Author Topic: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]  (Read 69103 times)

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Online kaywhyn

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #135 on: November 28, 2020, 11:19:31 PM »
Determination is the key, but the true motivation for me is in this place. I often wander far away from LemmingsLand but coming back to the forums often makes me want to dive into it again. It's inspiring to see that the community is still very active today! Lots of good vibes in here, which motivates me to play and create levels, even after months/years of inactivity :thumbsup:

Well, whatever your reasons for taking a long absence, I can honestly say it's great to have you back. I've been a registered member since 2017, but I visited this site daily to silently read the posts in the background. You will recall that was the year I came back and got myself unstuck on your Pimolems pack on Lemmini. It wasn't until early this year in March that I finally made myself known to the community. So, I believe this was at a time when you were still on your hiatus from the forums, particularly since we ended up missing each other for several months until now. In any case, I'm so glad to have finally met the very talented author of Pimolems ;)

Quote
The level in the pack that I was stuck on the longest was Nightmare 16 - Another Brick in the Wall. This one took me about 2-3 weeks.
This bodes well for my sanity :crylaugh:

I should also add that Nightmare 16 is also a very huge level as well :evil: I'm semi-joking here. It's not THAT huge, at least not to the point that it would make you explode like a bomber :crylaugh: If you can't resist, simply take a look at your Special rank of your Pimolems in the NL version, as there's a couple of Reunion levels in there. You are correct though that the road ahead will be rough, but again I know that you can do it. A lot of these were very satisfying to solve and figure out. Just don't let the later ranks intimidate you and you should be fine.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPMqwuqZ206rBWJrUC6wkrA - My YouTube channel and you can also find my playlists of Lemmings level packs that I have LPed
kaywhyn's blog: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=5363.0

Offline IchoTolot

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #136 on: December 01, 2020, 07:38:56 PM »
V 4.6 is out!

No backroutes to fix in Pieuw's replays, but Reunion's menu has received a great upgrade in terms of logo and rank signs thanks to the effort of GigaLem and Plom! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Again, a big thank you for the "facelifted" menu! :thumbsup:

Online ericderkovits

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #137 on: December 01, 2020, 09:05:11 PM »
yes, i love this new menu now, very nice.

Offline Pieuw

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #138 on: December 02, 2020, 11:20:23 PM »
I'm midway through rank 3 and felt like giving some feedback! A lot of good levels for sure. :thumbsup:
I beat levels 1 to 24 except for 16 and 18, and I didn't try levels 25 to 30 yet. Here are my thoughts on the first half of them:

01 - Path Of Ankh
Starting the rank with a level that gave me a little trouble already! I guess I was looking for a down-to-earth solution, only involving logical use of the terrain removal skills and no trick. What was I even thinking, of course a little trick was involved! :laugh: It's a good level to start the rank.

02 - Casualty Count
A quick level, I think I beat it on my first try. But it was really fun!

03 - And Here Comes The Lemmings Train
Another fun level! Not a hard one since the layout makes it clear what has to be done, but I needed a few tries to make it work.

04 - The Sports Bar
Ah, my first roadblock. I had to skip this level to keep my sanity and solved it when I came back after beating a bunch of other levels. I used the same trick as needed in a later level, and if it's the intended solution I really think this one is harder.

05 - Don't Get Sucked!
This one was a bit deceiving: it seemed really easy at first but then... oh noes, how do I free the crowd? It made me think a bit but when I figured it out I thought it was brilliant :thumbsup:

06 - Winter Soldiers
An easier level which felt more like rank 2. A breather is always welcome!

07 - Nightstalkers
Excellent level! It all depends on the very start, then the solution unfolds beautifully. I love this"sandglass" type of levels.

08 - Redeeming of the Dead Lemmings
This seemed easy but it's always nice to come back to a classic with a twist.

09 - The Royal Halls
This one felt a bit too big for its own good, but I liked the solution. It's always fun to find new ways to bash things :laugh:

10 - Did everyone turn Left?
I was really puzzled at first but then the solution came quickly enough. I didn't use all the skills but I guess it's intended?

11 - A Rocky Mountain Night
Another excellent level! It takes observation to solve, which is always nice. I managed to save 100% while solving it the intended way: if the blocker is placed at the exact right spot it can be released :)

12 - Lost Your Ground?
I enjoyed this one quite a lot. This is a really cunning packed puzzle, it's everyting I love about Lemmings! I also love how you decided to mirror the level, this way it's twice the fun :thumbsup:

13 - The Glacier Station
Splat distance trapdoor, tensioooon!
The use of the steel seemed a little backrouty to me but as I used all the skills I guess it was intended?

14 - Go West!
Going east seems like a bad idea anyway. I like how everything is very logical in this one, still it took a few tries to get it right.

15 - The Lemming Tank Suicide Train
Ah, this is pretty much everyting I don't like in a Lemmings level! I skipped it almost instantly the first time, I guess I was overwhelmed by the size of it and the number of builders. I came back to it with a fresh mind and it wasn't too bad, still this level is on the bottom for me. That being said, the theme and layout are nice :thumbsup:

I will come back after solving the remaining levels. I have to say I'm really puzzled by level 18. Seems like something fishy is going on here :crylaugh:
« Last Edit: December 06, 2020, 06:44:38 PM by Pieuw »

Offline Pieuw

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #139 on: December 06, 2020, 08:44:04 PM »
Second half of the third rank cleared :thumbsup:

16 - Green Hill Zone
I made this level harder than it is! Looking at the replay, everything seems so simple and logical... I absolutely wanted to use a convoluted trick to block the crowd :forehead: It's a nice deceiving level!

17 - Staircase Under Construction
A single look at the skills gives the solution away, then it's all a matter of execution. The mirrored layout makes it, if not harder, tougher to execute.

18 - You don't need them!
This is the level that stumped me the most I think, and I'm not proud about it because the reason was simply that I used my skills in the wrong order. I was looking for some intricate digging manoeuver to execute, and at one point it clicked: I just had to switch two assignments and voilĂ . :crylaugh:

19 - To Hell and Back
I loved the solution here, it's a trick I was not familiar with. I may have encountered it in the past but it's been such a while, it felt brand new when it came to mind. This is the level that allowed me to solve level 04 later, using the same builder trick.

20 - Castle Get-Together
This is a really fine level but it seems a lot easier than its rank siblings. I had one bomber left and thus saved an extra lemming, maybe my solution was a bit backroutish?

21 - Field Trip
I enjoyed this level very much. The very start took me a little while to get right and the rest of the solution needed some tweaking, but it was all fun. I got two extra climbers in the end, not sure where they would have been useful?

22 - A Christmas Journey
Another good level! The right side was a bit fiddly maybe, but I guess this is why you have some extra floaters.

23 - Sternenhimmel
At first glance I was like "oh no :XD:" and the messy start of the level didn't make me feel any better. But the crowd blocking method is really nice, so it's not bad at all :laugh:

24 - The Alternative Way
I'm not sure I solved it the intended way, but it still was a hard solution to pull off.

25 - Metropolis
Ah, I have so much trouble to concentrate on these "non classic" tilesets :crylaugh: This one was on the easier side. No special trick here, only ressource management and some timing. Which is perfectly nice too :thumbsup:

26 - Evolve
Quite intimidating at first, but it all fell into place quickly. I liked it, and the size of the layout felt right :laugh:

27 - Whispers And Lights
Something recurrent in Icho's levels, at least for me, is that I often instantly get what has to be done on the second half of the puzzle, but the beginning takes a little while to get right. This is interesting!

28 - Dirty Work
This one looks like a multitasking monster at first :scared: But it really is easier than it looks. I saved a digger, so I may have taken a shortcut somewhere?

29 - Controlled Release
Very interesting idea. It was easy to know what to do here, but the execution took lots of try-and-rewinds and became somewhat frustrating :cute:. Also, very imposing looking layout, in a good way!

30 - Edge To Insanity
Boss level! :devil: It's nice that all the rank finishers have a common theme. They feel chaotic for sure! I'm not a fan of these mixed and messy looking layouts but I get why they're made that way and I guess it's effective. Nice collection of little tricks here, lots of brainstorming was needed to figure out how to use the skills in the most effective way.

An excellent rank! :thumbsup: Each level has something special to offer and some of them bring back tricks from previous levels in a less obvious way, which makes for good progression!
I'll dive into the next rank soon :)

Offline IchoTolot

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #140 on: December 06, 2020, 08:54:55 PM »
Thanks for all the feedback. Will look through the replays soon. ;)

But as Swerdis has just uploaded the 2nd last level of PimoLems I think I will check and patch that first as it will probably be the most work. ;)

Offline GigaLem

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #141 on: December 13, 2020, 07:17:08 AM »
V 4.6 is out!

No backroutes to fix in Pieuw's replays, but Reunion's menu has received a great upgrade in terms of logo and rank signs thanks to the effort of GigaLem and Plom! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Again, a big thank you for the "facelifted" menu! :thumbsup:

Think you could update the credits in the first post? Since Plom did the new logo, at the time of this post that has yet to be updated

Offline IchoTolot

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #142 on: December 13, 2020, 10:58:48 AM »
Done. ;)

Offline IchoTolot

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #143 on: December 15, 2020, 02:30:13 PM »
V 4.7 is out!

Backroute fix thanks to Pieuw's replays:

- 3 21 (Removed some terrain)


All your solutions for the thirs rank were either intended or acceptable alternatives. The ones where you saved a few skills were close enough for me. ;)  3 20 is a little bit backrouty though.

Sometimes you made it a bit messier than it needs to be though - 3 22 for example.

Let's say quite a few levels here have "leftover" skills or different ways to solve them. Sometimes there are also design decisions in there that I wouldn't do again if I would make the pack from scratch again. ;)

Online kaywhyn

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #144 on: March 24, 2021, 11:15:39 PM »
Hey Icho, I would like your input on this, as I'm having second thoughts. I said before that I wouldn't mind doing both an LP of Reunion AND a level solving commentary video series for the pack, just like I did for your United pack. For sure I want to do the commentary video series, as it makes sense due to how I did it for United, your sequel pack. However, this seems to make an LP of the pack unnecessary, as the commentary video series will pretty much be almost the same thing, just easier to see the solutions to the levels instead of watching me possibly not make any progress on any level for a while due to solving in real time. At the same time, I realized there's no LP of the pack in New Formats NL, so for that reason alone I think it's a good idea to. Keep in mind that I've already solved this entire pack on Lemmini from back in 2017, so I'm aware that the levels are pretty much the same in the NL version, just more updated and backroute patched. Maybe because all the levels are the same as on Lemmini and I already know pretty much every level, so an LP might not be needed.

What say you on this? If I end up doing both, would you still watch the commentary video series? Not going to be doing this now, maybe in a few weeks or so after I finish an LP of another pack or two.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPMqwuqZ206rBWJrUC6wkrA - My YouTube channel and you can also find my playlists of Lemmings level packs that I have LPed
kaywhyn's blog: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=5363.0

Offline IchoTolot

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #145 on: March 24, 2021, 11:39:15 PM »
Do what you think is best and what you are having fun doing. :)

I would watch a series of this of course. Doing both I would find a bit unnessesary though, I would pick only one of them. Which one I would totally leave up to you.

Online kaywhyn

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #146 on: April 02, 2021, 10:18:08 PM »
Hello Icho,

I just started playing through this pack for New Formats NL. I have finished up through the 3rd rank. Replays attached and feedback inbound.

Thoughts on the Pack So Far

As mentioned in various places around the forums, I originally played and solved all of the pack on Lemmini way back in 2017. This was also when I registered to become a member of the site, although I visited the site daily and read the posts silently in the background for the next 2-3 years before I finally made myself known to the community around this time last year. I think this was at a time where you stopped updating the pack for Lemmini, as you transitioned to maintaining the NL version of the pack.

Though I was busy with school/work back then, I slowly made progress each day whenever I could. Though the levels got quite difficult with the HurtMePlenty, Ultraviolence, and Nightmare ranks, I still persevered and kept going, as I was quite determined to finish the pack by any means. Especially since I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Lemmings and was quite a fan of Lemmini back then. I still kind of am, although I'm certainly used to the quality of life features of NL by now :P I certainly don't mind coming back to Lemmini/Superlemmini on occasion.

Anyway, I recently had an itch to play through Reunion again and remember why I liked the pack so much ;) Indeed, I never played the pack when it was still really early shortly after release, but from what I gathered the pack definitely got much better from the feedback/suggestions that Nepster provided you, even if it was harsh at times, although I know about the tendency of certain people being blunt, for which I'm one myself ;)

As many various members have said, this pack has a really nice difficulty curve and is one of the most highly regarded packs of all time. Though the pack is considered difficult, this was certainly very true back then. Now that I'm playing through the pack again for like the 3rd or 4th time, I'm certainly in agreement with Icho that this pack is far easier and tamer in comparison to most of the other packs that are now out. It's not the challenging pack that it used to be for me when I first played through the pack 4 years ago. If anything, instead of the puzzle, some levels are just simply far harder to execute on Lemmini, dramatically in some cases. Needless to say, this pack does display some of Icho's nastiness when it comes to the puzzles/level making, especially in the much later ranks, but it doesn't reach its peak here. For that, you need to go through United. That's where it really shows :crylaugh:

Feedback on I'mTooYoungToDie Rank

Not much to say here other than some great tutorial levels to start off the rank before getting into easy puzzles that were generally X-of-everythings before getting into the difficult ones near the end of the rank. I remember I'mTooYoungToDie 16 - In the Shadows being a difficult one on Lemmini, as time there runs out surprisingly fast. It's not a very hard level, but it still provides enough of a challenge, especially since you have to use the skills carefully or risk running out, which can happen.

I'mTooYoungToDie 20 - Lemming in the Sky with Diamonds can also be difficult, although certainly with the huge amount of builders it's not very hard at all. For the extra challenge, one can try going for a save all solution, but it's not necessary, so there's certainly no pressure in going for it if one doesn't want to. I think it ends up using nearly all the builders, as I remembered when I went for it.

I also remember I'mTooYoungToDie 25 - Good Sportsmanship being a difficult one on Lemmini, although the challenge is not so much the time limit, but rather giving the lead lemming enough time to finish all tasks before the crowd arrives. It can also be difficult due to the very limited skillset.

Then I'mTooYoungToDie 28 - Morituri te salutant! This I remember was the first very hard level in the rank for me back then. It's still a difficult level, but this is justified due to being near the very end of the rank. Skills are extremely limited, and it's certainly not easy to figure out the most optimal route. I don't think it's possible to have any skills remaining. Also not too relevant to the solution, but here the music is different from the one that plays in the Lemmini version, where the soundtrack for that one is loud. Here, it's a much softer and lighter soundtrack, which I guess is fitting for a difficult level, in contrast to the Lemmini version, where it's more intense and could possibly add to the frustration of the player trying to solve this hard nut.

I also remember I'mTooYoungToDie 29 - Roofjumpers being a hard one, although not as difficult as the previous one. The solution's great, though.

To round off the rank, I'mTooYoungToDie 30 - Disturbance in the Matrix is a definite roadblock for nearly everyone. It certainly was for me when I first played the level on Lemmini back in 2017. I remember the huge satisfaction that came from figuring out this tough nut. I certainly remember making this far harder than I needed to on Lemmini.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My favorites in this rank: I'mTooYoungToDie 21 - The Saviors, I'mTooYoungToDie 22 - Bubbles and Builders, I'mTooYoungToDie 23 - Oh, You Wanted Some of These?, and I'mTooYoungToDie 30 (I always like the mixing of all the OL/ONML tilesets in one level (Epic tileset), and you did a great job with all the rank finishers in this pack ;))


Feedback on HeyNotTooRough Rank

More difficult levels, although I would say the difficulty is only slightly higher than the I'mTooYoungToDie rank, because it's not that much higher. More tricks that you get taught that will come in handy for some of the later levels. Nothing here was particularly too hard for me, although I would say the ones that I consider hard for the casual players are HeyNotTooRough 17 - Wheel of Fortune, HeyNotTooRough 18 - Bash and Mine Time!, HeyNotTooRough 21 - Valley of the Sphinx, HeyNotTooRough 22 - Rock and Metal, HeyNotTooRough 23 - Let's Block Some Lems, HeyNotTooRough 24 - Knights of Honor, HeyNotTooRough 26 - Line of Steel, HeyNotTooRough 28 - The Official Lemmings Swim Team, HeyNotTooRough 29 - One Basher To Rule Them All, and HeyNotTooRough 30 - The Fusion. Both 17 and 21 I say it's the timing that's difficult, although the latter can be a hard puzzle due to how you don't have builders. The save requirement may look generous for the former, but it's really not. The timing is especially difficult on 24, along with a devious puzzle of how to make the most of the skills provided.

As for me, I had a bit of trouble with 17 and 21, but of course they're still easy for me since I have played the pack many times :P 26 is also a deceptively difficult level that looks simple despite the 1-of-everything skillset.

My favorites in this rank: HeyNotTooRough 3 - Distract Them!, HeyNotTooRough 5 - We Are But Lems! Rock!, HeyNotTooRough 6 - Please, Stop!, HeyNotTooRough 12 - On a crystal clear night, HeyNotTooRough 19 - Middle Age Mining Technique, HeyNotTooRough 22 - Rock and Metal, HeyNotTooRough 28 - The Official Lem Swim Team, and HeyNotTooRough 30 (again, I like the tileset mixing in the Epic tileset, and it's a really nice puzzle, although there's plenty of difficult timing here).


Feedback on HurtMePlenty Rank

This is definitely the point in the pack where it stops messing around. While I went through the first two ranks pretty fast, this rank was slower going, although again not very hard for me due to being quite familiar with many of the solutions. For sure a lot of tough nuts in this rank especially for the casual players. I don't really consider anything here breathers.

More detailed feedback:

HurtMePlenty 1 - Path of Ankh Hard level to start the rank. Difficult to figure out the most optimal route, especially with only 3 builders and the very limited skillset. The timing here can be difficult as well.

HurtMePlenty 2 - Casualty Count Nice level, and one of my favorites when the precise bombers are eliminated. Not a very hard level, but certainly far harder on Lemmini due to timed bombers.

HurtMePlenty 3 - And Here Comes the Lemming Train I struggled with this one, but most likely due to how it's more properly patched up in NL as compared to the Lemmini version, which is still very backroutable. I'm not sure if my solution is intended, especially with the way I handled the crowd at the beginning. Still a nice level, though.

HurtMePlenty 4 - The Sports Bar Ah, I remember struggling with this one on Lemmini and it being a roadblock back then. This might be the first level where I learned the builder trick needed to isolate a worker lemming. Or at least the first custom level one I've seen where it's required/enforced. This is one of my favorites of the rank.

HurtMePlenty 5 - Don't Get Sucked! This is probably the closest I would consider to be a breather for casual players, although it's still challenging. The hardest part is isolating a worker(s) and getting the bottom crowds up with the very limited skillset.

HurtMePlenty 6 - Winter Soldiers Probably the first level that needed a slight adjustment when going from Lemmini to NL. I think it's possible to save everyone on Lemmini, but here on NL due to the Lemmini solution not working because of how the builder mechanics are different, the save requirement needed to be adjusted while keeping the skillset 1-of-everything. One of my favorites as well.

HurtMePlenty 7 - Nightstalkers Another nice level. The only hard part is the timing and isolating of workers at the beginning, but I really like the solution when all the timing works out. It can be tight, but it's all about knowing when to release the right entrance to create the necessary timing and space so that no one slips by before the worker has finished building over the water gap near the exit.

HurtMePlenty 8 - Redeeming of the Dead Lemmings Repeat of Cascade from OL, but as the title suggests you have to save everyone. Not only that, the time limit is quite tight here. Level is only slightly harder on Lemmini due to the clock being faster.

HurtMePlenty 9 - The Royal Halls One of my favorites! :thumbsup: I remember being really proud of myself for discovering the basher trick needed here. I think I remember spending about a good 15-20 minutes on this level on Lemmini.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

HurtMePlenty 10 - Did everyone turn Left? Currently has a very bad shortcut on Lemmini due to the way miners work. As for this level on NL, can be difficult, but it's still not too hard. The time limit may seem scary, though. Also, it might seem that one of the lemmings will slip out to the right at the bottom, but it's possible to turn everyone back to the left, hence the tile ;)

HurtMePlenty 11 - A Rocky Mountain Night Another one of my favorites. Somewhat of a breather as well. I like how the timing works out here to get everyone to the bottom and sealing off the gap before anyone falls into the vine swamp. That's really cool how you did the moon here ;)

HurtMePlenty 12 - Lost Your Ground? Difficult one. I think I remember doing something slightly different on Lemmini, although I don't remember if the skillset is the same. Not sure if my solution is intended. Timing is also difficult here, although it's simply imitating the same thing on each side.

HurtMePlenty 13 - Glacier Station Unlike some others, I didn't find this one hard, although certainly on Lemmini due to not being able to see whether you have the basher lined up right. This time, I had a bit of a struggle, but that's because I failed to see the alcove on the far right to stop the basher and to avoid the icicle traps. Ah, what the lapse of time can do to you :laugh:

HurtMePlenty 14 - Go West! Another favorite of mine! :thumbsup: Can be difficult, but the solution is quite nice.

HurtMePlenty 15 - The Lemming Tank Suicide Train Looks intimidating, but it's still not really hard, considering the most prominent skill provided are builders. Even then, figuring out how to get through the terrain is difficult. I think I somewhat remember the solution being harder on Lemmini, but here I don't think it is, as it should be the same. I think it's because I remember the very difficult timing for the end part to conserve that last builder, but here I could be remembering wrong.

HurtMePlenty 16 - Green Hill Zone Hardest level in the rank for me. Finding the most optimal route and efficient way to use your skills is not easy here. Certainly one of the hardest parts is managing the crowd at the very start so you don't lose anyone, as you need to save everyone. Even after you figure it out, it's still a difficult level. I'm not sure if my solution is intended here.

HurtMePlenty 17 - Staircase Under Construction Definite breather for me, and theoretically for most players as well, considering you only have 3 skill types. Truthfully, levels that require you to spam the same skill over and over I'm generally not a fan of, but that's just me. It's still really cool to see the crowds walk up to the exit in this fashion though :laugh:

HurtMePlenty 18 - You don't need them! One of my favorites as well. I certainly remember having the "how in the world do you do this level" when I first played it on Lemmini those years ago. Felt very satisfying to figure it out. I definitely like these no builders levels, especially since they're great for getting players to think laterally and in other ways when the most powerful of the classic skills, the builder, is not provided.

HurtMePlenty 19 - To Hell and Back Another favorite of mine. I like the trick at the beginning to turn around to the left on the starting platform, which is almost the same one used on HeyNotTooRough 23. Here the trick from HurtMePlenty 4 returns.

HurtMePlenty 20 - Castle Get-Together Can be difficult, but it's more the execution that's hard rather than the puzzle itself. It's especially madenning on Lemmini, as I certainly remember having to keep restarting to get the digger placements on the columns correct.

HurtMePlenty 21 - Field Trip I remember this one being a hard one when I first played it those years ago. This is still one of my favorites, though. I found releasing the blockers at the end on Lemmini the most difficult to execute. That's a really neat way to delay one of the lemmings that goes to the left along with the blocker to give the lead lemming enough time to bash to the left exit ;)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

HurtMePlenty 22 - A Christmas Journey I also remember this one being a hard one when I first played it many years ago. I think the solution is more fiddly on Lemmini. I think I simply used good timing on Lemmini to get everyone from the top down safely rather than take advantage of the steel here. Should be possible to do so here on NL as well. I would still leave the floaters in in case some don't make it on time.

HurtMePlenty 23 - Sternenhimmel Ah, I remember seriously overcomplicating this one on Lemmini. Quite a difficult one and extremely annoying to pull off. It's still a hard one on NL, especially given the small amount of space to work with at the start. Builders may seem very plentiful, but don't be fooled, as all of them end up being used in the solution, meaning you can't waste any of them!

HurtMePlenty 24 - The Alternative Way Nice level. The only hard part is the timing needed at the start with the climbers, but other than that this is quite close to a breather as well.

HurtMePlenty 25 - Metropolis I certainly remember this one being a hard one when I first played it many years ago. The precision with the digger at the end seems super precise on Lemmini. No matter the engine, this is still a difficult level, especially with getting both crowds down safely and just a difficult to figure out solution.

HurtMePlenty 26 - Evolve Looks somewhat intimidating due to the sheer width, but it's not too hard. Even then, it's still challenging figuring out what to do, and once again builders might seem plentiful, but all are used in the solution. I think I remember doing something slightly different on Lemmini.

HurtMePlenty 27 - Whispers and Lights Not sure what I did at the start is intended. Almost a breather, but still challenging, with the hardest part I think is getting two workers to where they need to be in order to forge the path/solution.

HurtMePlenty 28 - Dirty Work This one was a bit difficult, but that's because I kept overthinking the solution and wasting unnecessary skills and hence kept coming up a skill or so short. Certainly the start is the most stressful part, managing each entrance so that they are survive and aren't in any danger, but once you are successful you can take it more slowly and easily.

HurtMePlenty 29 - Controlled Release Very difficult one to execute, especially on Lemmini where even one misplaced blocker is enough to restart, and you have to do it several times here. I certainly remember the frustration when things should had worked but unfortunately the timing was slightly off or the blocker was placed incorrectly or given to the wrong lemming makes the attempt fail. The concept here is really nice, just can be very difficult to pull off. Really, the solution is obvious, just getting the timing and spacing needed to achieve it is quite hard.

HurtMePlenty 30 - Edge to Insanity Another really nice looking level with the Epic tileset. Probably just slightly easier than the previous two rank finishers.


Do what you think is best and what you are having fun doing. :)

I would watch a series of this of course. Doing both I would find a bit unnessesary though, I would pick only one of them. Which one I would totally leave up to you.

Haha, I love this response and high level of trust you have in me to allow me to do what I think is best :) I'm in agreement with the second part, and after much debating with myself, I have reached a decision, but I'll reveal it at a later time, although it's probably already obvious based on what I'm doing here :P

I will continue with the rest of the pack soon! I'm definitely remembering why I like this pack so much again, even though I have solved it so many times on Lemmini in the past few years. I think what I will do is post again after I finish the UltraViolence rank, and then finally one last time when I finish the Nightmare rank.

Hope you're having a great time back in your hometown! Just remember to take it easy on yourself for the next few days while you are. You definitely deserve it after finally finishing off your dissertation and the Master's program ;) From my experience, finishing a Master's program is a great milestone achievment, but it is also very exhausting. Even more so if you happen to be one of those who worked while going to school, but I worked part-time while I was working on my Master's, about 3-4 hours each week. After I graduated with my Master's, I took two years off to work a real job to get some classroom teaching experience before I came back to school to work on my teaching credential program for math. I've now been out of school for almost 3 years, but I certainly would like to come back to school again sometime in the future to work on either a PhD or a second Master's degree. I just need to figure out where, though I would love to come back to my alma mater where I got my Bachelor's to work on a graduate degree ;)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPMqwuqZ206rBWJrUC6wkrA - My YouTube channel and you can also find my playlists of Lemmings level packs that I have LPed
kaywhyn's blog: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=5363.0

Online kaywhyn

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #147 on: April 03, 2021, 09:08:02 PM »
Ultra-Violence rank completely solved. Replays attached up through Ultra-Violence 30.

edit: Whoops, forgot to change the name of the file to say "up through Ultra-Violence." It still had the name "up through HurtMePlenty" even though all the Ultra-Violence replays were in there too :XD:

Feedback Ultra-Violence Rank

Wow, these levels are a huge step up in difficulty from the HurtMePlenty rank. There were several levels in here that took me a while, mostly due to not remembering the solutions because of the huge lapse of time since the last time I played the pack on Lemmini, as well as how some of the levels I vaguely remember, and also because a lot of the levels play out very differently from the Lemmini version due to being backroute patched. Even then, there is immense satisfaction in figuring out the levels all over again. Even moreso with certain levels' solutions being very different in the NL version.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All rightie, just the Nightmare rank left. Let's see how long this takes! As usual, continuing to enjoy the pack even if it has been slower going than usual and remembering just how really good it is, particularly since figuring out these challenging levels is quite satisfying, as well as seeing how very different the levels are playing out in NL in contrast to Lemmini.   
« Last Edit: April 04, 2021, 06:16:14 PM by kaywhyn »
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPMqwuqZ206rBWJrUC6wkrA - My YouTube channel and you can also find my playlists of Lemmings level packs that I have LPed
kaywhyn's blog: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=5363.0

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #148 on: April 04, 2021, 11:16:59 PM »
Nightmare rank solved and thus entire pack is completely solved on New Formats NL. My entire replay collection is attached. So, let's see if I managed to backroute any of these levels. Regarding the Nightmare rank, the one that immediately comes to mind is Nightmare 12 - Way Into Madness, as I have a lot of skills leftover. In a way, I kind of expected it, since it's currently very backrouteable in Lemmini. Unless my solution is acceptable, I think most of it is intended, just some parts allowed me to take a shortcut :P

Another would be Nightmare 27 - Unsecured Area, as I ended up not using one of the climber pickups :P

Feedback Nightmare Rank

Nightmare indeed. Though these are the hardest levels of the entire pack, truthfully these didn't take me as long as I thought it would. Certainly these designs were meant to be intimidating due to the sheer size and how there's so much going on, and hence most often give the appearance of a highly difficult level. In actuality, most of these are difficult due to the execution rather than the puzzle, though there's still a lot of very gnarly ones in terms of the puzzle. Again, my advice for those taking on packs like Reunion and other highly difficult ones is to not get intimidated by the levels. In my case, as I have mentioned before, I've already played through Reunion a few times in the last few years, and hence I'm mostly familiar with the levels/solutions. It's just a shame that I never saved my Lemmini replays for the pack, but as one can see that didn't matter, as I'm not one to load or go by memory what the solution is, especially since a lot of the NL version of the levels are much different from the Lemmini version and hence you can't really rely on the solution in Lemmini. Besides, it's good for exercising one's brain to try and hash out the solution again manually ;) Even if some are just a huge pain to execute, cough, Nightmare 29 - Lemtris Version X, cough :laugh:

Despite the tough nuts, the Nightmare rank is still very tame compared to the Genocide rank of United. Yes, these levels are some of Icho's nastiest, but again they don't reach their peak here, only for the Reunion pack itself. If you really want puzzle nastiest to the max and aren't intimidated by the very high difficulty, take a look at United instead, Icho's sequel pack to Reunion :P

More detailed feedback on the Nightmare rank levels:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Overall, great job with this first pack of yours, and now that I've played through it again after so long but on New Formats NL for the very first time, I definitely remember why I liked this pack so much when I first played it on Lemmini years ago. I can also see why it's a highly regarded pack from the community. Of course, I've played both your Reunion and United packs, and there's absolutely no doubt that United is the much higher quality pack and is many times better, as it definitely shows how much you have grown as both a level designer and level solver.

I am looking forward to playing your Isolated pack when it's done and ready! Also, I still need to take a look at the new levels that you have made for the NL Introduction pack, as well as resolve some levels that have been patched up in the meantime. And of course, I look forward continuing to be your pre-tester and pre-testing your future contest levels ;) See you around when you return from your hometown!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPMqwuqZ206rBWJrUC6wkrA - My YouTube channel and you can also find my playlists of Lemmings level packs that I have LPed
kaywhyn's blog: https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=5363.0

Offline IchoTolot

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Re: [NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]
« Reply #149 on: April 06, 2021, 03:26:17 PM »
Thanks for all the feedback, replays and kind words! :thumbsup:

I will slowly work myself through these and prepare a new patch with some comments. :)