Genocide 37 -
Gate to the Inner Sanctum For what's supposedly the hardest level in the entire pack, I didn't think it was THAT hard. Yes, it took me a while and might had taken me a week and half, but that's only because I was constantly on and off with playing lemmings. The extremely hot weather here in California didn't motivate me much to play during that time. In all, solving time was about 1.5-2 hours. Compared to other levels in the pack, I thought this one wasn't so bad. Except for Genocide 40, I thought the levels after this one were harder. Then again, I might had backrouted the level. It seems the key to this level is making sure to allocate the athlete skills carefully instead of trying to assign them all to the same lemming and therefore making multiple triathletes.
I thought the hardest part was getting to the buttons on the bottom platforms. It took me a while to figure out the best way to get to them all. For a really long time, at the start, I thought I had to prevent any lemmings at the bottom from slipping past to fall into the water, but once I tried other things to see if I could save some skills, it was more productive. Also, once I realize I could take the ceiling route, it was a near solve, but there was still a few things to figure out. I don't know if taking the ceiling is intended, though. I don't know if there is a better way to get the swimmer(s) back on land other than the very fiddly mining cancelling I did on the starting platform at the bottom.
I have attached two solutions, both of which have leftover skills. The first one is where I have a leftover basher, but I can swap the miner at the platform above the exit with it and I'll have a miner leftover instead. For the second, even though the second one is a variation of the first solution where I bash with the triathlete instead, the second one seems to be a much worse backroute, since I have a climber, swimmer, and a basher leftover. Again, I can swap the miner with the basher and have a miner leftover instead.
Genocide 38 -
Legacy of Lemlab I wasn't too much of a fan of this one since there's a lot of fiddlyness with digger cancelling. Not only is this hard, but figuring out whether it was even possible to reach the exit through the outside was difficult as well. Due to these things, I thought this was what made the level harder than the previous one. Then again, the level is also somewhat easier due to the very limited skill set and how practically the only skills that are useful here are the diggers and builders. I don't know if it's necessary to fiddle with the RR at the beginning. Also, I don't know if building outside on the right side is intended. Then again, I don't think the normal solution of going through the inner portion is possible, since you'll always be a builder short. I did use some floaters but none of the swimmers. I'm guessing these leftover skills I have is acceptable?
Genocide 39 -
Rise of the Harkonnen Ok, this was a fine level that managed to stump me good for an entire day. There were some things I managed to figure out very quickly, but the hardest part for me was getting up in the central area. I thought a stacker, miner, and basher would be enough to get up, but alas it's not. However, once I swapped out a walker with a stacker for the platforming part on the left side, I think it was a bit easier to figure out how to get up. Even then, it was still tricky, and some precision is required. Other than the difficulty of carving a path upward, the key here appears to be that you must do certain things first before you can build the crowd up. In particular, first mining through the Harkonnen, then collecting the pickup skills. Otherwise, the level isn't possible. Even when I did figure out the order, I still struggled a lot with the level.
Genocide 40 -
Photo Finish Ok, unless this is intended, this seems like a huge backroute, considering I don't use any climbers or floaters. I did have another solution of getting the lemmings down the left side that works, but due to miscalculating on my part, the solution leaves me with a lemming short and therefore doesn't work. Other than that, I don't know any other solution that would work.
Genocide 41 -
The Epitome Yea, for the rank finisher and final level of the main pack, I thought this wasn't too hard, even though this one took me about a day to solve. Thus, it remains true that out of all the rank finishers of the pack, Neutrality 41 stumped me the longest. Heck, compared to the final level of Reunion, I think Nightmare 30 is much harder.
Anyway, even before I started my attempts, there were several things I was able to quickly figure out in my mind. The hardest parts for me were making a landing platform for the top right crowd in the bottom right area and being able to get him to safety without losing him afterwards, as well as building up to the middle area on the bottom left area. The other parts were easier to figure out, although as was the case with many levels in the pack, the main problem I had was running into skill shortages. In particular, I was trying to make sure that I had enough diggers and blockers for the most important parts. In some senses conserving bashers as well, as even though you are provided a lot of them they surprisingly run out quickly and all are used in the solution. Even after finally finding a solution and solving the level, I still ended up with a climber and 2 gliders leftover, so ultimately a backroute? I'm not sure which parts in my solution might be unintended, though. Also, awesome congratulations message at the very end!
And oh dang, 8 minutes exactly.
Finally, it doesn't relate to the level solving process in any way, but the point I want to mention is that I absolutely love your music track choice for this level. I definitely prefer this track over the one that plays for Neutrality 41 and War 41. I love how this track has a much calmer, softer tune that has a "final feeling" quite appropriate for the last main level of the pack. Well done!
In contrast, the track for the other two levels is really loud and can be quite atrocious. I get that it's supposed to invoke an intensive feeling due to being rank finishers, but the track doesn't really help motivate one to solve them in any way.
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. Still a month left before the creation phase closes. Even if I miss the cutoff, for sure I will do the next LDC. Just thought I throw it out there that I will indeed give it a try. Even if my level(s) don't make it that far in the voting, I figured I have nothing to lose and as long as I have fun it's all good. Plus, it's all a learning process, so I might take some valuable lessons with me.