[Loap / Lemmings 3D] Lemmings Plus 3D - Release topic [V1.05 update]

[namida]

Back in 1995, Lemmings 3D was released. I don't recall for sure exactly when I got it myself - but I absolutely loved it. Within weeks of discovering LemEdit, I was constantly searching the internet for any signs of a level editor - but none existed. This was something that stuck with me though - I always wanted to create my own Lemmings 3D level pack.

The first sign of hope came a few years back, when Pooty documented the level format and released a custom level he'd created. Unfortunately, that was as far as it went - no editor arose as a result of this, nor did any further custom content. At the time, I wouldn't've had any chance of making a decent level editor myself - I could have made sense of the format, sure, but I wouldn't've been able to actually do anything useful with it.

But, since then, I've gotten much better. And earlier this year, I decided - since no one else was making an L3D editor, it was time for me to do it. Thus, L3DEdit was born. Of course, it's not much use having an editor if I'm not going to do anything with it. At first, I just created a couple of odd levels, but I quickly decided - nope, I'm making a whole pack.

And so here we have it. The latest entry in the Lemmings Plus series, and the first entry since the release of NeoLemmix that's been on any engine other than NeoLemmix; introducing Lemmings Plus 3D. A pack of 80 new levels for 3D Lemmings.

Since there's only so much that's known about L3D at this stage, and even less that's editable, I decided not to go to my usual extent of reskinning the whole game, etc. The ranks are still "Fun, Tricky, Taxing, Mayhem". There's very little in the way of custom graphics - though there is one thing in there. For the most part, this is really just a level pack, not a full-blown content pack.

Download links:
Loap version: https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=54 (Always links to latest version)
DOS L3D version: https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?id=398 (Permalink to V1.03, the last version for DOS L3D)

To set up this pack for Loap (recommended):
1. Get Loap
2. Download the pack above and extract it to Loap's "data" folder.

To set up this pack for DOS L3D:
1. Get a working copy of Lemmings 3D
2. If you aren't using the pre-patched downloads from the above topics, use L3DUtils to apply the music patch. You can skip this step if you're using CD audio music, but it should be applied if you're using soundcard or MIDI music. (My recommendation: MIDI + an AWE32 soundfont.)
3. Copy the unique graphic files from Lemmings 3D Winterland, into Lemmings 3D's "GFX" folder. You can download them here: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=4274.msg75949#msg75949
4. Download the pack above and extract it to the base L3D folder.
5. Optionally, use L3DUtils' "Unlock All Levels" button to create a save file with all levels unlocked.

All levels in Fun, Tricky, Taxing and Mayhem will be replaced with the Lemmings Plus 3D levels. Practice levels are not affected and will remain unchanged.

The difficulty varies throughout the pack, and I've gone for a "something for everyone" approach here. Fun consists mostly of fairly-easy 5-of-everything levels (though these do get harder as you get further into Fun). Tricky contains puzzles similar in difficulty to the first half of the official game, while Taxing contains puzzles similar in difficulty to the second half. And Mayhem goes fully brutal, delivering challenges harder than anything the official levels throw at you.

Similarly, the "something for everyone" approach does mean there's a couple of levels that may not be the most popular by modern standards. It comes down to "some people do enjoy these levels", and that I remember enjoying them back when I first played, even if I wouldn't now. These definitely will not come anywhere close to being every level in the pack - there's maybe five or six levels in the whole pack that fall under this.

If you'd like to share your replays, you can use L3DUtils to save them (as long as you're running L3D via DOSBox in Windows, that is). I encourage you to share your replays, especially if you're not sure if a solution was intended.

Intended solutions for the DOS version are available either as Youtube videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWvcY0oGEFyAqIY6HWJ6NunGfl4PiUjM
And some challenge solutions here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWvcY0oGEFxGOjtxHGyCWeF5N026amzd
Or as L3DR files (use L3DUtils to load these in-game): https://www.neolemmix.com/replay/LP3D_1.02_Replays.zip

Intended solutions for the Loap version are available as LPRP files: https://www.neolemmix.com/replay/LP3D_Loap_Replays.zip (made using Loap 0.0.26.0 and LP3D V1.05)

To confirm the music is correctly patched:
Note that these notes assume soundcard audio. If you're using CD audio, then the levels specified as "should be a remix of", are instead "should be the same as". Do both tests, together they also rule out a common mistake when appying the patch.
- Fun 9 "Spacewalkers" should have a remix of the music in Fun 7 "Star Wars"; while Fun 12 "The Armageddon Machine" should have a completely different music.
- Fun 6 "Indoor Maze" should have a remix of the music in Fun 2 "Security Walls"; while Fun 15 "The Mansion" should have a completely different music.

Huge thanks to:
- Pooty, for his work on figuring out the L3D formats
- Pooty (again) and Nessy, for pre-release testing
- Clockwork Games, Psygnosis, etc for Lemmings 3D itself; I know not everyone agrees, but I consider it probably the best game in the Lemmings series outside of the L1-style games

[namida]

Saved lemming records

100% is bolded. Italics means the record is equal to the requirement. These records are based on playing in DOS L3D, and may not hold true if playing in Loap (as some of these rely on glitches that are not present in Loap, or may not work due to slight physics differences).

Fun 1 "Called Back To Duty" - 39/40
Fun 2 "Security Walls" - 40/40
Fun 3 "Lemmings On A Train" - 38/40
Fun 4 "Performance Tower" - 39/40
Fun 5 "The Grand Gallery" - 40/40
Fun 6 "Indoor Maze" - 16/25
Fun 7 "Star Wars" - 38/40
Fun 8 "Where Shall They Rest?" - 78/80
Fun 9 "Spacewalkers" - 34/40
Fun 10 "The Underlems" - 27/30
Fun 11 "Device Upgrade" - 38/40
Fun 12 "The Armageddon Machine" - 40/40
Fun 13 "Resist The Temptation" - 39/40
Fun 14 "Pac-Lems" - 57/60
Fun 15 "The Mansion" - 39/40
Fun 16 "Sea Of Sugar" - 40/40
Fun 17 "Quadcore" - 39/40
Fun 18 "Just Let It Bee" - 38/40
Fun 19 "The Side Act" - 40/40
Fun 20 "Arctic Mission" - 1/1

Total for Fun: 758 / 796 (95.2%)

Tricky 21 "Sputlem IV" - 25/30
Tricky 22 "Redirect Loop" - 20/20
Tricky 23 "Actual Maze" - 37/50
Tricky 24 "Wafer Walkway" - 25/30
Tricky 25 "The Moat" - 41/60
Tricky 26 "Timed Attack" - 10/10
Tricky 27 "Sweetcake" - 16/20
Tricky 28 "Royal Run" - 6/10
Tricky 29 "Infinite Lemming Drive" - 18/20
Tricky 30 "Longboy" - 10/10
Tricky 31 "Deep Dash" - 21/30
Tricky 32 "Guard Wall" - 15/20
Tricky 33 "Obstructed Shot" - 17/30
Tricky 34 "Mysterious Artifacts" - 30/30
Tricky 35 "Blazing The Trail" - 57/60
Tricky 36 "Firewall" - 37/40
Tricky 37 "The Nightman Cometh" - 19/20
Tricky 38 "The Barracks" - 7/10
Tricky 39 "A-maze-ing Grace" - 20/20
Tricky 40 "Data Corruption" - 16/20

Total for Tricky: 447 / 540 (82.8%)

Taxing 41 "The Winding Way" - 17/20
Taxing 42 "The King's Test" - 28/30
Taxing 43 "Space Station" - 14/20
Taxing 44 "The Ancient Lemming Curse" - 34/40
Taxing 45 "Deathspring Tunnel" - 25/30
Taxing 46 "Short 'n Simple" - 8/10
Taxing 47 "Tunnel Warfare" - 57/80
Taxing 48 "Rapid Drive" - 58/80
Taxing 49 "Big Green Birb" - 28/30
Taxing 50 "Longboy (Part 2)" - 7/10
Taxing 51 "Cold Snap" - 9/10
Taxing 52 "The Outpost" - 38/40
Taxing 53 "Complimentary Lemmings" - 28/30
Taxing 54 "The Claw" - 54/60
Taxing 55 "Walk The Plank!" - 3/4
Taxing 56 "Ultimate Lemja Warrior" - 19/20
Taxing 57 "Wafer-Thin" - 27/30
Taxing 58 "Entanglement" - 70/80
Taxing 59 "Area 59" - 66/70
Taxing 60 "Taste Of Nostalgia" - 10/10

Total for Taxing: 599 / 704 (85.1%)

Mayhem 61 "No Spare Soldier" - 20/20
Mayhem 62 "Perfect Show" - 20/20
Mayhem 63 "Die And Let Live" - 27/30
Mayhem 64 "Candy Corner" - 48/50
Mayhem 65 "Steps To Success" - 8/8
Mayhem 66 "Tomb Raider" - 49/80
Mayhem 67 "Flying Sweets" - 46/50
Mayhem 68 "Color Display" - 22/30
Mayhem 69 "Breaking The Routine" - 22/25
Mayhem 70 "Detour Shot" - 18/40
Mayhem 71 "Kingdom Of Chaos" - 5/10
Mayhem 72 "Acrobatics" - 22/30
Mayhem 73 "The Grand Arch" - 46/50
Mayhem 74 "Luck Shot" - 50/80
Mayhem 75 "Aerial Assault" - 66/80
Mayhem 76 "Not Quite The Original Act" - 20/20
Mayhem 77 "Winter Dynasty" - 72/80
Mayhem 78 "Activity Center" - 14/20
Mayhem 79 "Power Distribution" - 79/80
Mayhem 80 "Final Frontier" - 14/20

Total for Mayhem: 668 / 823 (81.2%)

GRAND TOTAL: 2472 / 2872 (86.1%)

Level hints (Tricky onwards). Each level's hint is individually spoiler tagged, but opening this main spoiler tag will reveal level *names*.

PLEASE NOTE: The hint for any given level, may contain spoilers for levels prior to it. In no case will a hint directly spoil a later level - though of course there's always the possibility of the "ah, that hint made me figure out this level, and oooooh, I can use that trick for this other level too" factor.

Tricky 21 "Sputlem IV"

There's a route that takes longer to walk, but uses fewer turners.

Tricky 22 "Redirect Loop"

Before you can permanently break the loop, you need to turn just a few lemmings around.

Tricky 23 "Actual Maze"

This is literally just a big turner maze, nothing special at all.

Tricky 24 "Wafer Walkway"

The solution is exactly what you think; you just need to be very quick with your turner assignments.

Tricky 25 "The Moat"

Observe what happens if you send a climber over the "castle" wall. Virtual lemming him, ideally.

Tricky 26 "Timed Attack"

The deflector block furthest from the exit is the one that never gets bashed.

Tricky 27 "Sweetcake"

Don't forget that you're playing *3D* Lemmings.

Tricky 28 "Royal Run"

Make use of the path looping over itself to delay some lemmings more than others.

Tricky 29 "Infinite Lemming Drive"

Take some time to figure out the overall layout. It's much easier once you've got that figured out.

Tricky 30 "Longboy"

Again, don't forget you're playing 3D Lemmings. This time, that is not due to the 3D aspect, but due to other L3D physics details.

Tricky 31 "Deep Dash"

The biggest key to this level is the timing of when exactly you *contain* the crowd.

Tricky 32 "Guard Wall"

No lemming that contributes to the solution will be saved.

Tricky 33 "Obstructed Shot"

Don't forget that bombers have two uses - removing terrain, or removing lemmings.

Tricky 34 "Mysterious Artifacts"

Think about when exactly a block will be passable, vs climbable, vs non-climable and non-passable. Use these specifics to your advantage.

Tricky 35 "Blazing The Trail"

You'll mostly create a path backwards from near the end.

Tricky 36 "Firewall"

Another case where the key is to remember that even if a level looks 2D, you're still playing *3D* Lemmings.

Tricky 37 "The Nightman Cometh"

You can release him, you just have to be very careful with your basher positioning. If you're close, you'll know what this means.

Tricky 38 "The Barracks"

There's a reason you've got enough climbers for exactly half the lemmings.

Tricky 39 "A-maze-ing Grace"

Very slightly delaying a lemming can make all the difference.

Tricky 40 "Data Corruption"

Yes, lemmings fall through a bridge if you turn on it. Do something to make this not a problem.

Taxing 41 "The Winding Way"

One entrance being in line with the exit is the key here.

Taxing 42 "The King's Test"

The fact that the path loops back and goes past itself again is critical to the solution.

Taxing 43 "Space Station"

The workers and the crowd take completely different paths to the exit.

Taxing 44 "The Ancient Lemming Curse"

Count blocks. Remember that four blocks = splat height.

Taxing 45 "Deathspring Tunnel"

Figure out the shortest possible loop using two turners. Then find a way to break that loop with the remaining skills.

Taxing 46 "Short n Simple"

Ignore the builder.

Taxing 47 "Tunnel Warfare"

Another plain maze, except it's enclosed this time. Map it out if you can.

Taxing 48 "Rapid Drive"

Save the falling-into-water lemmings first, though be aware that part of how you do this will affect saving the main crowd too.

Taxing 49 "Big Green Birb"

If you're failing, it's more likely you need to assign skills quicker / more accurately than it is that you need to improve your approach.

Taxing 50 "Longboy (Part 2)"

Make useful a lemming that's going to die anyway. And the hint from Part 1 is relevant here too, for that matter.

Taxing 51 "Cold Snap"

Think back to how the climber behaved on Tricky 31 "Deep Dash".

Taxing 52 "The Outpost"

Now, think back to how diggers behaved on Tricky 40 "Data Corruption".

Taxing 53 "Complimentary Lemmings"

You will not find a way to destroy the one-way arrows. Find a way to get past them instead.

Taxing 54 "The Claw"

The height difference between the two "fingers" of the claw is key to the solution.

Taxing 55 "Walk The Plank"

There is a significant difference between the fall speed of a faller vs that of a floater.

Taxing 56 "Ultimate Lemja Warrior"

Climber-deflector behaviour is again relevant here. (Although there is an alternate solution that does NOT make use of that, too.)

Taxing 57 "Wafer-Thin"

This is mostly about timing, with a small dose of "and again, don't forget this is 3D Lemmings".

Taxing 58 "Entanglement"

The second bomber needs to be very precise, but you CAN do what you think you need to do - it just needs quite precise assignment.

Taxing 59 "Area 59"

Yes, you need to assign all three climbers before the final deflector block. And yes, you need at least one climber available after that block, too. There's a way to make both of these things happen in the same run.

Taxing 60 "Taste Of Nostalgia"

What does a turner do *other than* deflecting other lemmings?

Mayhem 61 "No Spare Soldier"

Pay close attention to how the "central" area of the level is set up.

Mayhem 62 "Perfect Show"

The level often wraps around on itself; take advantage of these cases.

Mayhem 63 "Die And Let Live"

Ignore the teleporters. They're purely a decoy.

Mayhem 64 "Candy Corner"

Of the 3 lemmings that aren't easily saved, the climber is the one that *can* be saved.

Mayhem 65 "Steps to Success"

It's purely about digger positioning / timing, you don't need to mess with the timing of the floaters.

Mayhem 66 "Tomb Raider"

Don't assume the areas shown by the initial positions of cameras 2, 3 and 4 are all completely identical.

Mayhem 67 "Flying Sweets"

You need two climbers near the end, as well as one earlier. You know how to make this happen by now.

Mayhem 68 "Color Display"

Both entrances' lemmings go into the exit they're initially facing.

Mayhem 69 "Breaking The Routine"

As the hint implies, the path taken is NOT the obvious one.

Mayhem 70 "Detour Shot"

Many skills used serve the purpose of both "get workers where they need to be" and "make a safe path for the crowd" at the same time.

Mayhem 71 "Kingdom of Chaos"

Every floater is saved. Every climber dies.

Mayhem 72 "Acrobatics"

The platform behind the entrance is very important to the solution. In particular, note its position in relation to the exit.

Mayhem 73 "The Grand Arch"

Think back to Tricky 40 "Data Corruption". That'll get you at least part way - assuming you think about the right part of it.

Mayhem 74 "Luck Shot"

Almost all of the skills are decoys, but you'll need to rely on something that isn't a skill.

Mayhem 75 "Aerial Assault"

Around half the bridges built in this level are purely for use by worker lemmings.

Mayhem 76 "Not Quite The Original Act"

There are heaps of different ways to solve this level, although most (if not all) of them once again involve manipulating the distinction between climbable vs unclimable deflector blocks.

Mayhem 77 "Winter Dynasty"

Find somewhere you can set up an infinite loop to contain the crowd.

Mayhem 78 "Activity Center"

You cannot choose which exit to use; one of them is a decoy and while it's reachable for a few lemmings, you won't be solving the level overall via it.

Mayhem 79 "Power Distribution"

Like with "Luck Shot", you need to rely heavily on something that isn't a skill - but a different "something that isn't a skill" this time.

Mayhem 80 "Final Frontier"

The crowd is never contained, just delayed for a very long time.

Help! Most / all of the graphics are just solid black on Taxing 51 and/or Mayhem 77, or on some Egyptian levels!

For Taxing 51 / Mayhem 77: You need to download and install the Lemmings 3D Winterland graphics. These two levels use them. See the setup instructions in the first post above.

For the Pyramid levels: You have a copy of L3D with a corrupt TEXTURE.000 file. You can use L3DUtils to patch it, or get someone with a good copy of the game to send you a fixed version of this file.

[namida]

I've set up a playlist for intended solution videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWvcY0oGEFyAqIY6HWJ6NunGfl4PiUjM

I'm still in the process of uploading all the videos (I've got all 80 recorded). EDIT: All 80 uploaded now, though of course some may need to be replaced if later backroute fixes are needed. They've been scheduled so that Fun 1's solution video will release on September 1st, and then one level per day thereafter until all of them are out. I'll most likely post the actual replay files once the videos finish releasing.

Do note that just because your solution doesn't match the video doesn't automatically mean it's a backroute. Some levels are known to have multiple acceptable solutions (eg. "Mysterious Artifacts", "Wafer-Thin"), these videos will generally show the original intended solution. Likewise, if a solution here seems really hard for the position, it may be that that was the original intended solution, but there were easier solutions found that I felt didn't warrant fixing, and the level's position is taking into account those solutions.

[namida]

I've now got (initial) saved lemming records for every level, which I've listed in the second post. Feel free to try and beat them. There are a few that I suspect are improveable.

[Pooty]

Spacewalkers has been improved to 34/40. I have attached a replay for the solution.

Edit: I've also improved Star Wars to 38/40.
Edit 2: Pac-Lems has been improved to 57/60

[namida]

I've improved Luck Shot (Mayhem 74) to a whopping 48/80 (up from 27/80!!!). The replay would spoil the normal solution to this level as well, which hasn't been revealed yet, so I won't post this replay publicly yet either - but I've sent a copy to the pre-release testers.

I can't rule out for sure that it's possible to save even more than this, though I'm pretty sure I've at least hit the limit of what anything resembling the intended solution can achieve - and I even went to the extent of modifying the replay with a hex editor to see if frame-perfection could squeeze out another lemming (it seems it cannot).

EDIT: Nope. Found a way to improve it further to 50/80.

I suspect at this point, Detour Shot and Aerial Assault are the most likely levels to be possible to squeeze out some more lemmings on, as they're very much the type where how much you save comes down to how optimized your solution is overall rather than finding a specific trick to save more - and these tend to be the levels where I'm not too great at squeezing out every last lemming.

EDIT: This one was more an oversight than an impressive new result as such, but Deathspring Tunnel improved to 25/30.
EDIT: Rapid Drive improved to 58/80.

[namida]

Detour Shot improved to 15/40. I suspect it's possible to improve further. So far, this is just a very optimized version of the intended solution.

EDIT: With a bit of clever thinking, I was able to further optimize this to 18/40. Some timing tweaks might be able to squeeze out 19, but I think we're close to the limit here.

[namida]

Although the playlist hasn't quite finished releasing yet, I figure it's close enough, and since I'm doing general updates to the Lemmings Plus series at the moment - replay files are now available, see first post.

[kieranmillar]

I've started playing through this pack, here's the first video in the series:

https://youtu.be/z-uVn5HVox8

[namida]

V1.01 uploaded.

Has a backroute fix for Taxing 42 "The King's Test". Has visual fixes / improvements to Fun 5 "The Grand Gallery" (this one could also enable some solutions that didn't work before, though should not break any existing solutions), Fun 17 "Quadcore" and Fun 20 "Arctic Mission".

Existing replays should still work on all levels. Download link in first post. Working on updating the Youtube solution videos to reflect these changes.

[namida]

Here's one that really requires knowing L3D's mechanics (glitches and otherwise) to achieve, including having to deal with an undesirable effect of a glitch at one point too.

Every lemming saved on Fun 19 "The Side Act". ^_^

[namida]

I've made a playlist of videos for challenge solutions. I'll upload more over time, but for now, there's a few of the particularly interesting max-saved solutions from Fun. (I was going to start recording Tricky too, but the only particularly interesting one is on a level that I have a strong suspicion can be improved thanks to a recent glitch discovery.) Specifically so far, it has the 39/40 solutions for "Resist The Temptation" and "Quadcore", and the 40/40 solutions for "The Armageddon Machine", "Sea of Sugar" and "The Side Act". (I figured that 40/40 on "Security Walls" and "The Grand Gallery" are too trivial to be worth uploading.)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWvcY0oGEFxGOjtxHGyCWeF5N026amzd

[namida]

Longboy improved... to 10/10!

EDIT: And as I suspected for a while was possible but wasn't having much luck getting to work - but finally did - Blazing The Trail improved to 57/60.

[namida]

The Claw improved to 48/60, not sure how I overlooked this before.

[kieranmillar]

I'm going to need to ask for some hints for Taxing 45 "Deathspring Tunnel".

Here's my current thinking, might be useful for providing a hint towards where my thinking is going wrong:

Spoiler

• Compression at the entrance is not possible, due to the quicksand trap and initial spring, which requires your lemmings to start spread out.
• There are no deflector blocks in the level. When combined with only 2 turners, there is no way to get past the springs by travelling along a parallel axis. If you turn the lemmings, you must turn them back onto the original path with the other turner.
• The only way to actually do this would be to build a bridge with a turner at the top, so that you can put another turner underneath the first one to put lemmings back onto the original path. However this is no good because it achieves nothing of value, you can't compress the lemmings together enough by doing this to get enough lemmings past the death springs.
• The only bashable thing in the level is your own bridge, but this doesn't achieve anything. It would... free a turner? But so what, it and the basher would just die to death springs.
• The climber is useless because there is nothing to climb towards as the level is mostly just a flat box... except right at the start which has a higher ceiling, but it's still just an empty box. There are some arrows pointing towards the death springs on the wall leading to the tunnel, but this has no gameplay relevance as you can't reach them.
• The fact that 6 lemmings are allowed to die feels critical to the solution, as though compression to get past the death springs really is the answer. But there's nowhere to set up that level of compression, the springs kill very quickly.

You have only 5 skills: 2 turners, a builder, a basher and a climber. But none of these feel like they actually do anything. You can't turn anywhere useful with only 2 turners. You can't bash anything, and there's nothing to climb to. And the one builder can only get over one of three death springs.

I feel trapped in a logical hole from which there is no escape. I must be missing something, maybe some sort of behaviour of 3D Lemmings that I am not aware of or do not understand.