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NeoLemmix => NeoLemmix Levels => Levels for v10 or older => Topic started by: nin10doadict on August 31, 2017, 02:54:26 AM

Title: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on August 31, 2017, 02:54:26 AM
Version 1.2 is now out!

This forum is frequented by experts at Lemmings, who love to make really hard levels.
I am not one of them, and cannot conquer some of their devilish creations.
Perhaps you're in my boat? Or maybe you're just like Lemmings but are new to NeoLemmix?
In that case, this pack could be the one for you!

Featuring 100 levels across five ratings, this pack contains many easier levels for the casual player to enjoy, but also a few tough ones as well.
(Yeah, I know I said that about my first pack but bear with me here :8():)

Calm - 30 levels :D
A relaxing romp that introduces many of the new skills and objects in NeoLemmix, and doesn't have too many difficult challenges. Puzzles are fairly simple, and many levels give you significantly more than you need to win.

Perky - 25 levels :)
This rating introduces a few more NeoLemmix mechanics. Puzzles are a bit tougher. Levels still often give you more than you need, but the wiggle room is a bit less than in Calm.

Twitchy - 20 levels :o
The puzzles start getting hard here. You'll have to use skills in some odd ways and manage your Lemmings carefully so they don't meet with terrible fates. Though many of them will be doomed anyway... Still, expect wiggle room on at least a few levels.

Hyper - 15 levels :lem-shocked:
If you're looking for some puzzles that are a real challenge, you may just find them here. Don't expect anything Spiky or Sharp (except perhaps a few traps here and there, ho ho), but these aren't a cakewalk either. Wiggle room is sparse, but still existent on some levels.

??? - 10 levels :devil:
QUARANTINE. NO ENTRY WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION

Oh, and oftentimes the last few levels in a rating are harder than the starting levels in the next rating. My reasoning is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3GzZtx2xes

As for talismans, we've got those too! 12 talisman challenges for you to try out. 2 of them don't tell you directly what to do either, but rather present a riddle...
Of course, if that isn't your thing, you can just check here to see what those riddles are asking.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Download the custom music here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gmbtedsac54nx27/CasualemmingsMusic.zip?dl=1
If upgrading from version 1.1, you need only download this new music: https://www.dropbox.com/s/u3khzg6ux6kdyeu/CasualemmingsMusic2.zip?dl=1
The level pack is attached to the post.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: GigaLem on August 31, 2017, 05:36:29 AM
For some odd reason, I have the songs in the music folder but THEY WONT PLAY >:(
I double checked to make sure of it
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: GigaLem on August 31, 2017, 06:35:19 AM
As for any levels I deemed "Impossible" so far
"Look at them shimmy"
The level is literally to hard for it position let alone solvable.
You 3 bashers for it as I tried everything on that level an not a single idea worked
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Ryemanni on August 31, 2017, 12:55:25 PM
You 3 bashers for it as I tried everything on that level an not a single idea worked
Challenge accepted.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Nessy on August 31, 2017, 02:30:01 PM
I have played through the first rank and a little bit of the second rank and I'm loving these levels :thumbsup:. I love the puzzles in the first rank levels as they are not trivial, but not difficult. I will make another post with my replays when I'm finished so that you can have everything at once.

This forum is frequented by experts at Lemmings, who love to make really hard levels.
I am not one of them, and cannot conquer some of their devilish creations.
Perhaps you're in my boat? Or maybe you're just like Lemmings but are new to NeoLemmix?
In that case, this pack could be the one for you!

I am a firm believer that great levels and hard levels are not correlated. Are there very hard levels that are great? Yes. Are there easy or simple levels that are also great. Of course! It is true that a lot of people like to create challenge levels. I'm one of those people because I personally love playing and creating challenging levels, but that doesn't make me any better or worst than another creator. Everybody brings their own flavor to the table.

As for any levels I deemed "Impossible" so far
"Look at them shimmy"
The level is literally to hard for it position let alone solvable.
You 3 bashers for it as I tried everything on that level an not a single idea worked

"Look At That Shimmy" is not impossible, but it is the the hardest level in Calm. It's my favorite level so far by the way :thumbsup:. I found the solution to be very clever. Trust me... it is 100% possible.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Ryemanni on August 31, 2017, 02:39:37 PM
I downloaded the pack and I'm having a blast with it (I also completed Look at the Shimmy.;))

I didn't even know that it's possible to change the level completed jingle! That's pretty great! :laugh:
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Nessy on September 01, 2017, 02:49:37 AM
I was able to play the first three ranks (I wanted to try the last one but I'm starting to get an actual headache :XD: so I'll do it tomorrow if I have time).

First off, your levels are the perfect example of what I was talking about in my previous post: I may not get stuck on them for days, but WOW the puzzles are really good! My favorites so far are "Look at that Shimmy!", "Hither and Tither", "Lem isn't Fair", "A Touch Too Much", and "Operation: Super Rescue" as well (I hope I did that one intended). Great job! :thumbsup:

I attached my replies below. Hopefully, I didn't break any levels ;P.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 01, 2017, 06:10:18 PM
To Nessy:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm pretty happy with the reception so far, and it's a lot less broken than Lemmings Squared was from the looks of it.

I think I'll work on cleaning up the small problems/backroutes that people find, adjust the placement of some levels (I'm thinking that 'Look at them shimmy!' probably needs to move up a bit) and perhaps add a few more levels for the next update.

I also never knew a blocker that is standing on a locked exit will escape when the exit opens.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Nepster on September 02, 2017, 01:36:06 PM
You have a lot of very nice levels there :thumbsup::thumbsup:, though I probably backrouted a few.

Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Nessy on September 05, 2017, 06:55:29 PM
Finally got around to completing the Hyper rank :thumbsup:. My replies for that rank only are attached below.

Here are my comments (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 06, 2017, 02:40:38 AM
People keep telling me that Hyper 2 has many different solutions, but both Nessy and Nepster (and me for that matter) have done pretty much the same thing solving it... If you're referring to how you don't have to be super precise about it, then I agree and I think the level is better for it.
There are definitely some things I'm seeing here that were a bit unintended... I've got some work to do, but I've already fixed a few. Look forward to an update that may feature a few new levels to boot!
Thanks to all with the help playtesting! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Strato Incendus on September 11, 2017, 08:01:54 PM
May I ask where you got that Kitty trap from? Did you create it yourself, and if so, would you offer it as a download somewhere? ;) As you may have figured out already, I'm a huge fan of animal-like traps! :D
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 11, 2017, 11:50:24 PM
I did create it myself using sprites from Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap as a baseline. The sound is a combination of two sounds from the Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions.
I'll attach the custom tileset to the next update (which contains the pieces used in Perky 20 as well), which should be soon. I believe I've ironed out all backroutes at this point and have made 2 of the 5 new levels, so it shouldn't be too long in coming.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 14, 2017, 06:19:47 AM
Version 1.1 is just about ready to go. I've fixed the backroutes and adjusted levels according to feedback that I've received, and added five more levels to boot. However, since one of said levels was my submission to the design contest #13, I'm debating on holding off the release of the new version until the voting session for the contest begins.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Strato Incendus on September 15, 2017, 07:28:42 AM
Will you simply exchange the file in the starting post once you upload the next version? I'm currently thinking about how to do this with PARALEMS myself. Afaik some people are still playing the old version, so I feel like I should wait for their feedback; yet, just like you, I believe I've fixed most of the backroutes and would like to give the pack another shot ;) .
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 15, 2017, 09:04:10 PM
I probably will swap out the link, yes. And I suppose that the 'waiting a little while longer before posting' does serve the double purpose of giving more time to anybody who is still working through the current version.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Nessy on September 19, 2017, 10:09:17 PM
I started working on the talisman challenges today before the update! :thumbsup: I have attached my replies below.

Comments (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 20, 2017, 12:28:19 AM
I may have failed to update the descriptions for the talismans correctly. Often I will write the description, and then create another level or for some other reason change the location of the level that the description was about so the description then lies to you about what level the challenge is actually on. :-[
I'll be sure to iron that all out for the next release as well as check that the talisman challenges all work like they're supposed to.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Proxima on September 22, 2017, 07:15:37 PM
Perky 20 makes the game crash for me, with this error: "ObtainTerrain loop on "cattrap:0"". (An earlier level with the cat traps played fine.) Nepster tells me he can't fix this and I should just notify you :P
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Nepster on September 22, 2017, 07:19:44 PM
This error occurs when the game tries to load the first terrain piece (with index 0) of the cattrap style, but this piece doesn't exist.
Try to load your level in the editor and click on "Tools->Validate Level" and if issues are listed, then click "Fix all". This should (hopefully) take care of the error.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on September 22, 2017, 09:00:55 PM
Odd. Opening up said level in the editor and pressing 'Validate level' shows no errors... I think I might know the problem though. I probably added the cattrap style to the level pack so I could use the cat traps (as the style was originally just that object) and then later changed it by adding the terrain pieces in for Perky 20, but forgot to add the updated version of the style into the pack. I'll be sure to fix this before the next release.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on October 01, 2017, 08:13:20 PM
Version 1.1 is out now!
Check the first post in the topic for the updated .nxp and music pack.
I said I would add 5 levels, but I ended up adding 15. Also fixed some backroutes, shuffled levels around, and more.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on October 03, 2017, 02:17:59 AM
I've already made some changes to Power Core, but I'll wait to update this level pack until I get feedback on all of the new levels. I'd rather release a fix to all the broken parts at the same time.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Strato Incendus on October 03, 2017, 02:10:03 PM
I had played through the first rank of the original version when you uploaded the update, so I did the first rank again. With a few exceptions (one of them being the "Strato style"-level ;) , and of course "Look at them shimmy!" ), I've made it through the first two ranks thus far.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Btw, I noticed we tend to give our levels the same names occasionally! :D
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on October 03, 2017, 11:38:28 PM
'Sewer rodents' is a very open ended and easy level. Pretty much any route works, and the one you found is pretty close to the talisman solution.
'Super Mecha Death Gators' indeed has some trickery. You will have to sack a bunch of Lemmings, but if 99 RR isn't tight enough to get them through, then that means...? ;)
'Service with a smile' does have some pixel precision, but I don't really see how to work that out. I could just turn down the release rate to take off some pressure, but I think that makes things a little too simple.
'If only they could dig' has a solution that should be evident quickly if you've played this type of level before. If you haven't, then it's easy to forget about a certain tool you have at your disposal that generally isn't useful.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Wafflem on October 04, 2017, 02:13:56 AM
I will be streaming Casualemmings tomorrow at 7:30PM EST on Twitch (and the link to my channel is in in my signature). Hope to see you all there!
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Proxima on October 09, 2017, 11:29:15 PM
Finished the first three ranks. Mostly these are pretty fun, easy levels, with a few exceptions. Some comments and replays:

Perky 8: Express air-evator: Placing the digger correctly is horrible trial-and-error.
Twitchy 8: A fair trade? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawn....
Twitchy 10: To each his own: This was far harder than the rest of the rank; and in the end my solution didn't use all the exits.
Twitchy 13: Janky devices: If the last bomber is slightly misplaced, some lemmings get stuck in the mesh. I'm not entirely sure why this happens.
Twitchy 14: Me, myself and Lem: Nice cloner level. However, the splitters seemed to add nothing except making it take longer for the crowd to exit.
Twitchy 15: Mount Lemerest: Really tedious. At least there was a bit of a puzzle in that you had to conserve builders. Then the last builder on the right side turns out to be super-precise, with only one possible starting pixel where he won't hit his head and will be able to get up (which you can't see from the skill shadow because you have to turn him with a blocker that isn't placed yet). And finally, just one walker short of saving 100% :(
Twitchy 16: Hero's proof: Abuse of NeoLemmix's super-lenient steel detection. Feels backroutish, but I can't see any other way to do it.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Strato Incendus on October 10, 2017, 10:19:31 PM
Here are my replays of everything I could solve so far - and I still needed some help from Wafflemm's stream here and there ;) .

One general thing I noticed, which is just a matter of aesthetitcs and personal preference for them, but the dimensions of your level with regard to height and width seem to vary a lot, so oftentimes there are grey edges somewhere and the player has to zoom in pretty closely to remove them. To me this makes the levels look more "casual" than they actually are from a puzzling standpoint ;) ; especially the twitchy and hyper levels are legitimate professional stuff, so making the dimensions of the level at least standard screen size in my view would give this pack a much more fitting, "professional" appearance.

When overhauling PARALEMS, I deliberately went ahead and extended the width of each level which had only had a width of 320 pixels before to at least 400 or so, to make the levels match widescreen formats. Luckily, one can move around the entire level within the margins by holding down STRG and drawing a selection box around everything - took me a while to find that out, I had always tried to draw selection boxes just using the mouse before, and since that didn't work, I ended up counting the number of STRG-leaps or pixels I moved each tile when I had to displace an entire section of a level :D .

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Dullstar on October 13, 2017, 05:05:28 AM
Just did the first rank. Not much special to note about it; fairly easy, as advertised, though the pickup skill level was probably the hardest in the rank (though that may be because I for some reason didn't realize for quite some time what the climber was for).
It also took me a bit to think to backwards framestep on the level where the lemmings die near-instantaneously. If I used the restart button they'd die before I had a chance to pause the game.

You might want to check the level that introduces swimmers, though... I'm assuming you were supposed to use the swimmers in the solution (the rest of the introductory levels seemed to force you to use the skill that was introduced) but I was definitely able to solve it without swimmers. (I also solved it using a swimmer, so there should be two replays for that level).
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on October 13, 2017, 03:41:52 PM
I've been overhauling some levels to fix more backroutes and redesign some of the weaker levels. "Sewer Rodents" for example will still be solvable without swimmers but harder to do so, and "Sewage Shaft" will be greatly shortened to cut out the pointless fluff. The levels will also be getting reordered again; levels like "Pickup sticks" will be moving closer to the end of their ranks.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: joshescue18 on October 13, 2017, 06:49:04 PM
I finished this level pack.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on November 06, 2017, 12:03:34 AM
Version 1.2 is out!
Features backroute fixes, some level rearrangement, some changes to certain levels to make them suck less, and a new 5th rank with 10 more levels to play! Check the first post in the thread for the new downloads.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on November 07, 2017, 11:39:48 PM
Apologies, but further testing revealed that I was far too generous with the time limit on one of the new levels. Version 1.21 drastically reduces said time limit. Check the first post, as usual.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Strato Incendus on November 08, 2017, 12:09:41 PM
Any special hints on which levels had major fixes? I effectively played this pack twice already, so I started your new version by just letting my replays play... but that of course ended when I reached the first level with a new rank position (even though I had already solved those levels, but now I needed to do it manually again). Since automatic replays are saved by level number and rank name rather than level name (like in the editor), it's hard to find where the fitting replay is hiding once the positions have been changed.

With regard to the new levels: Are you sure these improve the overall quality of the pack? ;) Especially with regard to the infinite skill levels, I usually felt fine with figuring out on a theoretical level what I had to do, but never felt the urge to actually do it. This is the same thing I said about the 50 stoners sewer crocodile level, and also the reason why I didn't play SQron's "Ten story stories and tall tales": The execution gets so repetitive that it just becomes annoying, because nothing new is added.

There are exceptions to this, of course.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Though I must admit I had a similar idea a while back: A small pack of impossible levels. In this case, the task wouldn't be to try and solve them, but rather to find out the exact reason WHY each of them is impossible. In other words: What's the lowest number of additional skills (and what type) you'd need to do these? Would just one miner be enough? Or rather two builders?

That's probably more fun as a forum game, showing just an image of the level and telling the skills (which factors out things like release rate and relative distance between the lemmings, though). As an actual pack, it might just be too frustrating.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: nin10doadict on November 09, 2017, 01:41:14 AM
Son, if you're expecting a rank called "troll" to be fun and enjoyable to play, you're missing the point entirely. I put those levels in for the express purpose of causing suffering. They aren't intended to be good, they're meant to showcase how creative I am when it comes to being an inconsiderate jerk, and perhaps to show some things to avoid if you're trying to make levels that are actually good. Do they deserve to be in the pack? Heck no. But they're there now.

The saddest part is that at least a couple of the levels are just corrupted versions of decent ideas; I just made versions of them that eliminate the repetitive troll garbage by cutting down the total number of Lemmings and they're actually good levels now.

As for which levels have significantly changed, I don't really remember. A bunch got backroute fixes that were relatively minor, some were bigger than others, and a few levels like "Sewage shaft" got seriously reworked.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: joshescue18 on May 02, 2018, 03:20:10 AM
I finished these levels.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: WillLem on February 19, 2020, 01:24:56 PM
Are these available in new format? I'd like to give this pack a try.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: Strato Incendus on February 20, 2020, 09:09:43 AM
No, they are not - just like several other great packs (SubLems, Lemmings Stampede etc.). Keeping a stable version of 10.13 around is helpful for these purposes, though.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: kaywhyn on May 11, 2020, 11:00:59 PM
Is Perky 20 even possible? The best I've managed is 21 saved, which is short of the 25 save requirement.
Title: Re: [NeoLemmix] Casualemmings
Post by: kaywhyn on December 15, 2022, 09:48:39 PM
Completed the Old Formats NL version of Casualemmings shortly after finishing Casualemmings 2.0 for New Formats. My replays are attached. Here, except for the tutorial levels of the Calm rank, I will only comment on the levels that are found only in Old Formats, as everything else has been converted to New Formats and I've already given my feedback there in the level pack topic. Perky 20 was, by far, the level I got stuck on the longest, for several months. Turns out I went about the level incorrectly for a very long time.

Also, link to the playlist of my video solutions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbp2m4KlFpJt_lUd05IO3MDtU9OUW1m21 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbp2m4KlFpJt_lUd05IO3MDtU9OUW1m21). Enjoy! :P

Spoiler (click to show/hide)