It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I think I made my 9th levelpack in 2005, making this pack 4 years in the making. Neat, huh?

The levels in the pack were made in Eric Langedijk's "Lemmix" level editor. It's a great tool for level design. Also, the levels use "CustLemm" mechanics, running it in DOS mode or another might cause certain levels to not work right, specifically "Jumping the Shark", where the "interactive objects with Index > 15 do not work" mechanic is used for an aesthetic trick.

1: I am I.S. (Part 2) [the Lemmings community NEEDS another A.T. clone ;) ]
2: Boss on Parade [A SNOW LEVEL HOW IN THE]
3: Sacrifice to the Dragon
4: The duct rise lemmings.
5: The Decent Descent
6: Empty Space is Hardly a Waste
7: This is a gate level
8: Hey, that's not cool guys
9: Jumping the Shark
10: 98..., 99...

Hints for levels in the pack:

1: If you are unfamiliar with the level "I am A.T." from Genesis/SNES Lemmings, check it out, and note the solution. This idea is similar, but like with I am I.S. (part 1), there's a twist. What other skills do you have aside from the miners that may help some of the problems you run into?

2: I have this level as 2 because a lot of the people playing this pack shouldn't have too many problems with this, but if you are relatively new to Lemmings and don't get the mechanics of the game's engine you'll have difficulties. You only have 3 builders to hold back the crowd, build to the exit (this requires 2 builders?), and deal with the gap on the far left. How can you use a builder to solve more than one of these problems at once? And, after you figure that out, how can you use the very scarce skills remaining to free the group without ruining what you've done so far? There's an interesting property to the basher skill that you may have seen trying to get a basher in a very crowded group going one way but instead you clicked one going the other way...

3: You can only lose 8 Lemmings. You really have to tail it across the level AND deal with the splat Lemmings on the right. The real trick to this level is looking at the terrain. Watch not only the number of Lemmings lost but your skills. 10 builders disappear quite quickly, as do 7 total terrain destruction skills. Maybe there's a way to deal with a few of the level's problems at once? Again, watch your tasks; there will be things that can be done with every terrain destruction task, but which ones might also be needed in other places?

4: So there's not a lot of places you can send the Lemmings that will get them up the wall to the exit. Find that first. Now, how are you going to deal with the OWW? It seems like you have to turn a Lemming on the top tier of the level somehow, but with what? Figure out what skills you absolutely need to scale "the duct", then figure out how you might turn a Lemming with what's left?

If you're having difficulty with the timing of this level, take a good look at the terrain, there might be something there to guide you.

5: For those of you who have played my packs, especially in Cheapo: You didn't think I'd release a pack without a Hero Time level, did you? You have one of every skill to guide the Lemmings down two unsurvivable falls, prevent the group from reaching the falls too soon AND turning into the trap on the left, AND any other things you discover that might ruin a potential solution. For the first problem, do you notice that the top and middle tier platforms are rather close to each other? For the second, do you notice that I, a fairly lazy person when it comes to decorative terrain, actually added a lot of "flair" to the level? That's not a coincidence.

The intended solution requires all 8 skills.

6: The title is the major hint here, at least for the first part: the area under the entrance took a good 45 minutes to sculpt -- you think I'd do that if that empty space was a waste? The middle holding area is too steep to survive, but it CAN bash out of the pit, while the others can't. There's three "spaces" but only two possible vertical destruction tasks. Can you get Lemmings in all of them and still save 100%? Notice the number of Lemmings and the skill divisions -- this level is impossible with 16 Lemmings. Which of the exits looks more accessable, given only 7 floaters and the OWW's locations?

Sadly, there's two pixel-precise skills required to pass the level. I wish this weren't the case, but that's how the solution goes.

7: There sure is a lot of terrain for such a "simple" level. You only get 4 builders, and it looks like any way to access the exit either runs into "slope" issues or requires more than 4 builders otherwise. The terrain on the left looks interesting, especially to get the Lemmings out of the holding area... how do you suppose you can send a worker out of the crowd? Note the number of climbers you get, as well as the terrain features near the holding area. Maybe you need more than one worker? More than two, even? There's some Madness to the Method...

8: You start near the exit, but the Lemmings seem to want to walk away from it. Not cool, guys. The holding area on the right is safe but it really affords no way to get to the exit, so you have to come up with some way to divert a Lemming to find some path to the exit for everyone. There sure seems to be a lot of flavor terrain, and I sure don't like doing work unless it's needed...

So you found some way to get to the exit with the skills given, but 5 minutes isn't enough time?! Really? Well, you'll need to diversify the work, then. Skills which might LOOK useless may not be after all...

9: You have a lot of terrain destruction skills, but only 10 builders. You need 5 of them to "jump the shark" and a few in other places, so how might you save all those with just the skills you are given? This is really an exercise in noticing where you NEED builders, and where you can use other skills to perform tasks builders usually are required for.

Oh, it's very possible to do this with no more than 10 of any of the bashers, miners, or diggers, if you want a challenge.

10: My 100th CustLemm level! Yay! Did you really think I'd waste it on a super-easy level with JUST the number 100 in brick terrain? The timer is, far and away, your worst enemy in this level. If you can't find a path, look at your skills and then look at the terrain. You have 3 builders, for example. Very obviously two of them cross the gaps in the numbers, and the third seems to be needed in a certain spot. Now the builders are gone, what about the other tasks? Process of elimination is the best method for carving out a solution.

Also, do you notice the two 0s are not the same? I'm lazy, but I am certainly not careless. Maybe this is a hint?























Do you still give up? Here's are my intended solutions to the levels. What, your solution is different and uses half the tasks? Oops, my levels tend to be plagued by backroutes -- if you want to tell me about your much easier route through my level, the contact information is at the end of the file. ISteve10.dat v2.0 won't have that route. ;P If you answer is the same as mine, nice work! Aside from the first 2 (if those) levels, this pack is harder than any of the puzzles in the original Lemmings game, and beating any of them on your own is an accomplishment.

1: First Lemming mines into the floor to turn, then make him an athlete. The next few Lemmings destroy the entire wall by mining into the floor, then mining the other way with the arrows, spaced so that the entire structure is destroyed, but you can't mine too close or you'll run out of miners. When the athlete is about to exit, make it mine instead. If done right, the lemmings that would go through the floor should be stopped. After you clear out the wall, a lemming in the holding area must mine forward at the left edge to get the collection group to the exit. Build to the exit.

2: The first Lemming out has to build in a very specific spot right near the edge of the pillar that's one pixel below the floor. The goal here is to trap the lemmings by having the back pixel of the stair block the crowd, but the Lemming will keep building forward because he didn't hit his head anywhere. (If it's too early, the Lemming gets stuck in the pillar instead, if late they won't be stopped.) Made a Lemming build to close the other gap on the left. The first Lemming has to stretch the bridge, but should just barely get to the exit platform. It will not turn, though, so you need another way to release the crowd. There's two ways: the easy to "see", hard to actually do, or the harder to find way that's achievable 100% of the time:

A) Make a Lemming facing left bash near the middle of the pillar so it takes one swing then stops before breaching the builder's bridge. It's hard to get the right Lemming to do this with, and the true intended method is

B) Put the cursor on the very right edge of the wall, so Lemmings only enter the cursor for a split second. Assign the basher to a Lemming on the very right edge of the group facing -right-. If done correctly, the Lemming will bash out the one pixel behind him, which happens to be the wall holding back the Lemmings.

3: Lemming 1 is made a floater to start. When it lands, also make it a climber. It will climb the wall on the left, when the Lemming turns make it build on the small "ledge" on the dragon's tail to the left. Make Lemming 2 on the right a floater too. When it hits the upslope on the tail, build into the ledge to turn it. Now make the next three Lemmings floaters while the first Lemming builds up to the exit. The idea is to have the bridges reach to above the first "spike" on the dragon's back, then dig down so all the other Lemmings land safely on it. You may have to worry about the Lemming behind that you can't make a floater reaching the stair at just this point. When you dig, the right edge is where future Lemmings will fall from, so dig a bit to the left of the landing point. Quickly switch to the left side; the lead Lemming will be right at the edge. Make him build to catch the left side, then block. Make a Lemming walking across the top a miner in a spot where the Lemmings trapped on the dragon's nose will be able to walk across the level. Back to the right, pop the RR to 90+, and wait for every Lemming to exit. If fewer than 73 are out, restart, though if you did these instructions as they are you should have exactly 73. The last Lemming out the right exit mines upon reaching the tail to go through it, then builds up to the exit. If he is going to overshoot the exit use the last digger to stop the building. Make a Lemming in the group bash through the body, then a Lemming bashes through the tail as far right as possible to meet back up with the miner's tunnel. If he's going to breach the builder bridge use a builder to stop him. Grab a soda or something and wait for the 72 Lemmings to walk to the exit.

4: First two Lemmings are made climbers. When they reach the top, above the steel, assign the first Lemming a digger, then the second Lemming a digger on the right edge of the first Lemming's digger pit. If done right, an overhang should appear on the right to keep the Lemmings from climber out to the right and turn them. If you look closely, you'll see a diagonal brick near the top of the wall -- when the first Lemming is directly over the point of it, bomb. It should fall and blow a hole in the wall very near the bottom of the wall that Lemmings will climb into. The second Lemming builds to the pillar. Have a Lemming build up to the pillar from the bomb hole. Make a Lemming entering the level a bomber, then a climber so it will bomb the pillar and allow Lemmings to climb the duct. The top Lemming also needs to be a climber-bomb to blow the top part of the pillar allowing for safe exit of the level. Bash out of the digger turning pit to the exit.

5: First Lemming out mines into one of the two "holding" areas right over the water. Lemming 3 blockers over the left edge of the center supports (the idea is that, when this Lemming is bombed, the shape of the bomber hole will allow the lemmings to climb out of the holding area). Lemming 2 is made an athlete. Have it bash into the pillar on the far right to prevent the Lemming from climbing out of the level. After it turns around, build near the gap but not right at the edge. The builder should lay two bricks that connect the left and right wooden pillars. After the Lemming turns again and begins climbing the wall, select the digger skill then make it dig as soon as it reaches the top of the wall. If you laid your bridge right, the Lemming will dig all the way down to the steel! The last step is to time the bomber so the Lemmings first get down to the middle level safely, then return once the digger breaches the stairs and the digger is low enough for the Lemmings to drop from the middle tier to the bottom. The right time is that the blocker should explode about 1/4th the way down the first part of the wooden wall.

6: Lemming 15 mines into the pit on the left. Lemming 8 needs to mine at a pixel-precise point that breaches BOTH sides of the two other pits. The 7 Lemmings that fall into the middle pit need to be made floaters. The left single Lemming is your hero Lemming -- have him bash out to the left, and build over the pit. Then build into the horizontal column. The worker Lemming bashes through the column, builds into the next horizontal column, bashes through it also, then builds to the exit. Bash to the left from the floater pit to release that group, then make one Lemming in the right pit a climber. The second pixel-skill is the builder, you have to build on the left of the two pixels on the wall -- if you build on the right side, a pixel of the stair juts out and the other Lemmings in the pit can't climb the wall (this is the same mechanic that makes the solution to Boss on Parade work). After this Lemming builds, make the other 6 Lemmings in the pit climbers to reach the exit.

Of every level in this pack this seems like it's the easiest to backroute. If you find something, my contact info is at the end of the file.

7: When the first Lemming in the pack reaches the edge right before the holding pit, make it bash. It will breach one of the four poles then fall into the pit. Make another Lemming a climber, then bash through the three poles. The next part requires some timing: Make two more climbers from Lemmings about to enter the pit (the first will need to be almost immediately after bashing the poles, the second a bit later). The second one needs to be time-bombed over the ledge under the collection area, and the first Lemming has to be turned by making the original climber bash through the part of the cone over the ledge sticking out of it, and the second Lemming will turn in the basher tunnel. Make the basher a floater, alsom so it survives the fall. The Lemming going left should fall onto the ledge under the group and mine through the wall. When it reaches the bottom, make it build, then build 3 more times, stretching your bridges so they land over the small hole on the top right and should reach the exit's platform. The first climber, in the meantime, will reach the top right; make it mine to the left. It should mine all the way to the steel, and turn. Have it bash through the two poles between the top right and the little pit over the builder bridges. A Lemming from the collection area bashes right (put the cursor on the left edge and click and you'll always get a Lemming facing right). Done.

8: Lemming 1 digs immediately upon landing. Lemming 8 is made a floater immediately upon exiting, and will be trapped in the pit (without the floater, he'd climb out, and you need two Lemmings in the pit).

Actually, I just noticed this solution is missing. The intended solution is played by namida at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3kdEDMx6vg&list=PLVWvcY0oGEFzbrg5vKOjbwvKEFFn3mCm9

9: A lemming digs for a while facing right, and bashes into the wall on the right after digging for a little bit (don't let him get too much lower than the steel top. Make a Lemming climb out of the pit to the left, and dig near the left edge of the pond. Wait for the Lemming to get JUST below the bottom edge of the steel, and bash to the left until you breach the edge past the steel. Build once, wait for a while for the Lemming to get back (or mine into the steel, either way), he'll climb the pillar. Mine into the area between the bridges; it'll turn. Build over the gap again, let it climb the wall, bash the dirt. Right before the pond, mine into the steel, and when it turns, dig for about 6 pixels, bash left, dig 6 more pixels, bash, etc. You're building a reverse staircase. Near the bottom mine down the rest of the way so the climber can build up the way later. Let the Lemming go all the way back up the pillar, turn again, but mine through the bridge so he winds up in the position to build up to the tunnel stairway you made. You can only use 1 builder for this. Anyways, you get to watch the Lemming turn and go the long way back again (blah), then he'll make it up the staircase -- if he can get up the tunnel without going into "climber" mode, you built it right. Build twice to get to the shark, land on the shark, then build three more times off the shark. Build once over the pit, climb the steel, mine into the other bridge tunnel to turn, bash through the pillar, then build near the end of the bubble about two to the right of the right edge of the pit above. The idea is to catch the other Lemmings with this bridge, so it should just get over the point the Lemmings would fall from. Bash from the left in the collection pit and watch everyone make it to the exit. Weeeeeeeee.

10: Lemming 1 digs right near the edge of the tall part of the "1". Lemming 2 will get out of the pit, make it a floater right before it lands (you have no time at all to waste, including watching the Lemming float down). This Lemming builds to the wall (it won't turn); make it a climber too. Make a Lemming coming out of the exit a climber and a floater, also, so it climbs out of the digger pit. This Lemming will bash through the left wall of the middle 0, while the other Lemming walks over it. When this Lemming reaches the very edge of the middle 0, dig for about 5 or 6 pixels, then build over the gap. The other Lemming has to build over the center of the middle 0. On the left, you'll need to release the crowd with a basher at a point where they can reach the exit in time -- for me, this is about halfway down the third brick up from the floor of the 1. Make the right climber a miner when it turns and is right near the right wall of the middle 0. If you released the crowd at the right time, it will turn around on the right wall of the 0 once then come back just as the miner breaches the wall. Hope that you made it in time (your two workers will not exit in time). This is a really time sensitive process and if something isn't working try changing the timing of each part.

I dont think I'd consider any other solutions to this level "backroutes" -- so if you find another path, tell me. I'm not changing the level's design but I'll add it to the text file.

Find a crippling backroute? Want to tell me how terrible (or good) my levels are? Contact me at Insane Steve11 on AIM, insteve@gmail.com, or PM me at www.lemmingsforums.com (my username is Insane Steve there).

Have fun!

~Steve

LEVEL ERRATA:

Title information:

1) I go by Insane Steve on forums. There's the I am A.T. level this is based off. But I made a level like this before. This is Part 2.
2) The title of the song stuck in my head when I got the main trick for this level. It's a Hardcore song by DJ Technorch, for the curious.
3) It's a dragon. Rawr.
4) A play on "The gate trap lemmings." from the Genesis version. Engrish is awesome!
5) You have to decend. In a way that's not bad but not amazing either. Well, it is kind of cool, but "decent" and "descent" are one letter from each other <_<
6) Level hint. There's empty space, and it's not a waste.
7) Puns are awesome. Also, if you consider a "gate" to be any of the 1-2 pixel apart bars in the level, it's a hint to one of the tricks in it.
8) In reference to being right next to the exit at the start but facing the wrong way. Also, the "hidden" traps. I hate hidden traps so LOOK AT THE TERRAIN.
9) Jumping the shark is an English idiom meaning, in terms of a TV or movie series, "having an event happen that is so ridiculous that it ruins the series". The saying is named after an episode of Happy Days where Fonzie actually jumps over a shark on waterskis. Of course, this level makes you jump a shark.
10) This is my 100th level I made in LemEdit. Well, I made it 5th of the levels in the pack but still, if you go by ordering, it's level 100.

Thanks a lot to geoo and Clam Spammer from the Lemmings Forums for finding and sending replays of backroutes. I can't quite say I got them all, but it was a help.