In case you haven't heard, at the very end of April I was finally able to get the final level of Revenge of the Lemmings for New Formats NL solved after being stuck on it for 4 months. geoo's Stroke At Retirement Age is a very worthy level to finish off the pack despite it not being anywhere near the hardest level of the pack, though it's certainly one of the hardest.
It turns out to use the exact same concept as another level of geoo's, Merge Sort, another level that I really struggled with and took me a long time before I solved it with a very messy and fiddly solution that involves the very long waiting game. I simply failed to make that connection for a very long time and hence I didn't think to use a lemming around the middle of the 99RR train to do the mining instead of either the first or the last one. Before I made this realization, the level did a great job of making me think the intended solution was something completely different, when in fact I had had the solution the entire time in the last several minutes of the penultimate video of my LP.
However, that's not the greatest news. About a few weeks after finishing up RotL for New Formats NL, earlier this month, I was finally able to get Black Hole 1 solved from NepsterLems last week on Tuesday (May 16, 2023, level image in above post). I proceeded to solve the rest of the level pack in just two days after that. So, it might had taken me 3 years, but I finally have solved all of NepsterLems :thumbsup:
As for BH1 itself, there is a spoiler contained which shows the part I missed in the nearly 3 years I was stuck on this level circled in red, so don't open if you plan to play the level yourself! I seriously can't believe I didn't see that critical spot in the almost 3 years the level stumped me :forehead:
Before I realized that critical junction where the basher goes, I kept doing everything from the right side. In the end, I would have a basher left, but to my annoyance and chagrin, at the very top where you can get them down, they will fall and land right by the pole on the other side and therefore the level isn't solved :evil:
(https://i.imgur.com/wZCKsjC.png)
Also, the floater and 7 save requirement distracted me for a very long time, as well as the bunch of red herrings that I never really ruled out as incorrect, such as the many gaps that are not sealable by 1 pixel.
After announcing on the Discord that I finally solved all of NepsterLems after 3 years, I received messages of congratulations from several of the Forums members. I have copied/pasted them here.
kieranmillar — 05/18/2023 2:01 PM
Well done! Your dedication, persistence, and also discipline in not looking up a solution in 3 years, is very impressive.
Will — 05/18/2023 5:16 PM
@kaywhyn Congratulations on solving Nepsterlems!
SQron — 05/19/2023 3:17 AM
@kaywhyn You solved all the Nepsterlems levels? That is an achievement not to be underestimated!
Pooty — 05/19/2023 4:27 AM
That must feel so damn good. (Referring to how I said that I have solved all the really hard level packs, such as Lemmings United, Lemmings Plus Omega 2, Lemmings Plus Alpha, and finally NepsterLems)
Armani — 05/20/2023 12:09 AM
Hey congratulation for finishing the pack! You escaped the nightmare of blackholes and no lemmings level can stop you now!
Then there's this from me:
it might have taken 3 years, but nepsterlems is finally all solved!
The message of mine above received a lem:thumbsup reaction from mobius, kieran, and armani.
Therefore, thank you to mobius, kieran, armani, WillLem, SQRon188, and Pooty for their congratulations :thumbsup: However, somehow I don't feel all 100% happy about this achievement, and I don't know why. It might likely be due to how I was stuck on BH1 for almost 3 years, when everyone else who had solved the level needed at most only 1-2 hours. Not me apparently. I needed almost 3 years! :(
Thus, this kind of made me wondered why I received all these congratulations and whether I truly deserved them. Was it because of the fact it took me 3 years to solve all of the level pack? The fact it's one of the hardest packs? Maybe both? Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful and grateful to those who showered me with praise on my achievement of solving all of the pack. Maybe how I'm not completely happy about it is just simply another case of me being too hard on myself. I did, after all, solve all of a really hard pack that not many would be able to. And I did it all without hints too! Yes, that includes BH1 even though I got very desperate and nearly wanted to throw in the towel several times. Nevertheless, I held back, and I especially would never ever forgive myself if I did look up a spoiler for the level, especially one that is in only the classic 8 skills.
I'll be honest, and that is it was really kieran who gave me the push to get BH1 solved, as he was the most recent one to solve it after I posted my rant about the level (the post immediately above this one) in this topic. By this, I mean the frequency I kept coming back to the level hoping I would finally see something that would help me get the level solved increased significantly. So, thank you kieran for giving me the motivation there! I assured him there was no need for his apology that he got the level solved before me, as there's bound to be levels like that that just stump me far longer than they should. BH1 happened to be one of them, all due to my "blindness" and failure to see anything else besides the ways that I kept being stuck on and trying to make work.
Needless to say, know that it's no one's fault I feel this way, as there are times when I feel and get all down about myself and wonder why I'm not good enough. However, sometimes I just need a reminder from others that I am worth it and am not completely worthless.