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! 

Hi everyone, sorry. I know that I just released V2, however I noticed a glaring issue within the level pack. I've now re-uploaded it on the original post on this thread, please download and enjoy!
Sorry for any confusion!

Steve x

Quote from: JawaJuice on April 21, 2026, 09:36:37 PMV2 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 were due to backrouting them previously. We shall see!

All are intended, except for Pole Dance, however, Pole Dance (much like Calacatta Monument) is actually from the Second pack I'm making with a different skill set, and I know that it's very simple, I was going to make a new level but time hasn't been on my side, nor is it in the coming weeks. I will replace it somewhat soon, however for now it fills the void haha.

Well done on Potholing.

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!

Quote from: JawaJuice on April 21, 2026, 06:43:20 PMCongrats 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

Not at all pedantic, these are oversights I'm very well known for, I type too fast for my own good haha, thanks for pointing them out. Fingers before brain unfortunately...

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

Hi Everyone.

Please find attached to the original post my Reworked level pack "NotaLems V2".

Patch Notes

After much fair and constructive criticism I have reworked the structure and design of many levels of the easy rank, in order to achieve it's goal of teaching new players the game and it's skills. I have also taken the time to cut down on unnecessary height in most levels.
Easy Rank
Easy 1 - Moved Digger tutorial first, Improved Pre-text
Easy 2 - Added Pre-text
Easy 3 - Moved Builder tutorial, Improved Pre-text
Easy 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - Improved Pre-text and changed background on "Egyptian Excavation"
Easy 9 - New level "Tightrope Artists", Improved Pre-text
Easy 10 - Now Neutral Lemming tutorial with improved pre-text, shortened Lemming count and edited level solution
Easy 11 - Now Release rate tutorial
Easy 12 - Removed "Dog wants a drink. Now sacrifice tutorial, Much shortened Lemming count, reworked level design.
Easy 13 - Now "Noughts and Crosses", added Pre-text
Easy 14 - New level "Highland Hijinks"
Easy 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23 - Rearranged order of levels.
Easy 19 - Now Lemming turning tutorial.
Easy 20 - Now "Not quite so Menacing"
Easy 21 - Now Builder tutorial number 2
Easy 25 - Removed Lock on release rate, increased release rate slightly.

The Medium rank appears to have done it's job pretty well as I hoped it would serve as a real tester for newer players and a slight difficulty increase to a more experienced player. Many of the levels did contain backroutes so most have now been patched out. I hope that players continue to try and backroute as much as possible so as I can learn better how to avoid them. The criticism of spamming 1 skill in certain levels I think is fair and I have re-worked or removed several levels in this rank that do that, not all though...

Medium Rank
Medium 6 - Removed terrain to prevent backroute
Medium 8 - Lowered Lemming count to 10, Renamed, new solution
Medium 9 - Added steel to prevent backroute
Medium 15 - Removed "Hazardous Work Environment", now "Million Dollar Lemming"
Medium 16-29 - Slightly rearranged due to level removal
Medium 21 - Difficulty of level increased.
Medium 26 - Backroute fix (not a massive change)
Medium 27 - Now "Sandcastle Competition",  Level remains unchanged however a new Silver Talisman added
Medium 28 - New level "Pole Dance" added, Silver Talisman added
Medium 29 - Added terrain to help identify intended solution.
Medium 30 - Reworked level, new solution.

The tough rank was my way of having a bit of fun, I hoped to make many of the levels as difficult as possible and is aimed at giving the more experienced Lemmings players a challenge. I will openly admit that some of the designs were uninspired and somewhat lazy on my end, with some levels that have proven easy to backroute, skill spamming, tedious or a little bit too easy for the rank. These oversights have been addressed and I hope now the Tough rank proves to live up to it's name! While some of the levels are a bit Builder heavy (Tough 13 for example) I do have a bit of a soft spot for them.
I am certain that there will be some backroutes I have missed, so I hope that they can be identified, Tough 20 proves to be a hard one to create.

Tough 3 - Removed terrain to help identify intended solution
Tough 6 - Reworked to suit intended solution (The solutions I have seen used are very skillful)
Tough 7 - Reworked to suit intended solution
Tough 8 - Added OWD and made changes to suit intended solution
Tough 10 - Made steel more apparent, reworked slightly to avoid unintended route
Tough 11 - New Level "Calacatta Monument"
Tough 15 - Reworked Level entirely (Builder and bombing proves very unpopular, and I agree, this redesigned puzzle should be a worthy challenge)
Tough 17 - Reworked Level (Far too easy to backroute, made changes to suit towards intended solution)
Tough 18 - Removed "Cave Explorer", Now slightly reworked "Spectacular". (Cave Explorer was a lack luster attempt at a level, I feel the new OWD in "Spectacular will offer a reasonable challenge)
Tough 19 - Slight rework to suit the intended solution.
Tough 20 - Reworked level, different skills
Tough 24 - Reduced Lemming count, Added Steel to prevent slight backroute (while I was happy with the solutions I've seen, it was a slight backroute)
Tough 25 - Added Steel to increase difficulty
Tough 26 - Added OWD to aid intended solution.
Tough 27 - Slightly reworked to suit intended solution.
Tough 28 - Level remains unchanged, however a gold talisman has been added (This level has proven popular, I think it's appropriate to give an extra challenge)
Tough 29 - Slight rework to increase difficulty


As always, I would appreciate any feedback as it will help me with the second pack I am currently working on, all criticism is fair in my eyes .

I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who has played NotaLems thus far, and a huge thank you to Kaywhyn, Proxima and JawaJuice for their feedback and help.

I hope that you give my reworked pack a go and more importantly, I hope you enjoy it!

Steve x

Looks like version 2.1.7 dropped last month, so we'll need to upgrade the Forums to it sometime

https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=593921.0

He will cut the box into a hill with a chainsaw.

Quote from: The64Watcher on July 30, 2024, 02:17:24 AM10 - 10 is falling from the empire state building

This lemming experiences gravity force and is low on breath. Wind would control the lemming's movement speed. If I say a few words, the lemming will glide to safety into the East River and recover while floating in the water and while learning how to swim.