Hopefully better late than never! This was a pack I attempted many moons ago but gave up on because I was stumped by the very first level Having thoroughly enjoyed playing through RayLems a while back, I thought I'd give it another crack!

This is quite a difficult pack and it starts like it means to go on! The first level still gave me a bit of trouble, though I figured it out rather more quickly this time around and that set the tone - I was able to get onto Ryemanni's wavelength and the rest of the pack, while challenging, didn't pose any massive obstacles to completion. That said, I needed more than one visit for levels 6 (Level Under Construction), 12 (Pocket Hell), 17 (Roadkill) and 20 (The Belly of the Beast).

At least from my perspective, these are the hardest levels in the pack. This is subjective though of course; reading the feedback above now, it seems no-one else struggled as much with Level 6 as I did! For whatever reason, it just took me the longest time to see a solution and I'm still not convinced I did it as intended, despite using all the skills. Level 12 is a literally tiny but that doesn't make it a cinch, by any means! Only being able to lose one lemming is the challenge - if you could utilize two stoners, it would be fairly trivial. In the end, I managed to solve it without any RR fiddling. Again though, not sure if intended. Level 17 isn't so much hard as just incredibly frustrating - I'd go as far as to say rage bait - I hate these kind of levels where the opportunity for logical problem-solving is minimal (sorry Ryemanni!).

Spoiler

Level 20 is hard for one major reason: it's very difficult to accept that the gap between steel blocks is going to be passable, and all too easy to just completely discount it as a possible route, as I did for a long time - when all else failed though, which it did, it was the only option! I kinda lucked into containing the crowd as I was just thinking I had to utilize a bomber to clear enough terrain and fortunately, that also created a high enough barrier to contain the crowd. I can't say that was planned at all but it worked out

I really enjoyed the majority of levels in this pack, but faves were 10 (The Box of Pain) and 11 (The Catacombs): I love levels that are not quick solves at all, but which you gradually work through logically. Also a fan of the Spooky tileset that's used in quite a few levels, in keeping with the theme! Good pack overall and recommended. Don't be put off by the immediate (relative) difficulty of the first level, as I was originally! 

Replays attached. 

Quote from: Nota_Steve on April 26, 2026, 08:31:23 PMYour support has been incredible, thank you so much. Really means a lot.

My pleasure! Playing/testing a new pack is a win-win

Here's my solution. Still seems a bit backroutey to me, but probably less so than before.

Hi Steve,

V2.1 replays attached - just the ones that changed since the last version, namely Easy 10, 12, 13 and 25, Medium 28 and Tough 9, 11 and 14.

I won't give too much feedback this time around as kaywhyn has already covered pretty much anything I'd want to say, including the style issue relating to Easy 20, so just my thoughts on the Tough levels:

Tough 9 'Calacatta Monument' - Wow this is really tough now! One of the hardest levels of the rank imo. Even when you have seen the solution - which took me a long time! - the execution is incredibly precise; maybe a bit too precise? Either way, it's a cleverly designed level and a proper challenge.

Tough 11 'Mogok Sone Tract' - Not too bad, though not sure whether I solved it in the intended way. I imagine there could be a few different solutions here.

Tough 14 'Construction Yard' - Again, not too bad, since the skill set gives you a big hint about what needs to be done. Like 9, the timing and execution is quite precise, though not as precise. Needed a bit of RR fiddling right at the end, but I probably wouldn't have if I'd timed the worker lemmings better.

Looking forward to the second pack you mentioned you working on - good luck with that And congratulations on producing a really nice pack in NotaLems.

Quote from: kaywhyn on April 24, 2026, 10:06:24 AM

Quote from: JawaJuice on April 24, 2026, 09:29:57 AMCheck my replay I was pretty sure I had the latest versions of all levels before attempting them, but I'd like to know if that wasn't the case.

Thanks, but didn't have to. Checked the level in the editor and ah, didn't realize the first trap is completely misplaced so that it doesn't kill the Lemmings! Now I see that it is indeed possible to save everyone thanks to the misplaced trap! I've now edited my feedback to reflect this newfound knowledge  

Sorry, I should have mentioned the trap was misplaced - I assumed this was done on purpose for some weird reason (not sure why I'd assume that haha). FYI, I usually scan a new level with CPM as a matter of course to scan for hidden nasties such as hidden terrain or traps (which I don't like, so use CPM as a tool in my arsenal to defy them); I noticed the misplaced trap then, so exploited it in my solution. Not sure why I didn't mention that!

Quote from: kaywhyn on April 24, 2026, 12:46:12 AMEasy 12 "Lemmings death" - Lemmings should have an apostrophe. As for the level, yea, I think this is a bit better for demonstrating that traps can only kill one Lemming at a time. The only thing I'm not seeing is how it's possible to save everyone here Unless the level changed since the time JawaJuice resolved it for which it's possible to.

Check my replay I was pretty sure I had the latest versions of all levels before attempting them, but I'd like to know if that wasn't the case.

Nice one, kaywhyn!

Spoiler

Indeed, I basically had the solution, except for making the first of the left-hand lemmings a climber rather than the second, then having him explode on falling as he fails to climb! A particularly fiddly little execution, but not atypical for LemFan so probably should have expected something like that

You will no doubt post detailed feedback, which I look forward to reading as always I'll just say that despite criticisms of occasional weird difficulty spikes in Mayhem, LemFan does pretty much save some of the hardest levels for last, which is what you want. 18 'A Connecting Game', 19 'Lemming Brushpast' and 20 'Pack Finalised' are no joke! The latter derives its difficulty from running out of skills - it's so easy to wind up a skill or two short of being able to complete it; similar to the final level of Nota_Steve's pack in that way, I thought. Lemmings Rundown is actually comparable in difficulty to NotaLems, though it is harder at its peak toughness imo.

You've reminded me I need to go back to Lemmingshades. I gave up on it before, but I'm on LemFan's wavelength now!

I decided to return to a pack I hadn't completed yet, Lemmings Rundown. I managed to finish the pack with the exception of a single level, annoyingly; Mayhem 14 'Problems Go Wrong'. This was a very enjoyable pack overall, with puzzles that are much better designed than LemFan's earliest packs - it represents a decent challenge. Difficulty is still a bit all over the place, e.g. the first level of Mayhem, 'The Middle of Marble' is almost the hardest level of the whole rank! It's one of the few levels that completely stumped me initially and which I had to circle back to (more than once!). Level 13 of Tricky, 'Apartment Block' was one of the hardest of the entire pack imo, way too difficult for its rank; should have been in Mayhem. Despite some unwelcome spikes in the difficulty curve and some real tough nuts (mostly in Mayhem, though some in Taxing), I'd be inclined to agree with kaywhyn that it is easier than Lemmingshades; Oddlems too, from what I've played of that.

@Kaywhyn I know you said Lemmings Rundown was 100% solvable; would you be kind enough to share your replay for 'Problems Go Wrong'? I'd really like to see how it's done! It seems impossible to me, with the skills given.

Spoiler

I can almost do it, by making the second lemming from the right-hand crowd build to the left, then making the second lemming of the left-hand crowd a climber while the first one bombs away the OWU floor, but because the builder goes through the thin wall, that turns the climber around.

If anyone else fancies a crack at this particular level, have at it!

Replays attached, excluding Mayhem 14.

Hey Steve! I assume you were talking about the new level 'Calacatta Monument' when you mentioned a glaring issue; I got the latest version V2 Tough rank cleared. I would say you've succeeded in making the rank live up to its name! That said, I still found 'Potholing' from Medium harder than pretty much any of these. It could just be a me thing - not seeing the solution for ages - but I'd consider swapping out an early Tough level for it maybe.

Of your updated levels, these were the hardest for me: Level 3 (Catacombs), Level 10 (Pair of Aces), Level 15 (Crosses and Noughts), Level 18 (Spectacular), Level 20 (The Arches) and Level 27 (Clam Dune). I really needed to totally re-work my previous solution for these, so guessing I must've backrouted them pretty badly before (assuming I still haven't!). The gold talisman on 28 wasn't too bad, primarily because I found I could just tweak my previous solution very slightly.

V2 replays attached. Great job again with this pack - a ton of fun! 

V2 Medium replays attached. You'll have to let me know if I've still backrouted any of these. 'The Pillars of Positivity and Negativity' still feels like it might be, mainly because I have a ton of unused diggers - I'm not really sure what your intention is with this level tbh, I just solve it in the way that seems most logical to me! That's always the case though really. I rarely set out to backroute a level (unless I spot a really obvious one and want to highlight it) but I do sometimes struggle to see what an author is intending. And wow, you've made 'Potholing' really hard now - way longer solve time than any other level in Medium. It actually took me longer than almost all of the Tough rank levels, although admittedly I haven't played your updates yet; could well be that some of those seemed easier than they were due to backrouting them previously. We shall see!

Congrats on the v2 release, Steve!

I'll give you a bit of feedback on the blurbs at the start of the Easy rank levels; I just noticed a few typos and such - feel free to ignore if I'm being too pedantic

Level 1: "The first few levels will teach you skill starting with Diggers."

I think you mean 'skills' rather than 'skill' here.

Level 6: "Blockers will block the Lemmings from a path you may not which them to take."

'wish' rather than 'which'.

Level 8: "You may have noticed on the level page and small circle with a question mark."

'a small circle' rather than 'and small circle'.

Level 9: Only one 's' in 'occasionally'

Level 12: "Sadly you won't be able to rescue all the lemmings all the time... This level will teach you that."

Except it won't, because it is possible to save all the lemmings with this reworked level (see attached).

I'll include my replays for the new Easy rank levels where my old replays no longer worked (about a half a dozen of them). I dig the new one, Highland Hijinks

Quote from: Nota_Steve on April 18, 2026, 07:25:29 PMI am really humbled that you chose to play through my level pack, thank you so much, and thank you so much for your feedback, your critique (all of which is fair) and your compliments have really given me an incite into not only how I can make this level pack better, but how I can improve on my ideas for the second pack I am currently working on.

My pleasure I'm always so grateful for new level packs to play and for all the creators who make them to entertain the community! I'll certainly be up for playing your second level pack when it's done.

QuoteI have watched your replays and again, much as the same with a couple of my friends and kaywhyn, I would like to address a couple of the levels in the next coming days and release a smaller little pack with just the reworked levels on. I would like to know how difficult it is to achieve the intended solution (or one of the few in many levels cases).

From what I've seen, it seems to be standard practice to make successive versions of the same pack - i.e. v2, v3 etc. - with a few levels updated and the rest unchanged. The problem with extracting certain levels to make another smaller pack is that if those also get backrouted, are you going to keep making smaller and smaller packs with updated levels? I would've thought it would be easier if you just released a NotaLems v2. Up to you though; your updates will be played either way, I'm sure!

QuoteAlso, thank you for being very welcoming to me and even taking the time to offer as much as you have to me, it really means a lot.

Very well played!

Cheers! I was made to feel welcome by forum members when I joined not so long ago after being a lurker for many years, so glad you feel the same way!

I also finished the Tough rank. As kaywhyn said, a few tough nuts in there for sure. I'm going to give you my feedback on certain levels (trying to be quite generalized, spoiler-free) then I'll compare notes!

Level 1 - Already a step up in difficulty and a sign of things to come for this rank. Resource management is the hardest thing here, with the limited skill set.
Level 4 - As previously mentioned, this one is a real tough nut! Probably ended up being in the top 5 hardest levels of the rank for me (#5 I'd say!). It's a repeat that's a lot more challenging than its first incarnation - the difficulty comes from needing to save both sides with again, a pretty limited skill set.
Level 9 - Requires precise placement but it will be a familiar puzzle to any experienced Lemmings player!
Level 10 - Slightly harder than 4 imo, mainly due to the extremely tight time limit where quite a lot has to be done to create a safe path for the crowd. The number of builders is its saving grace, but I needed every one of them!
Level 12 - Another repeat that's much harder than its first incarnation and actually does utilize the mechanic I expected the first one to - in this case, compression! Would be tricky for a beginner I think!
Level 13 - I really like the look of this level! Tropical Hot Dog Nights to quote Captain Beefheart ;-)
Level 19 - Made hard by the 99 RR, as so many levels are. Definitely needed more thinking time than the previous few levels.
Level 21 - Quite a difficult level/talisman, but your options are severely limited, which makes it easier in a way I suppose.
Level 22 - Looks simple... and is! I clocked the solution almost immediately; the hard thing was the execution and completing within the time limit. 4 minutes sounds like a lot, but there's much ground to cover and a fair bit to do.
Level 23 - Seemed uncharacteristically easy for its position in the rank, but I don't mind a breather!
Level 24 - Another problem of resource management. Tricky, but not so bad.
Level 25 - The most difficult thing here was the containment of the crowd at the start but I may well have over-complicated my solution in this instance.
Level 28 - The hardest level of the pack to this point imo. Extreme resource management and timing challenges. Longest solve time so far, eclipsing 4 and 10.
Level 29 - I can tell you, there's no backrouting this level, at least as far as I can see; I tried for a while to do the coward's solution, building over the left fire pit to the exit, lowering the terrain first, but you've clearly thought of that. In the end, I knuckled down to taking the long route! Maybe not quite as difficult as 28, but it's up there.
Level 30 - Wow, you weren't kidding about this being a hard level! The only level in the pack that took me a couple of hours to complete, I don't mind telling you! It's how a pack finale should be though: save the toughest for last! Really clever how you've incorporated four earlier levels into one, re-contextualizing them, by also adding the contained neutrals in each. For the longest time, I just kept ending up a skill short (usually a builder!) but somehow eventually managed to finish with a builder to spare and 2 lemmings more than the requirement saved!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this pack I would probably place its overall difficulty at Easy-Medium, though there are certainly a few levels in the last rank that would fall into the 'Hard' category. You also save the hardest three levels for the end of the rank in my book, so I think you've gauged the difficulty curve well. There are maybe a few things that could be improved in the Easy rank especially, but I would say it's a worthy pack! Probably a bit tough for beginners in its final rank, if that is the intention, but you could say the same thing about Icho's NeoLemmix Introduction Pack.

Replays attached, including talisman solutions.

Quote from: Nota_Steve on April 16, 2026, 11:52:08 PMI really appreciate you playing through my level pack, and your feedback on both Easy and Medium is really appreciated.

My pleasure! I've really enjoyed the play through so far

QuoteI've watched through the replays, and many of the levels were designed in a way to have multiple solutions, however you appear to have found a couple more which I'm happy about, my concern with some of them is that they were slightly too difficult and you've alleviated that concern.

Yeah, the difficulty curve is generally quite smooth, so nicely judged on your part! Don't worry though, Tough rank is plenty hard

QuoteI've also noticed a few back routes other than Medium 9 which I will address when I have the time to, but for the most part it looks like the pack is as I intended.

Good stuff! Always happy to play any updates you have when you get around to it.  

QuoteVery well played and I look forward to hearing further feedback! 

Cheers! My solve time has already gone up considerably just a couple of levels into Tough. I think it's going to be quite a while until I crack this rank, if at all! Interestingly, level 4, which is another repeat (several in this pack, but that's standard), does actually introduce that element of necessary co-operation that was missing in its earlier incarnation. Tough level - I might have been being dumb (entirely possible! XD), but it took me about half an hour to finally find a solution there. If that's indicative of how this rank's gonna go, I'm in for a long ride! Nothing rage-inducing so far though, it's all just difficult puzzle-solving rather than horrifically precise execution and timing - definitely a good thing in my book.

Medium rank cleared. Definitely a step up in difficulty, though still nothing brain-melting! On the whole, I'd say the pack has a fairly smooth difficulty curve. Notes on individual levels:

Level 8 - Another level that's simply tedious, with the same skill assigned 40 times. Admittedly, 'Endurance Test' is in the title, but is this really necessary? I've seen almost the exact same level in at least a couple of other packs. I feel like there should be some variant to make it interesting.

Level 9 - Almost certainly a backroute. Would be resolved by having the OWD section go right down to the bottom of the screen.

Level 14 - The first really tricky level of the pack imo. Took a bit of working out, this one, as well as a bit of RR fiddling!

Level 15 - Not as hard as it looked like it was going to be, mainly due to the minimum RR.

Level 22 - Seems a bit easy and uninvolved for this point of the pack.

Level 23 - Really nice level that necessitates the use of every single skill, which is usually a sign of good design in my book!

Level 24 - The hardest yet! I tried lots of different approaches with nothing working for quite a long time until I hit on a solution. The difficulty of the rank peaks with this level though; it's downhill from here - not in terms of good levels, but definitely in terms of how challenging they are.

Replays attached.