NepsterLix

[Nepster]

Welcome to NepsterLix

Here are 96 exciting levels waiting for you to solve or backroute ! The pack already comes with the latest Lix version, so no need to download anything further.

Paradise or Hell?


A Study in Scarlet


On the Toy Ship


A Heart for Lix


A Day in Lixtown

[Simon]

Stunning visuals! Compared with Lemmings tilesets, some Lix tiles lack powerful 3D-lighting, yet you have crafted great images with the Lix tiles. Some levels even thrive on the flat design. Study in Scarlet shows masterful tile grouping.

From playing the NL version at Icho's, I know about the quality in the easier half of the pack. These levels are already challenging. I'm looking forward to explore the other levels.

We can include this in the D Lix test versions, or maintain it as a separate download for now. It's your choice.

-- Simon

[geoo]

I had a look at almost all of the levels from Planet and Sun. Each level, I basically played for 10 minutes, and if I didn't make good progress I'd move on to some other one. Exceptions are the last two of Sun and Planet 5, 6 and 10 (either because I'd seen them before or because they looked too daunting).

I think some levels I backrouted pretty badly.
But quite a few I found excellent and great fun. Of the ones I solved Hope and Despair is my favourite one.

I'd like to write a bit more about some levels, but it's pretty late now and I probably won't have much time to play or write anytime soon, so I just want to get out what I have so far. But either way I've had a lot of fun so far and even the ones I haven't solved yet are quite intriguing.

[Nepster]

Thanks for all the replays. Unfortunately most of them are backroutes, a lot of them introduced by subtle changes in the game mechanics of Lix compared to NeoLemmix and by slight inaccuracies when copying the terrain. In detail:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fourtissimo: Glaring backroute.
Five do not survive: It seems that I have to remove the batter. Adding it to require less timing was probably not a good idea.
Construction zone: Backroute due to different digger behavior.
Tomb Raider: Backroute due to slight terrain changes.
Minimalistic Platforms: I already checked this approach, but appearently not in enough details - backroute.
Toy Ship: Slight variation of the intended solution.
Cubism: Again a glaring backroute due to subtly different terrain widths.
Death of a Working Lix: Backroute. I never even considered this approach and was simply fortunate in the NeoLemmix version.
Choir of the Mad: That is a very embarrassing backroute
Canonballs: The left-hand side is totally fine, but I will block the way you did the right-hand side.
No matter what I try: Very interesting solution and completely different to mine. I have not yet decided what to do with it.
Minor Obstacles: This is truly embarrassing, because I gave you floaters where you should have none...
Marble Temple: Again a backroute introduced by subtle terrain changes combined with less strict terrain checks for builders.
Chinese Lemmings: Essentially the intended solution.
Ugly Bricks: This is an open-ended level, but your solution feels slightly too easy...

Hope and Despair: Intended.
Icy Smell of Steel: Glaring backroute to both the Lix and the NeoLemmix version. Given that a lot of people found other much harder (and acceptable) solutions this is quite surprising.
Broken Symmetry: Again subtle changes in the terrain made this backroute possible.
Woodworms: Intended.
Lament of Innocence: Acceptable alternative solution, that was already found for the NeoLemmix version.
Divide & Conquer: Backroute, but given the huge amount of backroutes for the NeoLemmix version, this is not surprising.
Advanced Earth Cube: Backroute, due to a slightly thinner gap to bridge.
Builders Prohibited: Another backroute, this time caused by my changes to allow for fixed SI.
Heart for Lix: I tried this backrouty approach, but couldn't make it work myself. Thanks for showing my that it is still possible.
Edge of Death: Same here.
Magic Wings: Oh, this is very bad! Now I have to adapt all my levels with one-way-gadgets...
Fall and Never Live: Totally my fault. This backroute was already found for NeoLemmix, but only after I converted the level. Then I forgot to fix the Lix version.

[Nepster]

Here is version 1.1 of NepsterLix with all backroutes found by geoo and Simon fixed.

[Nepster]

Here is version 1.2 with further fixes for backroutes found by Ramon and IchoTolot. Moreover imploder counts were reduced when they could never be part of a solution.

[Nepster]

Version 1.3 with fixes for backroutes found by Simon.

[Nepster]

Version 1.4 fixes more backroutes Simon found in the Moon and Sun rank.

[Nepster]

Version 1.5 fixes some backroutes by geoo and Simon. Some levels in the last two ranks got reordered.

[Nepster]

And already version 1.6 fixing 14 backroutes that Simon already found a while ago, but only sent to me a few days ago.

[Simon]

NepsterLix 1.6 is now part of the main D Lix download. All levels are proven solvable. I'll continue to watch this thread for updates.

-- Simon

[Nepster]

See the first post for version 1.7 of NepsterLix. If you are using a lix version of 0.7 or newer, you should update this pack.
Main changes:
- New level "Haunted Walls".
- Moved level "We all fly down" to Outtakes, because the new digger mechanics make the solution very fiddly.
- Moved "Construction Zone" and "Woodworms" a rank down, to make place for the new level.
- References to oriental and occult pieces point to the new piece names (thanks to Simon for fixing that).
- The three levels in the oriental style ("Don't feed the frogs!", "Travelling lix" and "Chinese Lix") are recreated  with the new pieces.
- Backroute fix to "Blockers forever".

[Nepster]

I removed the download option of this pack from the first post, as Lix now ships with the latest version of the pack and the version in this thread wasn't up-to-date anyway.

I still greatly appreciate any feedback in this thread, though.

[Forestidia86]

Attached solutions to 19 out of 20 levels of the Moon rank. Most of them are done in 0.9.2 and some in 0.6.x but the ones of 0.6.x attached should work in 0.9.x as well.

It was already very hard for me despite being the first rank.

Some remarks (click to show/hide)

Apart form "Study in Scarlet", which I haven't solved yet, I found actually the first two levels quite hard.

I liked  "Another Miner Problem", "Earth Cube", "Blockers forever", "White Wonder" and "Construction Zone".

I'm not sure if I solved "Colored Cube" intended since it is in a particular way precise but everthing worked out.
For "The Prisoners" I saved the batter and climber, so I don't know if it was the way to go.

If "Horror Ping-Pong" is fully intended then it's quite precise since I only got it with early basher assignment.
If "Don't feed the frogs!" is intended then it's very bruteforcy. It's a nice trick to close the imploder gap but you have to go for it in the hope that it works out.
If "Direct Misdirection" is basically intended then it's quite special what one has to do. I probably did it overprecisely but nevertheless.

In "Maze-Lix" it was hard to coordinate all actions. I at first did multiple replays and copied them together but the attached replay is a reproduction of it in one go. As I knew a way it wasn't that bad anymore.

[Nepster]

Thanks for the replays. Technically the first rank is the "5-of-all" rank, and at least its first levels are easy intoduction levels. But I agree that the Moon rank is already rather difficult. I am just terrible at creating easy levels.

Remarks on your solutions (click to show/hide)

All solutions I don't comment on are absolutely intended.
Another Miner Problem: Backroute, even though you liked it.
Colored Boxes: Completely different from the intended route, but this level is incredibly nasty to fix, so I might just accept your solution as an alternative one.
Blockers Forever: Accepted alternative solution.
You need Blockers this time: Backroute.
Lix Playground: Backroute. While this level has a lot of different solutions, yours misses the key characteristic of all others.
Jump in the Ring: Interesting alternative solution. Haven't seen this one before.
Horror Ping-Pong: Backroute.
Prisoners: Not one of the two acceptable solutions. So I really don't know whether I want to keep it or not.
White Wonder: While I am glad that you liked that level, your solution is a 100% backroute.
Construction Zone: Same here.
Don't feed the frogs: The intended way is far less precise. But your solution seems nevertheless close enough that I will keep it. I might raise the SI to make it easier to execute your solution, though.
Direct Misdirection: No, that is a backroute. If I had intended that route, then I would have made the execution far less precise.
Miner Preservation Society: Shame on me for not seeing this backroute.

[Forestidia86]

Thanks for the feedback.

I played through the 5-of-all rank and yeah, that are the easier levels. Sorry, I didn't realize that this was the lowest rank. I thought it was something extra due to its different naming.

Some remarks (click to show/hide)

"Stopping Stones" seemed a bit too many stones for me.
"A Small Step for Lixkind" and "Lots of Small Tasks" hit my weakness of not being good at imagining a level in advance. I actually generally like the small-task-concept but it was just too much for me to manage.
It's kind of uncanny that the hell route in "Paradise or Hell?" seemed to be the easier one to me.

There were some fun levels in between.

[Forestidia86]

Maybe it's obvious but only one question concerning the Outtakes:
Are the times given in the name of some of the levels meant as time limits?

[Nepster]

Are the times given in the name of some of the levels meant as time limits?

Yes, they have been time limits in C++-Lix. As D-Lix no longer supports time limits, these levels got moved to the Outtakes rank and the time limit mentioned in the level title.

[Simon]

Old C++ Lix had the time limit run for 4 seconds, then spawned the first lix.
Newer C++ Lix had the time limit run for 2 seconds, then spawned the first lix.
The first lix has always spawned at phyu 60.
One second has always been 15 phyus.

Since NepsterLix was well-maintained near the end of C++ Lix's life, assume 2 seconds before spawn. Then D Lix would time-out a solution at
phyu ((time limit in seconds) * 15 (phyus/second) - 30). For one minute, this is phyu 870.
phyu ((time limit in seconds) * 15 (phyus/second) + 30). For one minute, this is phyu 930.

-- Simon

[Forestidia86]

The first lix has always spawned at phyu 60.
[...]
Since NepsterLix was well-maintained near the end of C++ Lix's life, assume 2 seconds before spawn. Then D Lix would time-out a solution at phyu ((time limit in seconds) * 15 (phyus/second) - 30). For one minute, this is phyu 870.

Shouldn't the 60 phyus be counted in the calculation for D-Lix or do I have a thinking error?

[Simon]

Yes, I should compute +30 (or +60-30) instead of -30. Fixed in the post.

-- Simon

[Forestidia86]

So since we put the effort in the calculation, some solutions to Outtakes levels attached, including the three time limit ones.
They should all be (barely) be within:

"Just a quickie" has 30s, i.e. 480 phuys in D-Lix
verifier.txt says 411 phyus for saving the last required lix.

"It's hero time again!" has 60s, i.e. 930 phyus in D-Lix
verifier.txt says 911 phyus for saving the last required lix.

"Time Out" has 180s, i.e. 2730 phyus in D-Lix
verifier.txt says 2710 phyus for saving the last required lix.

Edit: Level file to "Time Out" says actually 210s but title says 3min, I just took the title at the word.

[Forestidia86]

I finally found a solution to "Study in Scarlet". I don't know what to say.

[Simon]

I finally found a solution to "Study in Scarlet". I don't know what to say.

This is identical to my solution. The NL version had a second route that doesn't work in Lix. The Lix version is harder and could be ranked higher.

-- Simon

[Simon]

Lix 0.9.7 doesn't replace tiles like `moon.D' to `moon' anymore. Decoration was removed a year ago and I'd like to remove the backwards compatibility. 3 levels of NepsterLix need these minimal changes, all stay solvable with the replays in the proof collection.

Here's a patch against the NepsterLix git repo. To turn it into a commit:
git am 0001-replace-deco-with-solid-terrain.patch

-- Simon

[Forestidia86]

Sorry, that I'm just posting a single solution, but is that intended ("Fourtissimo", v.0.9.7)?
That felt remarkably easy considering what the Moon-difficulty threw at me.

[Nepster]

Regarding your replays:
Fourtissimo: Yes, this is a backroute.
A Move on the Roof: Backroute, but because this is a level in Outtakes, I won't fix it.
Poor Wee Creatures - Twin Edition: Slight backroute, but again I won't fix it.
It's hero time again! - 1min: Nice alternative solution.
Just a quickie - 30sec: Another nice alternative solution.
Time Out - 3min: That's a simpler solution than mine, but much tighter on the time.

@Simon: Haven't gotten around to apply your patch, but will do so eventually.

[Forestidia86]

Thanks for your feedback.

I have attached a set of another 5 solutions to the Planet rank. Unfortunately all feel backrouty.

Some remarks (click to show/hide)

"Slow down, Walkers!" - I thought a bit too complicated in the beginning. The more straightforward solution worked. Though it had kind of some trick to it then.
"Five do not Survive" - Hm, felt somehow easy.
"A Stroll on the Lawn" - Hm, I just abused the lower save requirement.
"On the Toy Ship" - This was the hardest of the 5 solutions for me. But it felt somehow hacky-precise what I did.
"Cubism" - This solution felt somehow peculiar and it was precise as well.

[Forestidia86]

I solved 5 further Planet levels.

Some remarks (click to show/hide)

"Minimalistic Platforms" felt like the level solved itself.
"Choir of the Mad": What I did happened to work out somehow.
"Minor Obstacles": I have two slightly different solutions for the level but the second one is much more precise.
"The Marble Temple": This level felt quite easy. The only thing to take care of was the order of actions so that the climber is saved as well.
"Chinese Lix": I doubt that the solution is intended since I just tried around until the timing worked out. I even did an empty basher assignment to hold one lix up.

[Forestidia86]

Solved 5 Sun levels.

Some remarks (click to show/hide)

"Lament of Innocence": Was a nice level. How I solved it relied on two main tricks and wasn't extremely hard.
"Three Little Lix": Not sure if the pickaxe turn move was intended. But managing the timing and distances between the lix seems the tough part of the level.
"Advanced Earth Cube": How I solved it, the solution seems a bit out-of-the-box at one point. Managing the destructive skills is the tough part here.
"Magic Wings": The trick in the end felt a bit hackish but could very well be intended.
"Fall and Never Live": It feels a bit backrouty. Although these could very well be the main tricks of level and the rest is just distraction.

[Forestidia86]

Solved 4 further levels of the pack.

Concerning "The Shortcut" (click to show/hide)

My solution is peculiar but fits the title.

Concerning "Dawn in Lixtown"+"A Day in Lixtown" (click to show/hide)

Nice interesting levels and good that they needed different solutions.

Concerning "Ticket to Hell" (click to show/hide)

This was about managing the ressources. I first didn't realize that they won't walk into the fire at the top.

Edit:

To "A Night in Lixtown" (click to show/hide)

There basically my Dawn in Lixtown solution works, only with a bit different timing due to different SI and I cancel the miner with a jumper.

[Nepster]

Thanks a lot for the replays and the feedback. I already feel bad for not replaying earlier.

Slow down, Walkers: I don't know how I missed this backroute.
Five do not survive: Backroute, that might not have been possible until the digger changed.
Stroll on the Lawn: Alternative solution, which is ok.
Minimalistic platforms: Great, then my efforts to make the level easy to execute paid off. Intended solution.
On the Toy Ship: Basically the intended solution. You simplified one small detail and traded it for some precision.
Cubism: This level is backroute-hell, and this is just one more of them...
Choir of the Mad: I already put so many fire traps there, and you still got around them. Backroute.
Minor Obstacles: Cool alternative solutions!
Chinese Lix: Yes, the intended solution is completely different. But I like your approach, even though I worry that allowing this leads to too much fiddling around. I am not yet sure, whether and how to fix this level.

Lament of Innocence: Known and acceptable alternative solution. You got the main ideas.
Three little Lix: Backroute.
Advanced Earth Cube: There are some good ideas in there, but the beginning is just backroutish.
On Magic Wings: Apart from the end, it resembles the intended solution. But that end has to be fixed.
Fall and Never Live: Yes, this is backrouty.

Dawn in Lixtown (and Night): Backroute.
A Day in Lixtown: This should be the solution for another version of Lixtown.
Ticket to Hell: Backroute, because the lemmings should walk into the fire at the top. Not sure what I thought when putting terrain there...

The Shortcut: Not intended, but the level is bad anyway, so no big deal.

[Forestidia86]

Thanks for the feedback.

Attached a backroute for "Minimalistic Platforms".

[Forestidia86]

Just some replays to three more levels. (Moonshine Trio, Sacrifice of a Climbing Lix and 2 solutions to Dunes)

Some remarks (click to show/hide)

Moonshine Trio: This actually feels intended, although I saved one blocker. Looks at first like there are many possibilities to try but in the end it's not that bad.
Sacrifice of a Climbing Lix: My solution is likely a backroute: I saved the climber, saved 27 instead of 20 and had plenty of skills left. A variant of this works in Neolemmix, although there you have to avoid traps that aren't in this Lix variant, but you have enough skills for it, and the setup for one step is harder due to different blocker physics, which are more lenient for bypassing than in Lix.
Dunes: I have two solutions there one of which feels intended and works in Neolemmix as well. The other solution abuses the runner in combination with precise basher assignment, which to a certain extent triviliazes the level.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved the Planet level "No matter what you try... " and Final Frustration.

To No matter what you try... (click to show/hide)

Everything just worked out together without that much precision than I expected for my route.

To Final Frustration (click to show/hide)

Than level has some nasty parts you sometimes don't see in the beginning. If you make a mistake at an early stage you can redo everything. It nevertheless stayed always interesting though exhausting to deal with this level. The toughest hatch to deal with was the lowest hatch. The right side was a bit easier to deal with generally.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved "The Deadly Rooms of Lix".

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My solution felt much too easy for the rank.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved House of the Mad Trickster.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's peculiar but uses most of the skills.

Edit: I've solved A Heart for Lix as well.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not sure if it's intended that way; parts of it seem fitting, other parts just like an abuse of the amount of builders.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved "The Icy Smell of Steel" and "Oh, to be a Squirrel".

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I think I have a heavy backroute to "The Icy Smell of Steel".
I used by far not all of the climbers in "Oh, to be a Squirrel" but had some route.

Edit: I've solved On the Edge of Death.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My solution was very straightforward.

[Forestidia86]

I've looked through the Black Hole rank, for which levels I have a quick idea.
I've solved:

Gray Walls (click to show/hide)

My solution feels intended but was not that tough.

The Rule of the One (click to show/hide)

I totally lucked this level out what was funny for me. I liked the general concept of the level.

Cross the Red Line (click to show/hide)

Was a short concise level. It was not that hard to find a solution.

A Sunny Day in April (click to show/hide)

Was interesting to puzzle a way for the crowd together. Feels like there are some backroutish parts.

[Forestidia86]

I've looked through the rest of the Sun rank the same way and solved three further levels.

Hope and Despair (click to show/hide)

Was a bit trickier to keep the two apart in a working way but the level doesn't leave that much possibilities.

Broken Symmetry (click to show/hide)

I went for the right route. Was tight on timing for making the route.

OddBox (click to show/hide)

Interesting to keep the crowd away from the worker.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved three further Planet levels.

Death of a working Lix (click to show/hide)

That level is tough and tightly timed as I solved it.

Canonballs in the Air (click to show/hide)

That was about puzzling together a route. Timing plays a role here and I used an unelegant "trick" to make it work out.

Ugly Bricks (click to show/hide)

Not sure if it's intended that way since I only used one blocker and really abused the amount of stairs available to keep up lix.

[Forestidia86]

Two solutions to One Minute of Action.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The first one is likely a backroute since it just abuses the abundance of skills for delay. The other one is a bit less blatant but the level seems to offer many possibilities to solve due to the abundance of certain skills and low amount of lix.

[Simon]

Here's one more solution for One Minute of Action.

-- Simon

[Forestidia86]

A solution to "Another Generic Title".
It doesn't feel fully intended and has one (not necessary) "swag" move.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved "Builders Prohibited".

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had one skill left but the main approach seemed intended.

[Nepster]

Without even having looked at your solution: Having one or two skills left over is fine. There are actually several solutions to that level.

[Forestidia86]

I solved thin layers (with a bit of discussion with Simon).
I needed quite some time and saved one more than required.

[Forestidia86]

I think I have another backroute to "Choir of the Mad".

[Simon]

I think I have the intended route.

-- Simon

[Nepster]

I finally started fixing all the backroutes:
1) Choir of the Mad: All solutions so far have been backroutes (some of them huge ones, some a lot closer to the intended one).
2) Fourtissimo: Backroute by Forestidia (no big surprise)
3) Hope and Despair: Backroute by Forestidia (again no big surprise)
4) Gray Walls: Backroute Forestidia - the old time limit on that level would easily have prevented this one.
5) Moonshine Trio: Backroute by Forestidia - it misses the main idea.
6) Another Generic Title: Backroute by Forestidia - I already got the very same backroute in NeoLemmix, but forgot to fix it here.
7) Minimalistic Platforms: Removed the one backroute by Forestidia, the intended solution is of course kept.

[Forestidia86]

Likely a backroute to "Bowl of Pillars".

[Forestidia86]

Solved "No added Colors and Lix".

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not sure if it's intended that ways since I had the floater left. The route is rather a counterintuitive one.

[Forestidia86]

Some solutions, probably some backroutes as well.