Hi weirdybeardy,
I have solved all of the pack. My replays are attached. Also, I did an LP of the pack:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbp2m4KlFpJstAY71mOBDfSgINWYYzvTg. Enjoy!
General FeedbackLemmings in Weirdyland is a level pack recently released by weirdybeardy, who returned to the Lemmings Forums after a very long absence, 13 years IIRC. As such, he is one of the very long-time level designers from way back in the days and has levels in the .dat files that are pretty much a way to play the mini 10-level Dos packs from when Lemmix was pretty much the prominent engine in use in the days. Some of these levels can also be found in the various versions of Revenge of the Lemmings, but most of these are ones that I don't think I've played before.
Because these are all Lemmix levels converted to up-to-date NL format, all of them have time limits, though I've told weirdybeardy that the NL standard practice is to remove them if they're not needed unless it's part of the challenge or to block backroutes. Or, yet another option is to simply make the time limit high enough that it's not a problem if one doesn't want to provide infinite time. Otherwise, if it doesn't do either of the two things mentioned, then it's best to remove the time limit altogether. The only level pack I'm aware of that was also back from the Lemmix days that has a time limit on every level is Deceit's Lemmings.
Regarding the time limits, during my LP I noticed a lot of them are unnecessarily very tight! Now, I don't mind time limits in general, but I will notice and mind if there's way too many tight timers in a row. A lot of the time, the only thing these do is force the player to 99RR and release the crowd early enough to finish the level on time, therefore blocking solutions that would had worked otherwise with more time. Thus, I suggested to weirdybeardy to either take them out or to increase them so that time isn't a problem. I haven't exactly verified, but I'm guessing plenty of the levels originally had a very generous timer, and if that's the case I would restore them to what they were originally. Yes, I do understand the point of increasing the challenge and making the levels harder by tightening the time limit, but again most of the time all they do here is force the player to max out the RR and release the crowd early enough, and it's not always clear when one can do so because of the design or sometimes the long distances involved depending on the size.
In any case, like some of the others who have played this pack before me, including WillLem and Turrican, I can recommend this pack of old levels from weirdybeardy, even if in his honest opinion he thinks they aren't that good. More importantly, the pack is on the easier side, which packs of this difficulty are especially lacking on the Forums, so those who aren't as experienced with the game would appreciate this very much. Again, I must emphasize, as I have plenty of times, that hard levels are the ones I enjoy and prefer, but I like levels of all difficulties in Lemmings
Even better, this is another recent level pack that sticks to only the classic 8 skills. The pack is many times easier than QFK (Quest From Kieran), but in some places it's nearly on par with its difficulty, as there's still some odd levels here and there that are harder than the ones surrounding it/them, especially in the later ranks.
Guff Rank FeedbackThere isn't much to say about these levels other than they're pretty much just tutorial levels teaching the skills, but unlike the L1 ones in the Fun rank, these aren't your typical tutorial levels, as they are far harder and none are exactly trivial. These definitely remind me of the "tutorial-like" levels from grams88's Ski Sloping Lemmings pack, another pack that sticks to just the classic 8 skills, especially as this user is a traditionalist of the game and therefore it's by personal decision and design that they stick to the classic 8 skills for both level packs (Ski Sloping Lemmings and Nuked Lemmings).
In addition, I must say that Guff 1 is a bit hard for its position despite being a digger tutorial, for two reasons (spoiler tagged below)! Now, I understand using the digger tutorial as the first level, since L1 did exactly that, but IMO I would switch it with another level that's easier, such as Guff 2, which is the floater tutorial.
For the final pit, one must take care to make sure no lemmings drop out to the left, as you need to save everyone. These two things alone increase the difficulty significantly! The holding pits are quite narrow too, so accomplishing this isn't easy.
All of these culminate and come together as a 1-of-everything level in the rank finisher to see what the player has learned, very similar to what Shmoley did with Shmolems, where the final two levels of the first rank did exactly that, the penultimate one using just the classic 8 skills that were taught earlier in the rank, while the rank finisher uses the NL skills taught earlier in the rank. Overall, these levels still require some thought, especially the ones that aren't the floater or climber tutorial.
The builder tutorial reminds me of the ones from Lemmings Reunion in the first rank.
Drivel Rank FeedbackLevels are a bit harder here, but not by much. The rank finisher is certainly the hardest one of the rank and very worthy of the position.
Drivel 1 -
We Meet Again, Mister Lemming Nice easy 20-of-everything level to start the rank, but unnecessarily tight timer. I feel as if I've played this before, though, and if I have, it was a very long time ago. At least the design/layout strikes as familiar to me for some reason.
Drivel 2 -
Out on a Lem This was one of my favorites from Revenge of the Lemmings, though again very tight timer! Very nice challenge either with or without the time limit, though!
Drivel 3 -
Lemesis Nice level which does require some thought to make the route work, though it's still not completely obvious which is the correct exit to take.
Drivel 4 -
The Path of Least Resistance One of the harder levels of the rank, though the distances can be quite difficult to judge whether they're safe or not when making the splatforms, and making these are the hardest parts of the level while just making do with the limited amount you have. Nice level, though, I kind of like it! Another tight timer!
Drivel 5 -
It'll Never Work Pretty much a far milder version of "Rotation Phase Syndrome" from the early versions of Lemmings Plus I, as well as a level in the first half of Windy from Pimolems (both teaching players to horizontally bash with diggers and blockers), though IMO a bit too excessive on the repetition for my liking. Also, it seems you must place the diggers as far as they can go each time, or you're not going to get through, which is probably what the level title is referring to.
Drivel 6 -
Think Again Played this before in RotL. One of my favorites!
Drivel 7 -
Green-Haired Freaks Nice somewhat easy level, reduced by how you have plenty of builders to be able to spam them to keep everyone safe. Also the time limit isn't super tight for once
Drivel 8 -
Wunderlems! Nice level. I especially love the building out to the far right and digging down to be able to go over to the left side of the level, so this is quite similar to Drivel 2 in this regard.
Drivel 9 -
All Lemmed Out Yea, way too easy. I'm definitely curious about what it requires on Lemmix that isn't possible on NL, so I may or may take a look at that version sometime
Drivel 10 -
Theory vs Practise Definitely the hardest of the rank. It's not easy to figure out the most efficient way to use the builders, which might seem plentiful but in actuality the supply is quite tight, as well as how to release the crowd later on. Also, the timer is extremely tight!
Blather Rank FeedbackA bit harder still, but still nothing too bad.
Blather 1 -
Through the Oven Door Already played this from RotL. Solution is the same, though I think in RotL I went underneath the flamethrower?
Blather 2 -
Alas, Poor Lemming Great level! Love the release of the second climber to mine the crowd out at a time when he turns around near the end of the in-progress basher tunnel and the first climber has enough time to dig down and build over the gap.
Blather 3 -
Death or Glory! (part 1) Another favorite of mine from RotL.
Blather 4 -
Riddle Me This ... Another great level, though timer is a bit tight. The hardest part is certainly making the turnaround point at the start, but the rest is easy after that.
Blather 5 -
Like Lemtris... Only Not I think it's inspired by Classic 3 of Lemmings 2, judging from the title? Looks hard, though it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm not sure if my solution is intended, though it might be, as I don't see any other way through it that works.
Blather 6 -
Mustgofastermustgofaster! Another easy one, especially if you're aware of interrupting skills midstroke to step up. Probably a bit too repetitive for my liking, but it's fine. Luckily the save requirement is lenient and same with the time limit!
Blather 7 -
Thou Shalt Not Nice 1-lemming level, though again another case of a very tight timer! I do like how one needs to stop the final builder with a basher to finish on time, though.
Blather 8 -
Take It Like a Lemming (part 1) Think I played this before from RotL? The ray gun trap doesn't work here as the pre-text says, but in my LP I gave weirdybeardy the advice of grabbing a functional one from the NL editor. Same with part 2 in the next rank, it doesn't work there either. Even though I use all the skills, I'm sure I backrouted it
Blather 9 -
The Yuletide Level Probably the hardest of the rank, though this is another one I felt as if I've played it before. Just like Drivel 10, it's not clear what the most efficient route is that would allow you to save the skills you need to finish the level. For example, do you build to get over the snowman, or do you go through it? The latter seems to be the answer. Definitely a lot of nice red herrings that look they could work but don't!
Blather 10 -
Le Ming Looks quite intimidating and difficult, though I wonder if I ended up backrouting it? It really looks and feels like bad cheesing I did. Now that I think about it, I feel as if I played this level before too.
Vexing Rank FeedbackNow things get challenging here! Even though this is the penultimate rank, I felt this is the hardest one of the pack. Vexing 10 might even take the title of hardest level of the pack. Either that or possibly even Vexing 1, though the latter might be a close second. This is probably the most solid rank of the pack!
Vexing 1 -
Lemmingus Horribilis Nice challenging level! Once again, it looks like you have a lot of builders available but you actually don't. Thus the main challenge is finding the most efficient routes on either side that doesn't use too many builders. Even the exit area is hard to figure out, with making the splatform and not blocking access to the exit. I might had overcomplicated it, though. Yet another level I feel as if I've played before.
Vexing 2 -
Death or Glory! (part 2) It's pretty much the exact same solution as part 1, except you need to find the sweet spot with the first digger it appears because you have nearly 1 less full minute available here!
Vexing 3 -
Take It Like a Lemmings (part 2) I think this is the version I played from RotL, not part 1. Seems I used a different solution here, but it's only because the trap doesn't work here. If it did, then the RotL solution would apply here.
Vexing 4 -
Lemming Gravy Somewhat hard, though the hardest parts to figure out was how to stop the surviving lemmings at the top from going out to the right, as well as how to release them and then get them down safely after. Seems the release is very pixel precise. I honestly would reduce the precision to drop down, though it doesn't have to be too tight like what I nearly did in my solution. Great level nevertheless!
Vexing 5 -
Nostalgia for a Misspent Youth Pretty much Tricky 30 but another builderless version. Can be hard, but I've already played versions like this before. Either that or it's the talisman solution of the Redux version I'm thinking of. Took me a while to figure out that the second climber must be assigned a lot later for some reason
Vexing 6 -
Cockney Lem Another hard but nice challenge. The start is certainly the hardest, at least for me it was. I really like that trick with leaving a builder step past the boundary of the steel/terrain so that you must mine out the staircase at the right spot to be able to land on the bottom one later. Not new to me, but it's not seen often in custom levels.
Vexing 7 -
Lemmington Spa Another one from RotL, except this is the original version I think? The RotL is an easy X-of-everything in the Picnic rank, but this one is a far more limited skillset. Really nice challenge and I definitely prefer this one! The most difficult is figuring out how to release the crowds later, but if you're familiar with the Dolly Dimple trick of building over the digger shaft so that lemmings going underneath go in one direction, it shouldn't be that bad.
Vexing 8 -
Fiddlecode Nothing hard here other than finding the right spot for the blocker and still being able to release him later.
Vexing 9 -
Cogito Ergo Lem Way too easy! I think I definitely could had made this a lose 2 solution if I had used the builders, for example.
Vexing 10 -
Evacuation Procedure Possibly the hardest level of the entire pack. In hindsight, I probably would had been able to figure this out in the video I first attempted the level, but yea, I stopped early only because I wanted to get a nice gym workout in before it closed
In any case, very hard level to figure out. Also it looks like I would had easily made the video quite long, as it still nearly required an additional half hour to get solved on camera. There really looks as though there multiple ways to go the level but they all ultimately fail due to running short on skills or you run out of time. The very strict timer certainly adds to the difficulty in a valid way, so this is one where having it is justified IMO. Great level nevertheless!
Daft Rank FeedbackDespite being the final rank, it's not the hardest IMO, which goes to the rank before this one. Even then, some fun ones to figure out!
Daft 1 -
It's Not Big and It's Not Clever Nice level to start the rank, though probably a bit too repetitive with interrupting midstroke to get up to the exit. Even that's not very clear on how to do it to reach the exit.
Daft 2 -
Intolerable Cruelty Another nice level, though very tight timer! The right entrance is far easier to figure out. I later realized I overcomplicated the solution, as I could had had the worker lemming on the left build against the steel block to turn rather than step up, build, dig, and then build to turn
Daft 3 -
The Temple of Ka-Lem-Ma My solution is very different from the intended. Nice to know building over the shredder trap is intended!
Daft 4 -
Bang! And the Lem is Gone Great level!
I especially like the climber to blow up the poles on either side to allow one builder to reach the exit.
Daft 5 -
No Business Like Snow Business Should be clear in the first few minutes that the way to go is through the very long ceiling at the top. The main challenge is figuring out how to save a lot of time so that there isn't any wondering back and forth in the basher tunnel. The builder wall is one way to do it. I'm sure there are other ways too. Great level and another where the time limit is justified IMO.
Daft 6 -
The Knights of Ni Probably the hardest level of the entire rank. Once again, my solution is very different from the intended, and hence the route I took is a backroute, as I don't use the far right side. It still wasn't easy to figure out, though!
Daft 7 -
Bless the Lem Nice 1-lemming level, though the timer is so tight! Not sure why I thought the exit was locked though
However, what I said about not hiding stuff is good for future reference in case you ever make more levels in the future
Daft 8 -
Electric Avenue Looks hard but it's not that bad. Containing the crowds was the hardest to figure out. Once you succeed there, the rest is easy, though one must still take care of some nuisances, such as making sure lemmings don't get trapped after releasing with a bomber on the right, for example, though I supposed one could just swap the miner/bomber to release.
Daft 9 -
Lomax and Jimmy Nothing special other than the exit is upside-down. However, the time limit is very scary here!
Daft 10 -
BRICKIN' IT Nice level to finish off the pack, though not trivial in any way. Once again, I feel the left side is harder to figure out. The time limit is somewhat tight.
Thank you for the pack weirdybeardy, and glad to hear you're enjoying the LP. Again, please excuse me if I sound harsh, but as you have already told me it's me being honest, and you be correct
I definitely would be lying if I said the timers aren't very tight. It's been noted by others that my bluntness is what's appreciated about me. Read my detailed feedback on all the other level packs I've posted replays for and you might agree, especially if you have played through them.
