Christmas 2016 Pack

[Crane]

Hi guys.  This is very short-notice, but I'm considering putting together a community pack of maybe just 30 levels that consists of levels made out of the Holiday tileset, and maybe some levels converted from the Snow set if the traps can be removed or converted.  It's mostly so I can get to grips with the Flexi tools again so I can aid möbius with Revenge of the Lemmings when the time comes.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what levels to include?  I was thinking of:

- "Spiralling Snowstorm" by Clam Spammer
- "Someone must help us!" (aka. "A wave goodbye") Matthias Witt (converted from Snow tileset)
- "Ethereality" by Akseli
- That collaboration level in Picnic in Revenge of the Lemmings (with the 3 of 2013 changed to a 6).

Other possibilities (which might be questionable but could work as filler, plus I was one of the few people who didn't play Oh No! More Lemmings until late on into my level design history, which is why so few of my levels use those tilesets - plus I didn't have the graphics files to use with CUSTLEMM):

- Chill out! (Wicked 5)
- Race against the cliches (Havoc 4)

I haven't been able to test it, but when mixing tilesets together (e.g. to use the Snow traps or one-way arrows in the Holiday tileset), do the Santa lemmings have working Drowner and Frier animations?

[bulletride]

A Christmas pack is a great idea! I had never used the Christmas set before so I went ahead and threw together a couple of levels. Feel free to use them for this pack if you wish! If you like them I can maybe make a few more.

edit: ended up making 2 more levels

[namida]

and maybe some levels converted from the Snow set if the traps can be removed or converted.

Assuming you're using NeoLemmix (or even SuperLemmini, if I'm not mistaken), the Xmas set has the Snow trap / iceblower / water added to it - and in NeoLemmix's case (but not SuperLemmini's), graphic sets can be mixed together in a single level these days anyway. (You could pretty much just change the "primary" graphic set to Xmas, replace the icicle trap with the one from the Xmas set (so it shows a Santa lemming when killing), replace the windows and exits, and add a few Xmas-y decorations, and bam, your Snow level is now a Xmas level.)

[Proxima]

I hope you'll include Vignette (from Revenge of the Lemmings) as it's the only level I've made that's eligible

[Colorful Arty]

You could also ask people if they want to make a Christmas themed level specifically for this pack. I'd be interested in doing so, as making a Christmas level would be fun without needing to make a whole pack in the process.

[Crane]

I hope you'll include Vignette (from Revenge of the Lemmings) as it's the only level I've made that's eligible

Oh absolutely.  I had that one in mind too!

If anyone would like to make a Christmas level specifically for this, please go right ahead.  Heck, I could probably use some Fun/Tricky-like ones with 20 of everything to start it off, or something truly unique.

This week I'll see if I can get to grips with the tools.

[bulletride]

Here is another one... This is probably a tricky-ish level. More builders can be added as well to make it easier. Don't feel pressured to use all of mine lol I can use the leftovers in another pack.

[Colorful Arty]

Do these levels HAVE to use the xmas or snow tilesets, or could they be any as long as there is a Christmas theme to them? For example, the abstract set has red and green pieces which could be used to make a festive level.

[Minim]

I hope some of my Holiday Lemmings '95 levels will make the cut. Although these levels would have to be transported from Lemmix - here is the link.

Unfortuntely I can't seem to play BulletRide's level pack. I can't extract that RAR file. I played the Icecaps level though. Although very easy, the horizontal poles look neat as a top for pillars.

[GigaLem]

Not to diverge into sth off-topic but, Coincidentally I've been working on a Holiday level pack of my own I have a few things to say

Do these levels HAVE to use the xmas or snow tilesets, or could they be any as long as there is a Christmas theme to them? For example, the abstract set has red and green pieces which could be used to make a festive level.

I have been using that in my pack, a Colorful tileset can make good holiday levels, infact its my favorite of the LPV tiles

I hope some of my Holiday Lemmings '95 levels will make the cut. Although these levels would have to be transported from Lemmix - here is the link.

Unfortuntely I can't seem to play BulletRide's level pack. I can't extract that RAR file. I played the Icecaps level though. Although very easy, the horizontal poles look neat as a top for pillars.

I will probably look at this as well, If little to none make it, Why not Convert them into a .nxp file?

I may look at some levels for inspiration, but if anything, a collab level would be nice and a Hard-for-flopsy level too
But one thing i would go against is Reusing an official level to fill spots, Noy really a fan of that, Especially if brand new level can be made

[bulletride]

I hope some of my Holiday Lemmings '95 levels will make the cut. Although these levels would have to be transported from Lemmix - here is the link.

Unfortuntely I can't seem to play BulletRide's level pack. I can't extract that RAR file. I played the Icecaps level though. Although very easy, the horizontal poles look neat as a top for pillars.

I downloaded your Christmas pack and was confused because it appeared as the marble tile set. I must have glazed over that it hasn't been converted yet lol.

I put my levels in a NXP so its easier to play them. Made a few changes...

I removed a blocker and made the save percentage stricter on Shakey Foundations to make it a bit more challenging. I also removed the blockers and a few builders from Ice Caps. Still should be super easy but a bit less so :p

If anyone has played Hit The Slopes, do you think it would more interesting without miners?

[Minim]

I hope some of my Holiday Lemmings '95 levels will make the cut. Although these levels would have to be transported from Lemmix - here is the link.

Unfortuntely I can't seem to play BulletRide's level pack. I can't extract that RAR file. I played the Icecaps level though. Although very easy, the horizontal poles look neat as a top for pillars.

I downloaded your Christmas pack and was confused because it appeared as the marble tile set. I must have glazed over that it hasn't been converted yet lol.

Whoops! I totally forgot these were still based originally from the marble set! Tomorrow morning I will look into this and see if I can convert them.

Edit: It is possible, but it's going to take ages to get all of them done. (Shame you can't just cut and paste the layout like you could with Lemmix ) I had to convert each terrain and object one-by-one. So, I'll just submit two levels: 'Christmas Cross' because it's one of my favourites and 'Ship trip to the caves' because of the nice layout.

[Crane]

Well, I've converted my first level for this pack, "Someone must help us!", but I also applied some backroute fixes since there were solutions that, if I recall correctly, don't use the author's intended mechanic.

Spoiler

A single builder must connect three separate points

The time limit reduction forces a particular solution, only because another one is so painfully tight with the 4-minute limit that it can come off as unfair.  However, does it appear and play okay to everyone else?

P.S. I can't seem to extract levels from NXP files, or even open them in the editor.  Is this intended?
P.P.S. As for "Hit the slopes", it's a fairly straightforward level for the likes of us, and completing it without miners isn't too much more difficult - it just requires thoughtful positioning of the diggers.  However, I can make "No miners" a talisman.

ADDENDUM: Also converted Vignette.  I hope it's to your approval, Proxima.  Admittedly I added 2 bombers to the skill set, just to be cruel! I'll remove them though if I'm taking too many liberties.

[Crane]

I think I backrouted Christmas Cross - not sure.  I didn't use the Blocker.  "Ship trip to the caves" is a fairly nice Taxing-like level, although I would wonder if it's worth reducing the number of Builders from 10 to 5.  Here are my solutions anyway (using 5 Builders, 2 Bashers and saving 100% on "Ship trip to the caves").

[Crane]

I've got ten levels so far (I haven't picked out the levels from BulletRide's NXP file yet, but I want to, because "Christmas Cavern" is absolutely gorgeous) and made an NXP file.  Ideally I want to make a standalone Flexi executable of it.

Oh, namida, there's a bug with NeoLemmix.  It doesn't seem to honour custom skill icons (I put in the Christmas ones, but it still draws the regular ones)

[bulletride]

Here they are again

[Crane]

Thanks BulletRide - I actually finally figured out how to extract the levels from the NXP file by pressing F4 in the NeoLemmix menu.  I have 16 levels now, all Snow/Christmas themed.

I tried to convert my level "Deep Freeze" to the tileset, but couldn't make it work because the Crystal steel pieces are slightly larger than the Snow/Christmas ones, plus changing them ruins the aesthetic.  I also quickly worked out that while the level has a 'cold' theme, it's the unforgiving cold rather than the wintry one.  Oh well, I tried!  Now I have to make some new levels of my own, methinks!

These are the levels I have so far, in no particular order:

Chill out! - Oh No! More Lemmings
Christmas Cavern - BulletRide
Christmas Cross - Minim
Codrin, Iuliana & Stefan - Uci
Cool Steel - BulletRide
Crevasse - Clam Spammer
Ethereality - Akseli
Hit the Slopes - BulletRide
Ice Caps - BulletRide
Shaky Foundations - BulletRide
Ship trip to the caves - Minim
Someone must help us! - Matthias Witt
Spiralling Snowstorm - Clam Spammer
That Freezing Feeling - Ellischant
The race against cliches - Oh No! More Lemmings
Vignette - Proxima

[Crane]

I've gone through Minim's Holiday '95 pack and picked a few levels.  I've avoided the ones that are just long building exercises, since they don't really offer much of a challenge nowadays and are somewhat tedious.  I also chose a few that, while relatively simple, had some nice talisman potential.  I'm up to 22 levels now, with 10 talismans (5 Bronze, 3 Silver, 2 Gold).

Also, anyone got suggestions for Christmassy music?  So far, the only real Christmas tune that I've been using is the Christmas mix song (a remix of Jingle Bells, A Spaceman Came Travelling, The Twelve Days of Christmas and The First Noel) that appears in Revenge of the Lemmings.

Levels I chose from Minim:

All over the place
Another cold day
Down the middle II (renamed to "Down the Chimney!")
Lems come out to play
More Lemming Drops
Stocking Lemmings

[namida]

This track (which appeared in Holiday Lemmings Plus) should definitely be in there. Personally, it's probably the only Christmas-y song I can stand hearing more than once or twice a year.

[bulletride]

I found a playlist of festive videogame music that you can maybe snag a few from. Easy to turn them into mp3s.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB

Some interesting ones from the ones I have listened to so far..

Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare level 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSQkFYziGNU&index=13&list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB


from Mario Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xPFETHr8vc&index=4&list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB

Donkey Kong Frosty Fruits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwMzeLa8rBY&list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB&index=14

Castle Crashers - Snow World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJW9XE1I5kc&index=48&list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB

BomberMan White Ice theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmPSqmMoMAs&index=44&list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB

Sonic 3 - ice cap zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYxlqTpZ-24&index=47&list=PLM5bioiDCzLcEEWxwxtmmY7zYtnpisKUB

Do you have an estimate of when you plan to release it by?

[Crane]

I intend to release the pack by Christmas Day. It seems fitting!

Ideally I want to avoid using copyrighted music (which is why the majority of the tunes from the original game are from the public domain), although I might have already broken that rule with the music I chose for "Hit the Slopes" (it's a nice loud surprise!).

I'm kind of enjoying myself putting this together!

[bulletride]

I made two more. This tile set is really fun to make levels for I can`t stop!

[Crane]

Those are pretty neat levels - I like them.  I tried to solve them without the replays initially, and came up with this for Polar Pass.

Spoiler

I was worried it was the intended solution because the precision required with the first blocker is a bit unfair... it has to walk one pixel forward after falling from the trapdoor, otherwise the miner can't free it.  Now I know that the leftover tools were meant to be red herrings!  My concern is that others might try this solution first... can I recommend either removing a Miner or exchanging it for a Digger so it retains the red herring nature, but the backroute is less unfair if attempted?  Removing 2 Blockers might be safest, but might make the solution more obvious.  What do you think?

I fear people will try my backroute first because Proxima's Vignette also appears in this pack, and that requires undermining both Blockers and will likely appear before Polar Pass (most likely, this level will be one of the last 5, if not the last 10).

Not to complain, but when you design your levels, try to make sure you position the candles correctly above the Christmas Pudding exits.  Your levels tend to have them either too low or off-centre.  The yellow pixels below the candles are meant to be the upward-curving parts of the candle holders.

[bulletride]

Polar Pass

Spoiler

I have fixed. First tried removing blockers, but I found another backroute where you could set the RR to 99 and then block all but 2 of the lemmings on the middle platform. With 2 destructive skills you can free him but with only a miner you can save the blocker but not the miner. I could not replace the miner with a digger because then you can just dig down on the blocker with a lemming falling from the entrance. Cant replace it with a basher either cause then you can build from the landing platform instead. So I had to take it out unfortunately oh well. I changed the design slightly as well.

I didn't even notice I was so bad at putting candles on lol. Apparently I put them on wrong like 50% the time. I have repackaged all the levels together with fixed exits to make it easier.

Edit: 1 more level added lol

[Crane]

I'm now at 27 levels.  Almost there!  Only one level has been designed from scratch by myself, and I've been given joint authorship on one of BulletRide's levels.

For the final three levels, which can be as easy or hard as you like, I would like them each to have a Gold-level talisman (exceptionally difficult to get).

[Minim]

I was about to come in and say I solved all of BulletRide's levels except for 5 and 7. Maybe these two would be ideal for the gold talisman if we add more skills to them (e.g. blockers for 5 and builders for 7)? I think I backrouted 2, doing some "speed-digging" to trap the other lemmings. It appears that I've left out 1 in the file because it's still too easy.

I'll look at my Lemmix-designed levels again and see if I can come up with any ideas...

[Crane]

Well, "Ice Climbers" and "Polar Pass" are just hard levels, the former requiring careful use of Climbers and spacing, while the latter has a lot of red herrings.  One can't easily turn their solutions into talismans.

[Crane]

Here's a little taste of things to come - this will be the first level of the pack, a classic Tricky level.

There is a talisman for this level - I'll let you guess what it is!

[bulletride]

I was about to come in and say I solved all of BulletRide's levels except for 5 and 7. Maybe these two would be ideal for the gold talisman if we add more skills to them (e.g. blockers for 5 and builders for 7)? I think I backrouted 2, doing some "speed-digging" to trap the other lemmings. It appears that I've left out 1 in the file because it's still too easy.

I'll look at my Lemmix-designed levels again and see if I can come up with any ideas...

Level 2 isn't really a backroute cause its kind of an easy do whatever you want kind of level. Level 3 you did differently then I intended but I did give an 2-3 extra destructive skills than needed. maybe I should cut them down/fix some terrain Ill have to think about it. It wasn't supposed to be a hard one so I may just leave it.

Level 8 is a backroute! I didnt even remember I added climbers to the skills set. Ill either have to fix that 1 ledge or remove them all together!

For Level 7 I dont think a single skill can be added without completely ruining the level. There is an updated version Crane helped me with to fix a few issues I was having with a slightly different skill set. I attached it if you want to try it out. For level 5 I can probably add a few more climbers, but I don't think I can add a blocker.

Have other stuff I need to do today but tomorrow Ill look into fixing most of these up. Thanks for the replays they are a big help!

[mobius]

"A Long way Down" by t3tesla (originally titled "Suicidal Tendencies") from Revenge of the Lemmings was a favorite of mine, in the snow set, it could be decorated to be more Christmas. I thought this one was tricky but I don't think I could give it a gold talisman. [The hardest solution can't really be enforced with the talisman limitations].

[bulletride]

"A Long way Down" by t3tesla (originally titled "Suicidal Tendencies") from Revenge of the Lemmings was a favorite of mine, in the snow set, it could be decorated to be more Christmas. I thought this one was tricky but I don't think I could give it a gold talisman. [The hardest solution can't really be enforced with the talisman limitations].

Is this the level you were referring to? Think it was this one that had the name changed a few times.

[Crane]

Holiday Lemmings '16 has been released.  Find it here: http://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=3100.0

Topic is now closed as per forum rules.