Genocide 5 -
Googly Eyed Coffins Nice puzzle here! I already gave feedback for this level, so I'm just going to copy it here.
I kept incorrectly thinking that it was impossible to send a disarmer from the bottom entrance to the top part of the level due to the trap at the top because of how it's impossible to disarm it (well, not absolutely impossible, because it is possible, but then it won't be possible to solve the level). Once I challenged this incorrect assumption and started trying things around there, the lightbulb came on and then hooray, I did it. No fancy tricks needed, just a standard puzzle with an absolute red herring path that I couldn't dismiss for a very long time. Well Icho, you managed to fool me with the path of platforming across the 3 water gaps for a really long time. The only hard part is timing a climber at the top so that he doesn't get too far ahead of the disarmer once he does make it to the top after sealing off the top and bottom to catch the disarmer as he falls from hitting the platformer brick at the top. Also, this is the type of level that looks to be a "disjoint union" but is not! Indeed, for the most part it is, but even though only one lemming from the bottom interacts with the top, that's still enough to make it a non-disjoint union. That's another reason why I thought that it had to be possible to send the disarmer up to the top of the level, because I remember reading Icho's take on disjoint unions on this forum. Just for a long time I couldn't figure out how to do it. Otherwise, not a difficult level at all!
So how did the solution come about? I experimented by sending a climber from the top entrance and platformed to the land hanging above the entrance. Platformed some more after the basher broke through, then that's where I realized that it is possible to get the disarmer from the bottom to the top after all. The rest is history.
Ironic that I completely ignored my own advice I gave to another forumer on a Sublems level he's currently stuck on of "terrain that appears to be decoration you can possibly use to your advantage to solve the level." Indeed, it never occurred to me that the terrain right above the top entrance was so integral to the solution!
Genocide 6 -
Chanson d'Automne Another great level. However, I do feel like all those traps at the top the disarmer disarms aren't necessary. The level can still be done with less of the traps. However, that was a pretty nice trick with the first stoner. Also, I initially tried doing a stoner builder for the second to last gap, but every time the crowd would always arrive before the builder was done. I thought two builders wouldn't work for it for some reason. Turns out I need to build in such a way that it catches the climber and that the climber is able to bridge the gap to the right.
Genocide 7 -
Braindead Mummys This is likely a backroute, since I have a stoner leftover and that allowed me to spare the trapped lemming that collected the bomber pickup. Also, it has nothing to do with the solution of the level, but the correct spelling is "mummies." In English, the general rule is if a noun ends with a consonant and y, to make it plural, the y changes to an "i" and then you add "es." So, the correct spelling is mummies, not mummys. Just thought I let you know that we can probably correct the misspelling of the level title.
Genocide 8 -
Pitch Black O.o, this was a really good level. The tricky part was getting up to the next level at the beginning. Once I figured that out, the rest was easy.
Genocide 9 -
Laboratory Evacuation Aha, the first timed level of the rank. Much sooner than I thought. Once again, this continued the trend of timed levels in the pack being pretty difficult, because this was somewhat a hard level itself. The most difficult part is the very beginning. Initially, I thought I could get a lemming bouncing off a blocker to fall into the bomber hole to bash them out, but after several tries it turns out that it's not possible. Instead, one has to rely on two platformers building in such a way that one of them builds into the brick of another and turns around. After that, the tricky thing is timing the lemmings so that the diggers will allow the crowd to make it to the exit without falling into the water. I loved seeing the solution in action. I had 7 seconds left.
Genocide 10 -
Where Secrets Sway I love this level! Lots of nice tricks here. The builder trick from War 28 returns here, and new trick of a blocker turning falling lemmings in midair. For a while, I kept thinking a builder was needed for the very end, but then it would render the level unsolvable. Once I realized that, it took me a while to wonder how I could get the lemmings into the exit without one, and then suddenly the idea of using a blocker to turn around fallers in midair came to me. I quickly tested that idea, and when I saw that it works, the rest came easy to me.
Genocide 11 -
Embracing Entropy Wow, what a great level! It seemed really difficult at first, but the solution is not that hard. I kept thinking to use the left side to get the lemmings back up, but it's impossible to without using up too many skills that are needed elsewhere. After a while, it then occurred to me to use the right side where the evil eyes are. Almost ignored my own advice of "terrain that appears to be decoration can be used to solve the level..." again
Loved that cloning the builder trick a second time so that the one building right can circle back before the clone finishes sealing the gap.
Genocide 12 -
Stone Cold Crazy Loved the Dolly Dimple trick and mining through the builder bridge and also releasing the blocker all in one. The digger assignment is super precise. I'm not sure if any other positions work. I didn't have to use the floaters, but I'm guessing that is ok.
Genocide 13 -
Descent Into Cerberon I saw the solution in 5 minutes, so this was a really easy level for me. Thanks for the easy setup that told exactly where to start building the bridges. I think the solution would had been even cooler if the miner bounced off two blockers instead of just one, but that's just my opinion.
Genocide 14 -
Vortex of Plans Wow, by far the hardest level I have encountered thus far in the rank. I was stuck on this level for 2 days and then some. For a while, I wondered if the lemmings were supposed to be contained at the bottom or if I could seal the gaps before any fell in. If they were supposed to be contained, it took me a really long time to figure out how to get them out. Turns out the assignments to do so are super precise. The climber has to mine the instant he is able to after hoisting, then after 5 strokes, he has to be assigned a walker in midstroke. Also, I think there's only one basher position that will allow the crowd to get up, and also only 1 position for the builder. Right there that's 4 extreme precision assignments!
The most difficult part was the middle with the stacker. This took a while to refine. For a long time, I thought the stack had to be lined up exactly with the right edge of the platform so a climber can get up, but the problem with this is that I would need to waste two walkers, one to turn a lemming that slipped past the stack and another to interrupt a basher midstroke. This would end up causing a lot of problems, since I wouldn't have anything to stop a miner at the very end.
Then I started playing with the stacker position after just one platformer. Most of my attempts I assigned a walker to a lemming just before falling off a stack and mining so that the lemmings can get up on the stack. All well and good, until I saw that either the crowd cannot get up on the platform after bashing away from the top and then platforming to seal the gap, or the crowd is able to get up but then cannot get up more after sealing the gap with a platformer. After trying several readjustments in the timing of when to stack, it kept failing, so I almost gave up and was about to send my best replay attempt to you.
Then, I had an idea of possibly doing the level so that I wouldn't need to seal the gap to the left after using a destructive skill to get the lemmings up the stack. Nope, a miner, would always break and leave a gap in the wall. Then I tried a basher to the right instead. When interrupting a basher midstroke, turns out a 1 pixel gap would always result at the top. However, at least the wall is left intact so that no platforming to the left is necessary to seal a gap. But, more disappointment as I saw that a lemming wouldn't platform to the right to seal off the 1 pixel gap. Ugh!
Finally, I found a stacker position that did work so that a lemming got up on the stack after a few bricks to bash and then interrupt midstroke. This resulted in a hole wide enough that allowed a lemming to platform to the right. So, level finally solved after all this madness and almost giving up. Even after all this madness, I have a floater and miner leftover, so ultimately in the end a backroute? And to think it was finally backroute free after having gone through so many versions!
For the record, the stacker had to be placed at just the right time, and it's super precise, as well as the basher and walker to interrupt him. So, this makes 7 precise assignments in total!
Oh, funny thing about the clouds. One time, I happened to activate CPM and I saw the clouds were a light shade of grey, not dark shade of grey, and my reaction: Wait a minute, it's terrain, not background? That changes everything! Had I not realized that, this level would had been impossible for me.