The only thing I'm disappointed about is how Pandemonium 9 took several videos before I finally solved it, while all other levels took only 1 video to solve
Well, it
is the final rank, what did you expect?
I didn't want the
entire pack to be a walkover, even though I was aiming for a more moderate level of difficulty. It's gratifying to see that the pack didn't give you too much trouble, generally.
Truthfully, other than Pandemonium 9, the only other hard level in the pack for me was Tricksy 9. Interesting the hardest levels in the pack both happened to be remakes of two levels from the original Lemmings.
Quite honestly, I think I both prefer, and find it easier, to remix existing levels rather than create totally new ones. If I already know a level's solution, I have more fun modifying it and giving it a new flavour than creating new puzzles totally from scratch. So, it makes sense that these would be the most interesting/challenging levels in the pack.
I found out, to my horror, after I had played through Tricksy 9-13 that I didn't have OBS open
Eeesh! I feel your pain, brother. I've been there, too!
Honestly, Pandemonium wasn't that difficult at all. It was definitely a letdown that the final 3 levels of the rank/pack that's in the final video of the LP were so much easier than some of the earlier levels of the rank and Tricksy.
I'm glad that it wasn't too difficult - my
aim was to make this pack no more than moderately difficult, and accessible to a range of solving abilities. So, that part of the comment I'm actually happy with. I will try next time to balance the final rank so that the biggest challenges are at the end, though. That seems to be a unanimous feeling amongst the feedback I've received so far.
I would say that Tricksy is probably your best rank of the pack
Agreed, it's my favourite, too. Taxing is my favourite rank from
Lemmings and Wicked is my favourite from
Oh No! More Lemmings - it seems that the penultimate rank is a bit of a thing for me. I definitely found this rank the easiest and most enjoyable to put together.
Magical 5 - Lemmina Loop Prevention Service Great level and introduction to the teleporter for the tileset and pack. I wonder if the teleporter/receiver graphics can be better made to make it clear that the animated star sprinkles is a teleporter/receiver, as I originally thought they were just background decoration
Quite honestly, my feeling here is that
the level was specifically designed to establish that graphic as a teleporter/receiver:
the player cannot possibly avoid it, and anybody that
doesn't spend too long with the level paused at the start will discover what's going on very quickly. I've already modified this graphic as much as I'm going to. I do appreciate what you're saying, but I think there's only so much you can do when it comes to custom graphics: at some point, you have to draw the line between what you find visually pleasing as a creator, and what the player needs to know just by looking. Start the level,
press play, see what happens - it's a motion-based video game, not a picture puzzle! Sorry for the abruptness here btw, this is just something I feel very strongly about! Whilst I have come round to the way of thinking that everything should be clear to a player at first glance where possible, there are certain things that can only
be discovered by actually
playing the game.
I love the unlock exit sound
Thanks! The locked exit for this style is something that I feel I got just right, so it's nice to have it appreciated
I'm not much of a fan of using stackers to get up the level, since most of the time you need way more stackers than builders to get up the level. Not to mention spamming the same skill over and over with the same lemming gets dull and repetitive quite quickly
Yes, I agree. This is something I'll definitely aim to avoid in future packs.
Not sure why it's necessary to have 300, although I got to admit the level looks cool with all of them on the screen.
That's exactly the reason
The 300 lemmings thing is another that's come up fairly regularly in response to this pack, though, so - again - something to avoid for next time!
It's quite easy, but I can see that it can be difficult for a less experienced player, if one isn't aware of teleporter overload. Also, I think this might be the first level that I have seen where multiple teleporters can go to the same receiver.
Yeah, it occurred to me that players might get stuck on this one if they're unaware of how teleporters work. Hopefully, since the only thing you
can do is change the release rate, this is something that may help certain players to discover the trick. That's what I'm hoping, anyway.
The receivers are actually overlapped - another thing I'll try to avoid in future so as not to cause unnecessary confusion.
Sensational 13 - The Unnecessarily Tall Pillars Probably the hardest level of the rank despite a somewhat minimal design and being a 1-of-everything level... I still like this level very much
I have to give some of the credit to namida here - his solution is the intended one (the level was originally designed with a totally different and much more straightforward solution, but then namida made me realise I could use the cloners in a very interesting way) - that's why the bee is there near the exit: as a "hats off" to namida for helping me with this level.
The only critique I have is it's impossible to tell whether she is close to falling off the left side at the bottom due to the lizard trap. I think namida suggested to use "no overwrite"?
Another case of aesthetics vs. level clarity. Since this part of the level is never used (and is in fact impossible to use as part of any solution), I figured aesthetics ought to win. Another thing I'll watch out for in future, though - it's been noted already.
Tricksy 6 - Day of the Daredevils! Part III Probably one of my favorites of the rank. Somewhat difficult, but I think the only hard parts are knowing... the end with one of the gliders to make her bounce off and turn around. Luckily, this has been observed a few times in some earlier levels, and so it didn't take me too long to realize this at the end.
Yes! Well spotted! I'm glad that you noted this; I tried to make it as obvious as possible several times throughout the pack before actually making it part of a puzzle. This is a version of a level I entered into a contest last year, hence why it's my name in massive letters!
Tricksy 13 - Nessy II Somewhat difficult... Certainly more interesting than Hunt the Nessy
Thanks! Although, I'm one of the very few players on the forums who enjoys the original
Nessy - it makes a great challenge for playing pause-free, each of those Builder assignments gets more and more intense if you play it that way, and it becomes a much more interesting level.
Tricksy 15 - Just a Second... Definitely reminds me of namida's The Longest Second level, so I wonder if you got inspiration from that level?
I was aware of namida's level at the time I designed this, but the idea for creating a level called "Just a Second", which is only a second long, is one I've had for a long time. It's something I'd guess pretty much every level designer thinks of at some point, since it's such an obvious tribute to
Just a Minute.
Pandemonium 2 - Milkshake Party Another great level which is probably my favorite of the rank... It definitely took me some time to think about how to get a Lemmina down to the exit area, and I absolutely loved what you wanted to achieve it. Well done!
Thank you, I appreciate that. This is probably my favourite Pandemonium level as well, and in hindsight it probably should have been much later in the rank, maybe even the penultimate level. The solution was actually based on a trick I discovered whilst playing original
Lemmings using only the new skills: there are plenty of times when this trick comes in handy for that challenge!
Pandemonium 4 - Lemgate Nice level. It's hard to tell that inside the rings the blue stuff is background, though. Still, this was a visually nicely designed level.
This is my least favourite level in the pack. It's one of those times when I think I had a good idea, and made it look pretty, but the finished product is such a ridiculous mess. Finding the balance between good ideas, looking pretty,
and being a decent level is something I'm working on all the time!
Pandemonium 7 - Falling Forever Part II Somewhat difficult, but this was somewhat another favorite of mine. The solution is just awesome to watch when it comes together correctly.
Yes, thanks! I love levels like that, where you can watch the solution back and see it all happen perfectly. I aim for that kind of thing a lot, but not too much - I don't like levels to be
too prescriptive.
Pandemonium 8 - Staircase to Nowhere III Where were the other two versions? A level that's annoying for me due to repeatedly spamming the same skill over and over so many times... I definitely sounded very bored while palying the level
I think this one's an example of my tendency towards execution difficulty making it into the game. I still like the level, but I can see why players might find it somewhat tiresome. I'd encourage you to just see levels like this as something a bit different that you can just play your way through.
Pandemonium 9 - With a Twist of Lemmina Please By far the hardest level of the rank and of the entire pack. It's surprising how I ended up struggling so much with this level, when I didn't struggle anywhere near as much with all the other levels. The only level of the pack that required multiple videos. I later realized that while writing the feedback for Pandemonium 2 that the trick I used in that level ended up being used here when I was finally successful. Not sure why it took me so long to figure that out. I also watched your replay and the only difference is I swapped the walker for the cloner for both the beginning and end.
You're not alone in this assessment of the level. It's definitely the one I'm proudest of in terms of its actual puzzle, and I clearly did very well to backroute-proof it. I'll aim to put more levels like this in the final ranks in future (but not too many!
)
Pandemonium 13 - Constellations II I wasn't too much of a fan of this level due to all the building that needs to be done. It can also be a bit fiddly due to the tiny stars.
Yeah, this is another example where I favoured looks over substance. It's so ridiculous - the stars at the beginning are supposed to spell out "WL" when you connect them! Eeesh! I won't be doing many more levels like this in future, I assure you!
Pandemonium 15 -
Nothing is Impossible... Obviously the level was inspired after I showed you the Snow Palace level for Superlemmini.
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Indeed it was - well remembered! And, thanks for the inspiration - I would never have come up with this puzzle had it not been something I tried in order to solve
Snow Palace. I still think that level is impossible, btw...
Once again, excellent job with this pack, and one I can highly recommend to others to play if they haven't yet. This pack seems to be way better now than the earlier versions from what I read, although I probably would not had liked to play the early versions of the pack when most of the levels were suboptimal than they are now due to how there were elements that are generally not liked by most of the community, in particular the hidden stuff, since I'm one of those players who thinks everything required to solve the level should be visible from the get-go. Like you, I don't mind the occasional hidden traps, but if it happens a lot in a short amount of time, then I will mind and will start getting annoyed. Occasional use is fine for the variety.
Thanks for your comments, and yes - I am glad that I responded well enough to that early feedback to make the pack much more community-friendly (and, admittedly, much better generally!)
Lemminas would not be what it is now without a lot of help, support and strongly-worded suggestions from the forum long-timers, for sure! I also agree that it could be even better in many ways, but - that's what future packs are for. We all have to start somewhere