Even in levels with nuke solutions, it should generally be possible to preserve any replay simply by delaying the nuke assignment by 5 seconds.
I think namida's suggestion is not to remove the "assign lemming by lemming" aspect of nuking, only that they explode immediately upon getting bomber instead of after counting down 5 seconds. So there's still the same delay between the first lemming and the last, but the first lemming explodes (or "oh no") pretty much immediately when nuke is invoked, versus 5 seconds afterwards like today.
It seems like most existing nuke solutions should still work with this change by simply initiating the nuke 5 seconds later. To be clear it's not 100% equivalent--initiating the nuke also cuts off any yet-to-enter lemmings from entering, and use of cloners on lemmings that are already in countdown is no longer possible. And possibly a few other details I can't think of right now. But these sorts of details are not typically used or required in nuke solutions.
It seems like most existing nuke solutions should still work with this change by simply initiating the nuke 5 seconds later.
[...] And possibly a few other details
[...] these sorts of details are not typically used or required in nuke solutions.
One possible alternative to removing the timer is to have a "timer bypass" method of activating it, which makes the first lemming explode "now". This nuke bypass would, in practice, be "rewind 5 seconds, nuke, fast forward 5 seconds", to ensure any physics side-effects are captured correctly.
This would not break any existing physics or replays, but would provide a less chaotic / execution-dependent method of triggering the nuke.
Thoughts?
The only problem I would see with this, is that maybe in the particular set of nuke levels that rely on that, the gap between the first explosion and the last ones created by the exiting lemmings during those skipped 5 seconds is not as visually clear anymore as the player does not witness the countdown phase.
One possible alternative to removing the timer is to have a "timer bypass" method of activating it, which makes the first lemming explode "now". This nuke bypass would, in practice, be "rewind 5 seconds, nuke, fast forward 5 seconds", to ensure any physics side-effects are captured correctly.
This would not break any existing physics or replays, but would provide a less chaotic / execution-dependent method of triggering the nuke.
Thoughts?
Levels using the nuke in a puzzle are even rarer; the majority of nuke levels are just gimmick levels that have nothing to them beyond the novelty of nuking, and it doesn't need to be timed at all precisely to meet the (always extremely low) save requirement.
Levels using the nuke in a puzzle are even rarer; the majority of nuke levels are just gimmick levels that have nothing to them beyond the novelty of nuking, and it doesn't need to be timed at all precisely to meet the (always extremely low) save requirement.
I'm aware there are examples of the puzzle type. "Majority" does not mean "all".
I stand by the no-cull or the suggestion made by namida.