I've now done most of the work necessary to port Lemmings Redux to new-formats and fix all issues that have been noticed since the last update. However, there are still a couple of backroute fixes to make, and I would like some input from the community on the best way to do these. I've attached new-formats copies of both the levels in question.
(1) Let's go camping. The backroute: second lemming blocks at the edge of the large wall; first lemming builds a > bridge to get back up, then releases the blocker.
It's been suggested that we should move the wall with the trap further away to prevent this, but that would mean enlarging the level, which I'm a bit reluctant to do as Genesis levels have a maximum size of 511. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
(2) Oh No! Squish. The backroute: dig just before each trap trigger, then bash away the ground under the trigger; the basher is shallow enough to stop automatically.
This one is a big problem, because it's always going to be possible unless we make severe changes to the level. One possibility is to reduce the number of bashers and diggers. We don't know the intended solution and there may not be any specific intended solution, but I've played around and found a solution I'm happy with (as in, it doesn't feel like a backroute) that uses only 3 bashers, 3 diggers (as well as other skills). But reducing the bashers and diggers to 3 each would still allow the above backroute (you could use a miner and builder for the fourth trap).
We could increase the number of traps, but that would look strange. Another possibility is to place steel under the first trap trigger -- but that also doesn't look great, and it's still relatively easy to do a variant of the same solution.
Honestly, because this level is so hard to fix, I am considering removing it. If we do that, there are two levels I'd like to suggest as possibilities to add in its place, but I'm open to other suggestions:
* It's the price you have to pay (Havoc 3). This level got a lot of discussion in the long Redux topic, and we eventually concluded that it was impossible to fix it, but I thought it may be possible to fix once we got Shimmiers (using them purely as skill-cancellers). Well, we have them now. But it would be strange to introduce Shimmiers for a single level in a pack that otherwise sticks to the original skills, so I'm not wild about this idea.
* Where Lemmings Dare (Havoc 17). This level was on the original long list (page 3 of the long topic), but wasn't included in bsmith's first compilation pack, possibly inadvertently. It hadn't appeared on anyone's lists of suggested removals, and Minim was in favour of re-adding it. Honestly, I think this level got overlooked because I (and possibly also bsmith) thought of it as a "hidden traps" level, since I remember not noticing the traps until I ran into them, the first time I played the level. But looking at it again -- once you know what the vine traps looks like, all six traps around the exit are clearly visible. So this level may have been unfairly passed over.
I'll wait a short while to see what people have to say, and if necessary put up a poll, but I would definitely like to have this settled quickly so we can release new-formats Redux within the next week.