the walker skill you're allowed to use is completely unintuitive. For a long time, I kept thinking it was used for a blocker somewhere at the top instead of the one who turns the laser at the bottom.

My solution also uses a lot of precise skill assignments, and quite honestly the steel blocks make the execution more annoying than it needs to be. In particular, there's very little room for error when freeing the upper left blocker, as if you remove all of the lower pipe terrain to its left then the ceiling is too high for the shimmier to be able to grab on. Consider lowering the terrain to allow for more room for error there so that there's more pixels available to start shimmying along the ceiling in that area.

Despite all I've mentioned, it is a great level and all, especially the talisman, but the latter alone is what makes this way too difficult for just the second level. It really feels more of a Turbulent rank level instead of a Steady rank level IMO. I think there can be a much easier Freezer graphic set introduction level as a result to replace this one. However, if doing this, then it needs to be with a Dexter level, as the entire Steady rank is all Dexter levels. So, if this level is to remain in the Steady rank, I would definitely move it to very near the end of the rank. The one that probably comes to my mind is swapping Steady 9 with this one, especially as it at least introduces the various Freezer Lemming sprites and the player learns that the blocker one is just as if an actual blocker is there to turn them while the others are objects that Lemmings can pass over with no problems. Plus the Steady 9 talisman reminds me of Simple 3

It's just like the brothers have said, we level makers are often not great at judging the difficulty of our own content! I should know, because last year, I upranked a level in my upcoming Lemmings Memories pack as a result of a private tester's feedback and because I completely underestimated its difficulty!

Steady 3 - Sweet Tooth Much easier talisman than the previous level, though the hardest part was just knowing where to place the blocker and then being able to free it or any and all blockers used. Luckily only one is needed. Nice trick of fencing below while platforming with the worker to free the blocker! Been a while since I've seen this one. Also a nice introductory Cake level!

Steady 4 - Serpent Shrine I'm surprised Armani thought the talisman here was tricky. I didn't think it was at all, though one of my earlier attempts comes pretty close to achieving it but not quite. I think my critical error was climbing and then digging down the pillar on the left side. Once I realized a much better way to do that, then it came easily to me. Another great introductory level, this time for the Oasis graphic set

Steady 5 - Dark Mire Yup, absolutely no problem at all with the talisman. You do the multi-tasking correctly and it'll be a piece of cake Still a nice level here introducing the Grim graphic set, though it's quite minimal since there's plenty of things we haven't been introduced to here, such as the various traps, several of which are quite disturbing and graphic

Steady 6 - Hey Presto One of my favorites of the rank! This has an excellent puzzle element of figuring out how to get the Lemmings to the correct teleporter in order to get to the exit. That element kind of reminds me of that no skills level in I believe Lemmings Plus Omega 2 I like how the teleporters are all labeled with a symbol so you always know exactly which receiver each leads to. Nicely done, and it was especially fun to figure out the talisman where neither builders nor walkers are allowed!

Steady 7 - Lost in the Desert Not too difficult, even with the talisman, though I was a dummy and was on this level a bit longer than I needed to be due to having not figured out to get under the needle trap sooner and also with completely forgetting that bashers aren't allowed for the talisman! It's still pretty fun to try and figure out how to get around the builder supply shortage! Great level

Steady 8 - Lost in the Dessert Another favorite of mine of the rank! It was really fun to figure out how to get 2 Lemmings to each of the 5 exits scattered all around the level. This level I would say is a great example of one where while sliders are normally a curse when playing and solving, they can be a blessing too depending on the design. Here, I took advantage of this by building so that the others cannot follow the lead Lemming! Well done with this level, I really enjoyed it! I especially like how all the balloon exits are different colors too!

Steady 9 - Frozen Hearts As mentioned, I think this can do nicely with swapping places with Steady 2, especially as the level's talisman is much easier than the former's. Without the talisman, both levels are likely the same difficulty, though here the sliders proved to be a nuisance at the very end compared to the previous level! Still, I generally like talismans that prohibit any or all constructive skills a lot! That being said, it's still a challenging level with figuring out the route the crowd needs to take and dealing with potential splat falls as a result to obtain the talisman. This definitely increases the difficulty, though again the fact that the talisman is just like Simple 3's does make this a pretty suitable swap with Steady 2 IMO. Again, just due to how insane the difficulty of the latter's talisman is, as without the talismans all the Lemmings Faithful levels are quite easy

Steady 10 - Chamber of Horrors Nice level to finish off the rank and not as challenging as it looks, even with the talisman, especially as I've managed to best both the save and total skills records of the talisman! Yea, this graphic set is definitely not kid friendly or appropriate at all, with the gruesome and graphic displays of how the various traps kill the Lemming                    

Turbulent 1 - Can I Have A Peppermint? Somewhat difficult to start off the rank, though in the end my solution seems a bit hackish and brute forced, especially with the way I got everyone down safely past the splat pad by digging on the builder staircase to lower the height so that it's safe, including stopping the builder himself early enough. They just barely managed to fall a bit past the splat pad. I'm guessing the intention is to have everyone get to the glider skill adder, though I'm not sure if there's enough builders to be able to do so. Still a nice level here

Turbulent 2 - Lemmings of the Caribbean Nice reference to the film Pirates of the Caribbean, though surprisingly I have not seen the film! Anyway, not difficult in any way even with the talisman, though it got trickier as the level went on, when I found myself struggling with how to not use more builders than you're allowed for it. I love the treasure chests for buttons to unlock the exit, which is a ship rising out of the water! Only thing I'm a bit iffy on is whether it might be a better idea to make it more obvious that it's the exit, which in that case perhaps it's better to first have a level with the ship exit not "locked" before introducing the locked variant In any case, nice first level by tan x which I enjoyed playing and solving! Also, didn't realize the kraken before Nicely done, and if you want another great example of one in a Lemmings level, take a look at Pieuw's level in Fiat Lem!

Turbulent 3 - The Belfry Sorry, not a fan of this level due to how excessive the repetition of skill assignments is, though admittedly I found the repeated cloning of the glider to get higher with the updraft in the middle to reach the bell button to unlock the exit a cool concept Talisman luckily isn't too difficult or tight at all given the amount of cloners to allow for a comfortable margin. Nice level design!

Turbulent 4 - Sugar Rush Oh no, a zombie level It's the type of level I tend to struggle a lot with when playing and solving them. In the end, I spent much longer than was needed due to not realizing that getting zombies off the Lemmings' tail is much simpler than I thought. It just comes down to there's a critical sweet spot of making a splat fall for the zombies and then temporarily making it safe for the crowd and then making it safe by digging at the top and cancelling with a shimmier, and as long as they're sufficiently ahead of the trailing zombie then they're all make it to the exit before they get infected. This of course required that the Lemmings are tightly bunched up to make it easier. Nice level nevertheless and I forgot to mention it in my LP, but I think making it clearer that it's an anti-splat pad on the right side is a good idea

I also didn't realize that the level doesn't terminate properly even after you nuke the level. I'm guessing it's due to how there are still zombies to spawn. I could had sworn it did before in an earlier NL version. I'm going to have to check with the level from Lemmings Plus VI.

Turbulent 5 - Lem Academy of Science & Energy Research One of my favorites of the rank! This was really fun to figure out and puzzle my way through to obtain the talisman. I really like the part with getting a pioneer to go over the top of the level to get to the slider skill adder That's one of the hardest parts of the level but one of the best solution elements IMO It's also hard to figure out how to get to the upper left button and the slider back to safety later on, as the talisman just requires a save all, particularly since only the slider will be able to reach the button that's almost right above the exit. Well done with this level Dexter!

Turbulent 6 - An Omen of Doom Wow, what a difficult level, but only because again I tend to struggle a lot with zombie levels It really isn't as difficult as it appears, even with the talisman. I spent longer on the level than I needed to only because I didn't realize sooner to send 2 climbers over to deal with the zombies Before I came to that realization, I kept trying to figure out various ways to try and avoid the impending zombie threat if they try and come over via the portal. It also took me a while to figure out that only a digger is needed to get everyone to the exit, as a basher isn't necessary if you dig at the right spot. It took me a while to get the timing right to platform the gap up so that no one slips by while the gap is being sealed up. I wonder if there's a much easier way to do this than the way I did it Guess I'll have to check tan x's solution here I really like the added skeleton on the far right! Certainly adds to the already spooky atmosphere of the Grim graphic set!

Turbulent 7 - Bumbly Beach Bazaar Wow, what a beast of a level to play and solve, given the very chaotic level design with all the various skill adder objects and neutralizer/de-neutralizer in the level. It apparently took me almost 2 hours before I finally succeeded here! Because of the various objects, it makes it very difficult to keep track of what skills each Lemming has. There was apparently one attempt where I missed one drowning and hence ruining the talisman attempt Thank goodness for being able to assign a hotkey that one can press in order to see what permanent skills the Lemmings have Apparently for neutralizers it doesn't display so in the skill panel area, so you'll need to look at the shadowy skill icons above the neutral Lemming instead.

Anyway, there's a lot going on here, though I'm wondering if the level was much harder than it needed to be due to not using much of the blockers I like the touch of the pirate ship trap close to the exit Regarding the talisman, despite walkers not being allowed in contrast to Steady 2's, which allowed you no more than 1 walker, it's luckily not much harder. The level itself is already pretty difficult even if you allow yourself walkers because of the chaotic level design as already mentioned.

After some time, despite the overwhelming level design, it seems clear that one needs to have all Lemmings use the red teleporter in order to get the swimmer and slider skills needed to reach the exit later on. Everything else is irrelevant, though some of the other ones will be necessary in order to reach some of the buttons to unlock the exit. This does mean at least one Lemming will be a neutral. However, you do have skills to be able to avoid the neutralizer in the middle of the level some of the time.

Sounds Armani had the same idea as me initially that the glider skill adder is a "trap" that needs to be avoided. However, looking back, I don't think it's a trap per se. I think it's possible to actually use it and still be able to solve the level. I just need to check to see if it's possible for the gliders to land to the right of the pirate ship trap and be able to reach the exit afterwards. It would require shooting the laser at the right spot so that the sliders go out to the right at end of the laser tunnel.

I'm also wondering if it's possible to get the disarmer to be able to disarm the gun trap by guiding it to that part of the level later on after getting the bottom left button. I'm also wondering if swimmers can disarm traps, though judging by what Plodderuk wrote in their feedback it seems not. I have forgotten whether or not swimmers are able to disable traps, and it looks like they can't, so I shall remember and keep this in mind!

For the key buttons, they currently use the pickup sound, which can easily be mistaken for a pickup being collected, especially as I'm so used to that being the sound of pickup skills. Perhaps it's better to use a sound unique to buttons that only buttons make?

Turbulent 8 - Ice Nine Kind of a breather level which was certainly a welcome sight and especially needed after I struggled a lot with the previous two levels I did run into digger shortage problems, but only because I didn't realize that it's not necessary to use the digger at the start for the crowd to go through the bottom. It's not possible to get them back up to the exit later on anyway Sounds like I did it very different from either Armani or Plodderuk with handling the pre-assigned shimmiers, as I released them all with a walker skill, which is all you're allowed for the talisman. The challenge then was to figure out how to get them all down safely without running out of diggers. Luckily, there are enough lasers to use as delays so that they don't slip by the digger when digging inside a laser tunnel. I especially like the part of lasering through the OWWs to both release the crowd and to reach the exit. Still a nice level here by tan x!

Turbulent 9 - River Styx I will probably have to agree with Armani here that this is quite possibly the hardest level of the new Lemmings Faithful update, though it's either this or Turbulent 7 IMO. From what it sounds like based on what Armani and Plodderuk have said, it's possible to race against the neutral so that he doesn't collect the upper right button I didn't do that for my solution, as I just avoided the upper left button until the very end, and then once the neutral zombies were disposed of, I was able to reach the former locked exit safely with the ones that are still able to reach it. With some optimization, I probably could had saved way more, but by that point a lot of the Lemmings are too close to one another to be able to platform up the gap in the bottom right so that plenty of them slipped out before it was sealed off again. I like the concept of the blocker neutral zombie infecting the other neutrals after the neutral blocker exits after the hidden balloon exit is unlocked. I didn't realize that was hidden balloon exit until after I had gotten both of the buttons though. I was wondering what that "1" was!

Also from Dexter's feedback to another user, reaching the unlocked exit in the bottom left is possible?

Turbulent 10 - A Tale of Two Cities Wow, what a great level to finish off the new Lemmings Faithful update! I definitely agree with tan x's choice of this being the final level. Luckily it's a pretty easy level to solve, even with the time attack requirement of the talisman, though of course the level becomes a significant challenge if going for it. I immensely enjoyed playing and solving this level, and it was very satisfying to obtain the time attack talisman here! It's quite an overwhelming level due to the huge size and the various bell buttons scattered everywhere in the level that need to be collected in order to unlock all 4 exits, where they all have an exit limit of 50 each. The huge amount of Lemmings for the level especially means that maxing out the RR is mandatory in order to even have a chance of beating the level in under 2.5 minutes. Same thing with multi-tasking both sides. In an earlier attempt, I was too slow by about 5 seconds or so, but in my success I finished with 8 seconds to spare. Seems the key here is to bring the crowds closer to the exits and make a new holding pit for them so that it's easier to tell when to release them and be able to meet the time requirement.

By Armani's remark of finishing under 2 minutes even, that sounds very insane!

Speaking of 2 minutes, I went back to the Hyper rank finisher of Casualemmings to see if I can obtain the talisman and luckily I was able to do it with not much difficulty. So, I would have to disagree with nin10doadict that 2 minutes is an "unfair" time limit, which the level originally had.

Some nitpicks I have here, which are the bell buttons currently not making any sound when collected/pressed, which therefore makes it impossible to tell if one already got to it earlier. Even more problematic when they disappear completely afterwards. Finally, it's not obvious that they're buttons they need to be push/collected to unlock the exit.                           

Hidden terrain surrounding the Marble exit is a bit much and unnecessary, though I don't see players ever running into the problem of being a a skill short to access it, so it's probably fine. I kind of see this as "going all out" as much as possible on the level given that it's the Paradise rank finisher Plus you're not the only one who's done this. GigaLem was infamous for this in his really old level packs when it came to the L1 Marble exit. Hence my remark to you of pulling a GigaLem

I only realized just now that the bomber and miner are interchangeable in the solution. Also, the building later on is probably a bit too tight and precise, though I suppose this is somewhat of a minor nitpick on my end

Blocker to turn the digger to build at the bottom to catch the others after bombing away the thin floor.

the bombers are pretty precise here, especially with clearing the snowman arm for the climbers, though I believe you should see timed bombers in my replays, so admittedly that makes it far harder!

I thought that the blocker turning the builder wouldn't work here as I thought the Lemmings wouldn't be able to follow the builder up the staircase. It's only because I remember this being super difficult to pull off in SuperLemmini and/or I think I even remember doing it in a certain direction isn't possible while in the other it is. I think this has been fixed for RetroLemmini so that the blocker/builder should be equally possible in both directions now, though it's still pretty precise, as the success of following up the staircase seems to be very dependent on whether the builder brick shifts over significantly the other way, and to achieve this one must block at a very specific time to turn the builder at a certain point in its animation