Cancelling skills with Shimmiers vs. with Walkers

Started by Strato Incendus, November 01, 2019, 10:24:44 AM

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Strato Incendus

Walkers have been dubbed by several people as the most overpowered skill in NeoLemmix, due to their versatility. Too many advanced puzzles revolve around questions such as limiting the number of times a given lemming can turn around, or how a Blocker can be freed, and the Walker takes care of both.

Shimmiers, in contrast, can cancel skills - but not Blockers - without having the additional potential of easily turning lemmings around either. Of course, depending on the structure and position of certain ceilings, they can introduce other backgrounds that Walkers couldn't. But so far, a regular, shimmiable ceiling appearing by accident seems to be the exception rathe than the rule.

What's you experience on this so far? Have you been using Shimmiers as a mere cancel skill instead of Walkers? ;) Maybe it's also easier to hide the availability of such solutions, because this option is still less familiar to people at the moment, whereas for Walkerrs, canceling skills is one of their main intended uses.
My packs so far:
Lemmings World Tour (New & Old Formats), my music-themed flagship pack, 320 levels - Let's Played by Colorful Arty
Lemmings Open Air, my newest release and follow-up to World Tour, 120 levels
Paralems (Old Formats), a more flavour-driven one, 150 levels
Pit Lems (Old Formats), a more puzzly one, 100 levels - Let's Played by nin10doadict
Lemmicks, a pack for (very old) NeoLemmix 1.43 full of gimmicks, 170 levels

namida

Not yet. I have created one level where...

Spoils a Shimmier trick in general. Does not state which level (and it's an unreleased one anyway).
...you have to use a shimmier below a platformer, timed correctly so a brick gets placed when the lemming is above the platformer, and thus the "shimmier" - although he never grabs any ceiling - lands on the platform.

And another trick I've used a couple of times...

Again, spoils the trick but not any specific level
...assigning shimmiers at different points under a ceiling, so the lemmings are delayed by different amounts.

I think those are the only actual tricks (rather than just "you have to figure out where / when to use it") I've used with the Shimmier.
My projects
2D Lemmings: NeoLemmix (engine) | Lemmings Plus Series (level packs) | Doomsday Lemmings (level pack)
3D Lemmings: Loap (engine) | L3DEdit (level / graphics editor) | L3DUtils (replay / etc utility) | Lemmings Plus 3D (level pack)
Non-Lemmings: Commander Keen: Galaxy Reimagined (a Commander Keen fangame)

namida

Actually no, thought of another one, although it's a bit borderline calling this a "trick". Basically - you create a crowd containment setup of some kind under a low ceiling, then use a shimmier on an incoming crowd lemming before he gets into the containment area, so that lemming doesn't get contained. My only use of this one so far is simply a "get a second worker, but not until you actually need him" situation.

Although - this trick comes to mind only in relation to a level that I made, then later forgot how to solve and didn't have a replay for. I've re-solved it since and now have a replay saved, but don't actually remember the solution off the top of my head. This trick might not have been part of the actual solution, and just something I tried when trying to figure it out again.
My projects
2D Lemmings: NeoLemmix (engine) | Lemmings Plus Series (level packs) | Doomsday Lemmings (level pack)
3D Lemmings: Loap (engine) | L3DEdit (level / graphics editor) | L3DUtils (replay / etc utility) | Lemmings Plus 3D (level pack)
Non-Lemmings: Commander Keen: Galaxy Reimagined (a Commander Keen fangame)