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#11
NeoLemmix Levels / Re: [NeoLemmix] Xmas Lemmings ...
Last post by Guigui - May 11, 2026, 11:38:02 PM
Alright, I am scared of Armani levels since I tried some of them in the Holidays Lemmings '24 pack about one year ago, right when I started playing NL actually. For a newcomer, those levels seemed very hard (and they are) and frustrating.

But now one year later I'm trying to cure myself and decided to attempt the smallest pack by the one of the biggest level designer around here : Xmas Lemmings 2021.

For now I could clear the first two ranks Retro and Avant-Garde. I am quite proud of this, and must say those levels were hard for sure, but not as hard as I remember them in Holiday Lemmings 2024. Those two packs may have a difference in difficulty, but I also hope that my solving skills have improved during this year of mainly playing this game !

In any case one can definitely state again that Armani is a master level designer. When you look, play, and find a solution to one of his level, you can certainly tell that much care has been put into it. Everything falls perfectly into place, and everything makes perfect sense between the design and the solution to which is player is led to progressively. As such, it is very pleasing to play those levels, and I must thank Armani again for providing them to us.

I'll respect the tradition of individual levels thoughts after my clear. I guess not many things will be new after the solvers AJPJM, kaywhyn, Ichotolot that came before me. Though maybe some points in my solution may be different, for instance Retro 11 Roof Of The World and Avant-Garde 9 Get Your Sled Ready

Spoiler
Retro 1 I did not read/follow the advice title to isolate the last lemming as a worker ! Instead I isolated him with good ol' break your own bridge technique. In the end I have just enough builders to clear.

Retro 2 I tried the 100% here, and had to time carefully the miners to do so. Doable, and some skills left.

Retro 3 That was pretty straightforward, as I am now used to making climbers turn around in miner/basher tunnels. Though at some point I was scared because I thought the climber could also escape to the left, but he can not !

Retro 4 Lead the way with bashers and contain crowd with miners.

Retro 5 Some tricks required but it works in the end. I wondered if 100% was doable, but saving a blocker looking the wrong direction way and standing above a bottomless pit looked too hard to me...

Retro 6 Not a hard level for once. The pickups and layout dictate quite clearly what has to be done. I love the fact that no matter which way the crowd exits the digger pit, one exit is there for them :D

Retro 7 Now this is masterfully designed, and the clues on where to place the blockers were very welcome ! Thank you Armani.

Retro 8 My first tentative were one basher short as I needed 3. But then by placing the 2 digger pits close to each other, the miner can act as mine+bash, so it works !

Retro 9 Weirdly enough, this one was a quick solve to me ! I saw the solution where the workers have to commit suicide to clear the way quite fast. Maybe my brain was trained after the first 8 levels and I was on Armani's wavelength like JawaJuice would say ;)

Retro 10 This one took some time as possibilities are very large here. In the end I did not use the leftmost part of the level because it used the miner that I could not afford to loose for the rightmost part.
In order to reach the exit with the 2 left entrances, I had to bounce builders on a single blocker, twice but not at the same height. First time I see this in a level, nice idea if this is intended.

Retro 11 For a long time I did not know how to free that top-left blocker without making the crowd splat. Then I used a trick that is also used in the level ONE 4 Falling Steps of my Save One pack : mine a bridge so that lemmings can descend it but not ascend it.
This way I both free the crowd from the splat, and free the blocker with a single miner. Setting this up in this level requires some trials and errors and pixel precise placements of the blocker, last builder and miner though. Not usual as per Armani standard.

Reading other's solution I think this was not intended as people isolate the 4 needed workers with a blocker sooner, then use a trick to turn the miner around.
I think my solution is acceptable too, and remember that Armani was one of the few, if not the only, player who found this method in ONE 4  :thumbsup:

Retro 12 Gosh this one was hard ! For a long time I had all pieces to solve this level, but could not set them up properly due to timing : mine too soon and everyone will splat, or bash too soon and you cannot mine later.
The idea to mine seemingly for nothing is just brilliant : mine for nothing but save a brdige, then use the bridge later to make the mine useful. Wow  :lem-mindblown:

Avant-Garde 1 Back to lower difficulty with the start of this new rank, nothing much to say here. Great and doable level for newcomers, Armani can create them too !

Avant-Garde 2 I had fun toying around with the new skills in this weird design, makes me wonder what namida's room actually looks like  ???

Avant-Garde 3 Still in the doable difficulty, walkers are that strong.

Avant-Garde 4 Nice level where some lemmings have to take one route, and the others another route. Thanks again for the marks on the ground to place the laserers !

Avant-Garde 5 It starts to get tricky here : one miner for 2 tasks.

Avant-Garde 6 Extension, extension, extension. Good level, you'll definitely struggle without extensions.

Avant-Garde 7 Very good level, and taught me the wall-to-wall slider/jumper (Super Mario can do it with no particular skill in recent entries in the series !). Thank you for this because it will be used often later !

Avant-Garde 8 Zombies have to be led here, but dont touch them ! Walker is strong, did I say that already ? Also you have to manage builders correctly here : I kept on trying to make the water pits crossable in both ways, but it just wastes builders.

Avant-Garde 9 The Sled was a really difficult level to me, mainly because it looks like I'm not that good with gliders.
I spent a lot of time deciding how to escape the worker at the beginning, there are so many possibilities. But figuring how to extend the fencer was even harder. I used the stackers incorrectly and had to extend the fencer with 2 stackers only, which seems impossible here.
In the end I got a quite elegant solution, if I say so, where a single lemming can build the 3 necessary stacks by himself, thanks to a well placed stoner. I think this may be a bit backrouty because I have no use for the 3rd climber, and save one more than required ?

Avant-Garde 10 Now Armani shows his evil face : lead me to think I need the 3 provided stoners to fill that bottom gap  :evil:
But if you use all 3 here, then the level just does not work. Then count the pixel and use air-lem to make the work with only 2 stoners : brilliant idea !
It is worth noting that if you remove the first little gap to be filled and provide only 2 stoners, then the level will be easier bc player will have no choice but to fill the bottom gap with 2 stoners. I'm sure Armani thought about it and put that other gap as a bait. He's evil I told you.

Avant-Garde 11 Great zombie and jump/bounce everywhere level !
There are many ways to get up there within the (non existent ?!?) time-limit, but only one will work with the rest of the level.
Here I was stuck for a day or trying to figure how to free the crowd after getting rid of the zombie and forged the path to exit ; I always had a stacker left that I did not know where to use.
My error was a beginner one : think that a single worker has to do everything. Here, once the crazy bouncer has done his job, he can just exit peacefully and leave another worker from the crowd do the rest of the job. Nice touch.

Avant-Garde 12 Huuum, this level made me change my mind.
My mind before :
1) "pickups are not that great, their location and content give away too much of the solution of the level"
2) "unneeded pickups are just plain boring and bad design to try to fool the player"
My mind after Avant-Garde 12 Presents For You
1) "pickups may be fun and allow to create nice puzzle"
2) "unneeded pickups are necessary for point 1) to be true".
Here we have a great exemple where the unneeded pickups make the whole level good.
Solving the level was all about finding the most obvious and straightforward route for the worker up there to free the crowd, and make everything possible to try to stick to it, no matter which red-herrings pickups you leave behind. If you can do this successfully (and this involves using a cloner at the most improbable place of all), then the level is cleared in no time.
On the opposite, if you start thinking in terms of pickups first, try to get them all, or even focus a bit too much on them, then you wont be able to clear.
So yeah, if you remove the unneeded pickup, the level becomes too easy. It is also splendid that those unneeded pickups do not create unwanted solutions, but for that you can trust Armani and his secret weapon : give basher pickups in a level that does not need more bashers.

Avant-Garde 13 Thank you for the knid words. I remember 2021 to be a weird and rather bad year, as 2020 was before. But hey, now we're over it, have more kids (congrats on your again !) and life continues. So you were right.

I'll tackle the Bonus rank next, and expect things to get tougher there ; let's see what Evil Armani has in store for us  :evil:

EDIT : now I've joined the replays ;)
#12
NeoLemmix Levels / Re: All You Need Is Lemmings [...
Last post by JawaJuice - May 11, 2026, 01:05:29 PM
Quote from: NieSch on May 11, 2026, 12:43:21 PMDamn, that's clever. I accept my loss. But I still like my own solution better. ;P 

Just had a look at it and I can see why - it is cleaner, for sure, if arguably slightly less efficient ;). Also had a look at your replay for 'Strictly No Swimming' out of curiosity and yes, that's really neat! Thanks for accepting my solutions as alts for these two ;P :thumbsup:

 
#13
NeoLemmix Levels / Re: All You Need Is Lemmings [...
Last post by NieSch - May 11, 2026, 12:43:21 PM
Quote from: JawaJuice on May 11, 2026, 11:47:47 AM@NieSch Probably still not intended, but maybe acceptable now? ;P

Damn, that's clever. I accept my loss. But I still like my own solution better. ;P 
#14
NeoLemmix Levels / Re: All You Need Is Lemmings [...
Last post by JawaJuice - May 11, 2026, 11:47:47 AM
@NieSch Probably still not intended, but maybe acceptable now? ;P

#15
NeoLemmix Levels / Re: All You Need Is Lemmings [...
Last post by JawaJuice - May 11, 2026, 11:21:47 AM
Quote from: NieSch on May 11, 2026, 10:09:13 AMThanks a lot for your feedback and replays. I think the levels in this pack are a bit easier than some of the Mayhem levels in LLL. (But to be honest; I don't think I could complete either of the packs myself. :crylaugh: )

My pleasure! I'll revisit LLL at some point then, but I was really struggling with the final rank last time I tried! ???

QuoteFun fact about "Strictly No Swimming":
Spoiler
It's easier when you don't use the pick-up. It says strictly no swimming for a reason! ;)

Spoiler
Ahh, that did cross my mind, but didn't spend any time trying to find a solution without the pick-up as it didn't look possible ;P

QuoteYou also found one backroute that I didn't like, so I changed that level.

Fair enough - I was sure that had to be the intended solution, but I'll take another look! :thumbsup:
#16
NeoLemmix Levels / Re: All You Need Is Lemmings [...
Last post by NieSch - May 11, 2026, 10:09:13 AM
Quote from: JawaJuice on May 07, 2026, 12:59:02 PMHi @NieSch! Told you I'd be back ;) Despite being a very challenging pack (and enjoyable for the most part!), I would have to say it's slightly easier than Long Live Lemmings!, as I still haven't managed to complete that one yet. Be interested to know whether you agree!

Congratulations on completing the pack! :thumbsup: 

Thanks a lot for your feedback and replays. I think the levels in this pack are a bit easier than some of the Mayhem levels in LLL. (But to be honest; I don't think I could complete either of the packs myself. :crylaugh: )

You found some cool solutions, to "Splash or Splat" and "Blocker from Hell" for instance. You made those levels look easy! 8-)

Fun fact about "Strictly No Swimming":
Spoiler
It's easier when you don't use the pick-up. It says strictly no swimming for a reason! ;)

You also found one backroute that I didn't like, so I changed that level:



Update V3.0
(see opening post): Please Keep Your Distance. There's ten lemmings less now and there's a time limit of one minute. (The intended solution remains the same.)

Thanks again, JawaJuice. :)
#17
In Development / Re: Revenge of the Lemmings - ...
Last post by mobius - May 11, 2026, 01:46:19 AM
So I doubt if anyone agrees with me on this but I think my own consensus on the matter of which levels to include or not is as follows:
these are attempts to make some logical consistency to the rules;

-levels present in small packs such as Ben Bryant's, MazuLems, and Dodo's cachapacks; I think these should be allowed.
-levels present in large packs such as InsaneSteve's, GeoffLems, etc, shouldn't be included because: they are large packs containing many great levels. This project is a large pack the purpose of which is to consolidate levels not already in a large pack; into a large pack.
I too would love to include some levels by Clam or ISteve that used to be in the pack but it seems kinda wrong to do so, if we do then why not include dozens of other levels; such as those by Geofflems or DecietLems or PimoLem etc? those of which are also quite old.

A counterpoint I see being raised is: Clam and ISteve didn't actually consolidate their packs back then; that was done by myself and Wafflem more recently. (unless you count Lix, in which case, ISteve's levels are fair game but not Clam as he did make a large pack for Lix) Clam even specifically made his 5th pack for a project of this nature.

But I think the point still stands about people not wanting to play repeated levels and the pack being too large already, I think if ultimately you decide to include any of these from the larger packs they should at least be limited to a very small amount.

Also as just a side point; don't count on Ben Bryant's pack being released anytime soon; I kind of lost interest in putting it together atm. I needed a bit of a break from it.
#18
Tech & Research / Re: Stage play-like developmen...
Last post by The64Watcher - May 10, 2026, 10:33:42 PM
dont tell me they fed the lemmings firecrackers
#19
Game Bugs & Suggestions / Re: [✓][SUG][PL] Insert Mode: ...
Last post by Simon - May 10, 2026, 04:21:42 PM
You've released CE 1.1 with this in time for Level of the Year 2025, thanks! This June 2026, I'll solve on livestream with CE 1.1 and will report here.

-- Simon
#20
Contests / Re: Level of the Year: 2025!
Last post by IchoTolot - May 10, 2026, 01:22:37 PM
I just contacted all authors for the compilation pack for the playing phase of LOTY 2025.

When I got everything together and created the pack, I will start the playing phase.  :)

I aim to get this done in around 2 weeks from now and keep the playing phase up for around a month.