Non-100% levels: How many more skills needed for 100%?

[Clam]

Here's a quick challenge to get us back into it. In each level where 100% is impossible (as far as we know) with the original skillset, your goal is to open up a 100% solution by adding as few skills as possible. All skills count equally. I'm aware that a lot of levels are trivial for this challenge (hence why it should be quick ) but hopefully there are some good ones in here too.

Example: Fun 6. You can't save everyone using blockers and bombers, so you need to add at least two skills to get 100%. Thus the score for this level is 2.

Scoring:
Blanks indicate levels where 100% is possible anyway (i.e. score is zero).
*Crazy 11 is not known to be possible, even with unlimited skills.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Rating | 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Fun    |       5        2                                   1                                     |
|Tricky |                                           1  1  2  1              1                      |
|Taxing |                   1                                   2                       3 10       |
|Mayhem |             1              2                          1                    2        4    |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Tame   |                                                            |-----------------------------|
|Crazy  |       4                    1  *        4                   |-----------------------------|
|Wild   |             2                       3     1        1       |-----------------------------|
|Wicked | 1        1        6  3     1     1        1  1             |-----------------------------|
|Havoc  |                            1                             3 |-----------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Xmas 91|      |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Xmas 92|            |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Flurry |                                              1 |-----------------------------------------|
|Blitz  |                                  1        5  2 |-----------------------------------------|
|Frost  |                1                       2       |-----------------------------------------|
|Hail   |    1           1                               |-----------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Rating | 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ccexplore]

I guess I can at least get some really easy ones out of the way.

From Fun 6 we apply same result (2) to the repeat, Tricky 17.

I've confirmed that Taxing 19 (and hence Fun 18) suffices with 2.  It's not hard to guess what to do and execute it, although you do need to be slightly mindful of the time limit for Taxing 19.  [edit: actually, come to think of it, Fun 18 might have an improvable result...]

Tricky 15 is obviously 1 as it's a repeat of Fun 1.

Tricky 18 just needs 1 more skill to replace the bomber.

Tricky 23 just needs 1 more skill to stop the miner from mining through in the lose-1 solution.

[ccexplore]

First challenge-worthy result:  Fun 18 make 100% with adding just 1 digger.  Replay attached (remember to add the digger to the level before playback).

[LemSteven]

I still won't have access to my Lemmings games for a while, but I can still chip in with a few obvious results:

• Tricky 16 needs just one more basher in place of the four bombers.
• Taxing 7 just needs one miner to remove the blocker.
• Mayhem 5 needs just two more builders to be able to build directly from the floor to the exit, If I remember correctly.
• Mayhem 19 just requires one basher.
  

[Minim]

Crazy 3 is pretty tough. With the high release rate, I only managed to get 8 more skills to save 100%.

Anyway, Crazy 10 is just 1 skill, I used an extra climber to let him build a stair.
But how about Crazy 11? Even with infinite per skill you can't get up to the exit because of the time limit. We may need to put time as a separate factor for now.
Crazy 14: 4 skills, using the dig and build pit technique.
Wild 5: 4 skills, using 2 bashers and a digger to navigate the pipes, and another basher to free the others.
Wild 13: 3 skills, although while expanding the time limit, I came short of the original time by 4 seconds.
Wild 15: 8 skills, a bit chaotic this one. Improved to just 4.
Wild 18: Confirmed 2, although I'm sure it works with 1, as I was left with 6 builders. The remaining 6 builders could be used as a terrain stair to block the other lemmings. Otherwise, I needed pixel-precision to land on the fourth pipe so I could build to the exit. Edit: I did it with 1! here's a replay (Sorry, it's a Lemmini one, but the method should work with Lemmix too)

[Clam]

Actually I was just looking at Crazy 11. I did wonder about that one even before I posted this challenge, but now I'm 99% sure it's impossible no matter how many skills you add. Here's a quick rundown with some conservative estimates:


The level gives you 1020 frames (60 seconds x 17 frames per second).

17 frames (probably more) before the first lemming enters (with pause trick)
+ 46 frames falling (by my count) = 63
+ 927 frames building (103 bricks needed, a builder takes 9 frames to place the first brick) = 990
+ 7 more frames for the last builder before he steps onto his brick (can't bash before this without breaking the bridge) = 997
+ 5 frames to stop the last builder with a basher (I doubt there's a quicker way to stop him) = 1002
+ 21 frames walk to exit = 1023
+ 8 frames exiting = 1031

So you might be able to save some lemmings on the left side, but not 100%.

[ccexplore]

+ 21 frames walk to exit = 1023

What about stretching the bridge far enough to effectively eliminate most of the walking from the edge of the exit platform (it gets absorbed in the bridge-forming portion of the time instead).  I admit there might be some complications that might possibly add extra time back (clearly you need to bash or mine+bash to clear the bits of exit platform that would get in your way towards the end of such a stretched bridge).

There's also the slow fade-out in high performance mode adding yet more extra time.

Still, the estimate is hairy enough to tell me to take the lazy route and just doubt that it's possible.   (And Fact is, even if we manage to come up with a conservative estimate that works under the time limit, it may well still run into issues involving the impossibility of doing multiple skill assignments within 1 frame, for example.)

[ccexplore]

Mayhem 5 needs just two more builders to be able to build directly from the floor to the exit, If I remember correctly.

I can confirm that as far as builders is concerned, you do need 7 builders to build directly from floor to exit platform, but you can make do with just 6 builders (so 1 extra builder) with a slight modification:

You can reach with 5 builders the next lower platform before the exit plaform.  Then from the top right corner of it, you will be barely able to use your 6th builder to reach the exit platform before you stop building and turn around.

I'm too lazy to verify the rest of that level but I'm not seeing any problems with it.

[Minim]

The level gives you 1020 frames (60 seconds x 17 frames per second).

17 frames (probably more) before the first lemming enters (with pause trick)
+ 46 frames falling (by my count) = 63
+ 927 frames building (103 bricks needed, a builder takes 9 frames to place the first brick) = 990
+ 7 more frames for the last builder before he steps onto his brick (can't bash before this without breaking the bridge) = 997
+ 5 frames to stop the last builder with a basher (I doubt there's a quicker way to stop him) = 1002
+ 21 frames walk to exit = 1023
+ 8 frames exiting = 1031

That's a lot of maths you've done! I'm impressed.

Anyway, done Wicked 1 with four extra builders. Needs to be verified though...
Also did Havoc 20 with 5 skills. On the right side I tried to get one digger to plow all the way down to the exit platform, but had to end up using another skill. I'm still not counting out the fact that it can be done with 4 though.
Wicked 4 is really difficult to get 100% on, especially on the lower left entrance. I'm trying to free a blocker with a 3-pixel depth platform. What else should I do? As there are only 13 lemmings in the lower left entrance, should I turn them into climbers?
Same goes with Wicked 7 too (Even though I solved it). Here's a hint:

The hard part of getting 100% is the placement of the right entrance. You'll have to build those lemmings into the wall on the right to turn them round. Also, try laying out the diggers so that the terrain is dug in a V shape:

 E       E
--o-----o--
---o---o---
----o-o----
-----o-----
   |   |
   | x |
    ---

E: entrance
x: exit
o: where to dig
-: floor
|: wall

Wicked 8 and 9 work with 4 skills. On 9 I was a bit disappointed that I had to use two miners to free the blocker.
I'm sure the steel canceling glitch works on Wicked 10, like it does with Wild 19.

[Clam]

Crazy 3 is pretty tough. With the high release rate, I only managed to get 8 more skills to save 100%.

Anyway, Crazy 10 is just 1 skill, I used an extra climber to let him build a stair.
But how about Crazy 11? Even with infinite per skill you can't get up to the exit because of the time limit. We may need to put time as a separate factor for now.
Crazy 14: 4 skills, using the dig and build pit technique.
Wild 5: 4 skills, using 2 bashers and a digger to navigate the pipes, and another basher to free the others.
Wild 13: 3 skills, although while expanding the time limit, I came short of the original time by 4 seconds.
Wild 15: 8 skills, a bit chaotic this one. Improved to just 4.
Wild 18: Confirmed 2, although I'm sure it works with 1, as I was left with 6 builders. The remaining 6 builders could be used as a terrain stair to block the other lemmings. Otherwise, I needed pixel-precision to land on the fourth pipe so I could build to the exit. Edit: I did it with 1! here's a replay (Sorry, it's a Lemmini one, but the method should work with Lemmix too)

Crazy 3 is possible with 4 (and nearly with 3, but that seems to be out of reach), by using the two default builders to delay lemmings, and then using miners on the ends of the platforms and floaters when needed.

Wild 5 can be done with 2, by bashing from the lower left, blocking the crowd in (the original level gives you blockers ) and then mining to free the blocker.

I managed Wild 13 with 3 (as you suggested), 2 diggers and a floater. You can save a lot of time by using RR99, and bashing the first thin wall starting further back (so the first stroke doesn't go all the way through) to make the second climber turn around.

[LemSteven]

This will have to be confirmed, but I think Wicked 1 can be done with just one digger in place of the bomber in the 98% solution.

Wicked 4 needs just one miner to avoid the bomber for the top-left entrance.  You have enough extra builders given to save everyone from the lower-left entrance without a blocker.

I've got a hunch that Wild 15 can be reduced to just one extra digger, but it would be quite hairy.  It's basically a minor tweak of my Lose 2 solution to that level, which in turn is a tweak of the "Guest Inspired Lose 3" solution from the Lemmingswelt forums.  Here's the idea I'm thinking of:

The first lemming from the left entrance digs and bashes.  The right crowd is hemmed in with two blockers.  The basher must build over the gap without anyone leaking through.  Then bash through the next wall, which will ultimately release the two blockers and go under the trap.

Past the trap, the floor drops down just enough that the lemmings can walk out of the basher's tunnel.  Make the second one block right before he falls down to the stairway below; this gives the first one time to build on the chain.  You need a digger right next to the steel on the far right; he should go down to the exit, but the later lemmings will fall to far.  So to prevent this, the last basher is used at the bottom of the brick slope just past the chain.  Nobody can turn around in his tunnel, so you have to make sure there is a sizeable gap behind him.

The key to getting everything done without leaking any lemmings is to use your ability to adjust the release rate to your advantage.  To create a gap in the crowd at a certain spot, you need to set the rate to 99 a bit before that part of the crowd reaches an entrance, let a few lemmings come out, and then drop it down to 5, so that nobody comes out to fill the gap you're trying to create.

My Lose 2 solution is the same as this, but it uses two bombers in place of the first digger.

[Clam]

Wicked 1 can definitely be done with 1 extra digger, by digging and bashing under the one-way wall.

Wild 15 is possible with just 1 extra digger, with one refinement to your idea:

After building over the chain, instead of bashing through the bottom of the slope, use the basher nearer the top of the slope, so that any lemmings that get in front of the basher walk past instead of turning back. These lemmings end up trapped on the right anyway. Then wait until the last group of lemmings is near enough to the exit before digging next to the steel. To make this work under the time limit, the first lemming on the left has to dig as far to the right as possible, to minimise the walking distance for the crowd.

Also, using the same trick with the release rate, plus the miner trick from Crazy 8 to block in the lemmings, I did Havoc 20 with 3 extra skills: 1 builder, 1 basher and 1 digger. I've attached replays for this and Wild 15.



I had a go at Fun 3 just now, and couldn't do any better than 5 skills. This one is difficult to do efficiently, since anything other than a blocker counts as "extra", and any blocker you place needs extra skills to free it.

[Simon]

I found a +5 skill solution to Fun 3, it's probably the same as Clam's because I don't see many alternatives. I consider +5 the best possible. A proof for the most part is here:

- It's not possible to dig down the rightmost column in 4 skills + blockers. The RR is too high, and blockers can't be freed efficiently.
- To reach the bottom without going through any pillar, you must mine/dig at least twice. I found no route (with or without 1 blocker) that uses less than 2 ground removers for waypaving. The remaining work is to show that we need at least 3 more nonblocker skills.
- You must turn the lems somewhere, as the hatch is further to the right than the exit.
- If you want to do it blockerless, you must use a wall with a height of at least 7 pixels.
- The bottom platform has a thickness of 7. You can't make a digger/miner turn-around pit without removing the ground. Even if it was possible to cancel the miner for free, you'd have to raise the ground behind the pit (= +2 skills), but then you'd have to save the builder that raised the ground (+1 or more skills).
- The remaining blockerless possibility is to build against the pillar on the right at the top, or over the bottom level gap and back. This costs at least 3 builders because of the given RR, in both positions.
- So we want to do it with a blocker. You can't efficiently block on the thin ledges, there is no way to free such a blocker for free -- and you have to turn it at the bottom again. It costs at least 3 more skills (builders) to get the blocker-releaser and the blocker home, provided anyone else had a path.
- Freeing a blocker on the bottom costs at least one ground remover plus two builders to turn the two lems.

Then again, proofs of non-doability were never sure-fire. :]

-- Simon

[Minim]

For Wicked 7, I managed to get 10 skills, using one blocker as well.
Still need to check out the steel canceling glitch for Level 10. Apparently if I do try to bash through the top of any level using Lemmini the game crashes altogether.

[Clam]

Hmm, strange. I tried to start up Lemmini and see this for myself, but apparently it wants me to extract the files again (even though I clearly have them all " title="Angry" class="smiley" />).

Ceiling-bashing works just fine in Lemmix though

edit: confirmed Wicked 10 with one basher extra

[Minim]

Well, done! I'm impressed that my theory works.

Anyway, I've done Wicked 12 and 15 with 5 skills. For 15, I used four extra floaters before I could build a safe drop for the others. I used a digger to trap the others.

Wicked 16 is just 1.

And to complete the Oh-No set, Havoc 10 needs 3 more skills: 2 bashers and a builder.

[Clam]

Well I had to dig out my WinLemms CD again, but I got the thing to work.

I think we can safely conclude that ceiling-bashing doesn't work in Lemmini

[ccexplore]

I'll be entertaining people over the weekend and next week, but some quick comments:

For [Wicked] 15, I used four extra floaters before I could build a safe drop for the others. I used a digger to trap the others.

I verify that you need to raise the landing point by just 6 pixels, and the first lemming out can get 6 build bricks laid in time for the 3rd lemming out.  Hence it's possible to make the drop safe with just a 2nd floater (this part is confirmed):

1st lemming starts building immediately upon landing, and 2nd lemming, after floating, will block on 1st lemming's 3rd build brick to turn him around to build left.

Because a blocker is used, someone else would still need to check that there are enough skills left to finish the level and also to free the blocker and have him (and the lemming freeing the blocker) turn around.

Havoc 10 needs 3 more skills: 2 bashers and a builder.

2 is definitely enough: add 1 blocker and 1 basher.  The real question is whether 1 basher alone is sufficient; I had a few tries last night but no luck so far.

Finally, for Wicked 12 2 is definitely enough:  1 digger and 1 builder (remember you already have 1 spare builder out of the 7 given that you don't need to make the path to the exit).  But I was quickly able to confirm that adding 1 digger alone is actually enough.  See attached replay which shows how to trap and release the crowd (I'm lazy and did not bother with the rest of the level.)

[Clam]

The rest of Wicked 15 works out easily enough. You can free the blocker with a single miner - it falls into the miner hole so you can turn it with a builder. So just 1 extra floater for 100%.

[Simon]

I will test later today if Hail 2 is solvable with just +1 miner, don't take this as a result yet.

Also, I do remember there was a lose-1 solution to unaltered Tricky 23, but can't recall how it was done. Does anyone have a replay again?

-- Simon

[LemSteven]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since the record for Mayhem 10 is Lose 2, it seems to me that 100% should be possible with just two extra floaters.

Also, Mayhem 26 is 100%-able with two bashers.

[Clam]

The replay for Tricky 23 is on the Lemmings File Portal.

From the replay for Mayhem 10 (also on the Lemmings File Portal) it's pretty clear you can indeed save the two lost lemmings with a floater each.


Improved Wicked 8 to 3 skills (all bashers), by using two builders in between two walls so that one basher goes through both, using the bricks to keep it going in between.

Wicked 9 can be done fairly easily with 1 miner extra, by building a wall of bricks at the start. (And you don't need 2 miners to free the blocker - although the 4x4 grid means you have to put the blocker in the right place)

[ccexplore]

A few quick ones for Holidays:

Hail 2: +1 basher
Hail 6: +1 digger
Frost 6: +1 miner
Blitz 12: +1 digger

[ccexplore]

Havoc 10 needs 3 more skills: 2 bashers and a builder.

2 is definitely enough: add 1 blocker and 1 basher.  The real question is whether 1 basher alone is sufficient; I had a few tries last night but no luck so far.

After a lot of fussing around, I finally have an answer of "yes" for adding 1 basher alone for Havoc 10.  Replay attached.

[geoo]

I like this challenge idea, especially since it offers a new element in being allowed to add arbitrary skills.

Wicked 7 improved to 6. It can be done with e.g. 1 builder, 2 miners, 3 diggers.

While talking to Simon he noticed that the Lemmix version differs from the original version of 'Call in the bomb squad' that Simon has. The difference might or might not be relevant to this challenge. I guess we should use the version lacking the decoration for this challenge? (Sorry if this has already been noticed in earlier challenges.)

[ccexplore]

While talking to Simon he noticed that the Lemmix version differs from the original version of 'Call in the bomb squad' that Simon has. The difference might or might not be relevant to this challenge. I guess we should use the version lacking the decoration for this challenge? (Sorry if this has already been noticed in earlier challenges.)

There is technically no "Lemmix" version since the level data were ultimately direct copies from some PC version of Lemmings.  I'm curious now what difference Simon is seeing.  Are you talking about the water, or other terrain decorations outside of the main part of the level?

I did bought a floppy of presumably "original" PC Lemmings from Lemka a while ago, I can check later tonight to see if there are any difference between that version of that level, and the abandonia version (which I believe corresponds to the one included in LemmixPlayer, but we'll see).

[Simon]

This attachment is Bomb Squad in the Dos version I have here. All the fluffy terrain on the sides is missing, just a single steel block at the bottom is left.

My Lemmix setup has the level with the surrounding terrain instead.

-- Simon

[ccexplore]

  Hmm, interesting.  How big is your vgalemmi.exe file?  Do you still remember where you got your copy of Lemmings from?

I'll try to check my floppy version tonight and see what's on it.  Come to think of it, maybe you should upload all the levelXXX.dat files from your version, so people can see if there are more differences in other levels; it'd be quite a coincidence if Taxing 27 was the only level different.

Anyway, for purpose of the challenge, I suppose both versions are acceptable for now, although if your solution specifically relies on one version, you should point out which one.  We may have to keep two scores for that level if the decorations actually make a difference.

[Simon]

vgalemmi.exe is 32,785 Bytes. I don't remember if this is a version from Abandonia in 2002 or the one from my L2 CD.

I always expected the elaborate terrain to be from the Amiga version, and wondered that Lemmix had it...

-- Simon

[Clam]

Curiously enough, when I play the level in DOSBox I get the "lite" version too. I'm almost certain both DOSBox and Lemmix are reading from the same levelpack file, since I don't have multiple copies of it. IIRC my version is from Abandonia.

(also, GameFAQs has the wrong code for this level )

[ccexplore]

Curiously enough, when I play the level in DOSBox I get the "lite" version too. I'm almost certain both DOSBox and Lemmix are reading from the same levelpack file, since I don't have multiple copies of it. IIRC my version is from Abandonia.

Ooh okay, I see now. <lightbulb> In that case it's smelling like a Lemmix bug.  Perhaps the terrain data in question in the level file are marked in such a way that's not the usual "valid" combinations of flags, and Lemmix interprets the combination one way while Lemmings does it differently.  (I'm discounting the possibility that it's a DOSBox bug since it's too much of a coincidence that only the decorative terrain are different, but if someone can check the level in real DOS, please do so.)

It would be interesting for someone to check what the level looks like in LemEdit.  Not that LemEdit's rendering is guaranteed to be 100% compatible with Lemming's, but it's an interesting thing to compare.   Also of interest would be if someone try cgalemmi.exe to see how the level renders in the CGA version.

(I would do it myself right now, but it looks like the copy on the computer I'm on at the moment is missing all these things I need to check.)

With this new information in mind, I think we'd have to say that only solutions that work on the "no decorative terrain" version counts.  There are no two versions of the level; it now looks like it's just one version, but rendered differently in Lemmix vs PC Lemmings.

[geoo]

Yes, LemEdit doesn't display the additional terrain, while Lemmix displays it with exactly the same level.

Simon also tested with CGALemmi, and it doesn't display the additional terrain either.

[ccexplore]

Ok, found the underlying cause.  In Taxing 27's (decompressed) level data, the 4 bytes corresponding to terrain at index 68 is (in hex) FF FF 22 A6.  rt's Lemmings file format document says that unused terrain slots are filled with FF FF FF FF, but it's likely that the actual Lemmings game simply checks for the first 2 bytes being FF FF as an indicator that it has reached the end of the list of terrains.  As a result, in PC Lemmings no terrain past index 67 will load in that level, whereas Lemmix will happily go past index 68 and keep loading terrain beyond, until FF FF FF FF is reached at a much higher index.

It's unclear whether this arrangement is intended or accidental.  Certainly there's no saving in disk space given that the terrain data for almost all the decorative terrain are all still in the level data.

I've attached a modified version of the level that renders in Lemmix the same way (I think) the original version does in PC Lemmings.

When I have time later this week, I'll check and see if any other PC Lemmings levels exhibit similar symptoms.

[Clam]

Seems to me like an intentional hack to make all the "excess" decoration disappear. Maybe drawing all that extra terrain was making the game run slowly?

I notice this errant terrain piece shows up in Lemmix at x=4079 - way off the edge of the map. Looking at the file format and testing a bit in Lemmix (terrain wraps around every 4096 pixels), this is exactly where it should end up if the first two bytes are FF FF. So any level where this has been done (if indeed it is intentional) should have a terrain object in that position.

[ccexplore]

I guess the momentum didn't last long on this challenge.

Here's a stab at Taxing 28, modeled closely after the lose-10 solution.  While I think there may be a slight chance you can get the landing place ready by 10th lemming out, the saving of a floater is outweighted by extra skills I think you'd have to add in that case to finish the level.  Mine added 10 skills, namely 9 floaters and 1 basher.

[edit: incidentally, the table has wrong results for Tricky 17 and Mayhem 26.  Both should be 2 not 1]

[Clam]

I did Taxing 27 with 4 extra skills, 1 builder and 3 diggers (alternatively, swap the builder for a basher). As it turns out, the "extra" terrain doesn't help at all, even if you were to allow it (though it was certainly a nice discovery ).

[ccexplore]

Good job! But I was able to improve on Clam's solution slightly so that only 3 extra skills need to be added, namely 2 diggers and 1 miner.  I also arrange for it so that you don't need to assign 2 skills on consecutive frames (though the pixel precision remains).

[Clam]

Mayhem 29 is a tough one, whichever way you try to do it. Here's an initial stab that takes 7 extra skills: 3 builders, 2 miners and 2 diggers. This is based off my own 78/80 replay that I made some time ago (since I haven't found such a replay anywhere else), so it's possible there's a more efficient way of handling the start.

[ccexplore]

As predicted, the start of Mayhem 29 can be optimized so that the extra builders aren't needed, but I haven't found any improvements to the end part on the left.  So new result is 4 more skills for Mayhem 29.

[Clam]

Wow, that is impressive! This solution probably carries over to the minimum skills with max % challenge as well.


A couple quick ones from Holiday lemmings:
Flurry 16 takes 1 digger extra.
Frost 14 needs 2 skills, 1 blocker and 1 basher. Replay attached, since the method of setting and releasing the blocker isn't obvious.

[Clam]

Looks like no one wants to do the last couple of levels, so I'll do them now.

Blitz 15: 5 skills (3 builders, 1 basher, 1 digger)
Blitz 16: 2 skills (2 diggers)

Replays attached.

[ccexplore]

Here's one more improvement before we move on to some other challenge.  Crazy 14 with 2 added skills: 1 builder and 1 miner.

[Clam]

I found a much simpler way using 2 extra builders and no miners. Neither method seems to show any room for improvement though.

As for other challenges, they might just have to wait until we get some more people willing to carry on with these. Everyone seems to be busy with other things at the moment (including myself to some extent).

[Simon]

It's hard to get people together... I won't usually get motivated for these things unless I'm voicechatting with geoo. But most things have their downtimes and will come back eventually.

-- Simon

[Pooty]

Because a 100% solution has now been found for Wicked 9, that level needs to be omitted from this challenge.

[Clam]

Indeed it does. Consider it gone

edit: I just remembered, part of the reason I started this challenge in the first place was as a hopeful attempt to beat some of the max % records. That worked a treat, didn't it?

[Mindless]

When I have time later this week, I'll check and see if any other PC Lemmings levels exhibit similar symptoms.

I ended up looking into this, and Taxing 27 is the only level in Lemmings that has excess terrain pieces.  The Amiga version of the level also has the bad terrain piece, so either the Amiga version has a different check for unused terrain pieces or it skips unused pieces rather than stopping on the first one.

[WillLem]

excess terrain pieces
---
The Amiga version of the level also has the bad terrain piece

Thanks for identifying this! Can you elaborate: whereabout is the piece, and what effect does it have in-game?

[607]

excess terrain pieces
---
The Amiga version of the level also has the bad terrain piece

Thanks for identifying this! Can you elaborate: whereabout is the piece, and what effect does it have in-game?

I haven't checked (I don't own the Amiga version), but from the comment above I understand that the piece is in the same place as in the PC version, but that in-game the level looks the same as it does in Lemmix.

[Proxima]

Can you elaborate: whereabout is the piece, and what effect does it have in-game?

ccexplore explained this.