Author Topic: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews  (Read 15010 times)

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Offline DireKrow

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DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« on: April 02, 2020, 06:05:20 AM »
DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews

For me, one of my favorite parts of playing through games is getting the opportunity to talk about it with people. To share my reactions, and to see other people's reactions. Rarely will I play a game and then keep my experience to myself. I want to share it, talk to people about what I like and don't like, hear what surprised people or what troubled them. It's a big part of why, when I play through a pack, I'm so chatty about it. I constantly talk about where I'm at in the discord, and try to leave comments in the threads when I'm done. While my thoughts might not be the most insightful - I'm only a novice solver and designer - I still consider it an important way for me to gather my thoughts on something. Plus, I really want to let the authors know that I've actively engaged with their work. I don't take their time and effort for granted. I know I'd absolutely love to talk to someone who played through my levels, and what it was like to solve them for the first time.

One of the best ways to see reactions and feedback is through video playthroughs. Unfortunately, there's a myriad of factors which really get in the way of my ability to do those (no mic at the moment, very shy, poor internet, living situation makes recording difficult, no video editing experience), so I'm going to settle for the next best thing. For some of the packs I play through for the first time, I'm going to attempt a Screenshot Let's Play. I'll play through the levels in the pack for the first time and share my first impressions, the experience, thought processes and struggles I went through in arriving at the solution. Then at the end, I'll give a mini review of the level. Every few levels will get its own post and all of the posts for each pack will be indexed here.

The full screenshot let's plays will be referred to as Playthroughs. These will be focused more on my experience playing the level and my thought process in solving the level. The other style you'll see here, Reviews, will just be a traditional paragraph or two explaining what I thought of the level after I finish it. Some packs I play will be 100% Reviews, some will be 100% Playthroughs, some might be a mix of the two. We'll see how it goes.

I want to promote discussion with this too. If you've played the levels before and want to share your own thoughts on them as I play through them, feel free! If you haven't played them before, then use this as opportunity to play through it yourself. That'd be even better. Being new to the community, I'm in the unique position where I can experience many classic packs for the first time.

Packs I've Completed:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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« Last Edit: April 15, 2020, 12:40:49 AM by DireKrow »
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My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline DireKrow

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2020, 06:05:54 AM »
MazuLems — Part 1 (Playthrough)



MazuLems is an old level pack by Martin Zurlinden, originally for DOS Lemmings. It has since been converted to NeoLemmix through the efforts of mobius and namida. A couple of features aren't supported by current versions of NL, so some of puzzles aren't quite the same as they used to be, but it seems like it is still largely as the author intended. I've been told this pack is very approachable for relatively new players, and is regarded as a classic in the realm of custom lemmings content. Hopefully it lives up to expectation! At 32 levels, it's relatively small, so it seemed like a good candidate for trying out this review format.

MazuLems 1 — A Giant Leap for Lemmingkind

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 2 — Stairway to Heaven

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 3 — The Pool

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Since this is the first time I'm doing this, please let me know if you have any feedback about the format itself. Should I have less screenshots, more screenshots? Smaller screenshots, larger screenshots? Should I spend less or more time talking about something in particular? That sort of thing.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2020, 05:13:36 AM by DireKrow »
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My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline WillLem

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2020, 09:19:08 AM »
This is a great way of providing a level review! It allows at-a-glance coverage of an entire level, whilst also providing detail in how you arrived at a solution. Incidentally, it's also similar to the way that level solutions are presented in the Prima Publishing Lemmings Companion, but you obviously go into much more detail and describe the process as you go along, which is more engaging and entertaining than simply reading a solution.

I'd say this is definitely a worthwhile alternative to the standard LP format. Whilst it perhaps doesn't capture the in-the-moment decision making, it still provides a showcase for the overall thought process whilst bringing attention to the specific key areas of a level which affect its solution.

I also love the annotations. :crylaugh: :thumbsup:

I enjoyed reading through this, and I now definitely want to have a go at MazuLems! :lemcat:

Offline Proxima

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2020, 03:00:23 PM »
Yes, this is a great format. It takes a lot less time to read these posts than to watch a video, and if you're willing to take the time, we get the same blow-by-blow account of not just the solution, but the thought process leading to it, which is excellent reading material for anyone new to the game wanting to understand how to approach a Lemmings puzzle, as well as entertaining to read for more experienced players (and would be invaluable feedback for the pack author).

I played MazuLems in Lix a few years back, though obviously some levels didn't work the same there, so I'm playing through the pack in NL now and trying to stay a little ahead of you. I also have a slight head start in that some of the levels appear in Revenge of the Lemmings, including 1 and 3, so your first post didn't spoil anything for me :P

It is indeed a classic pack from the early days of Lemmings custom level design. The only downside to recommending it to newcomers is that the levels are blatantly not in difficulty order. I think they were in a different (also non-difficulty) order in Lix... but I don't know much about the history of the pack or how the current ordering came about.

Some notes on Level 3:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Offline DireKrow

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2020, 07:07:40 PM »
Added an addendum to Level 3 showing off the intended solution. Proxima asked some things on the discord, but I actually feel that the answers are worth putting here.

Quote
Firstly, are you eventually planning to do reviews on the packs you've completed, like LPI?
No, at least not using this format. The fact it's a blind playthrough is an important aspect.
Quote
Are you rating the level as a puzzle?
A mix of how much I enjoyed it and the quality of the puzzle. 5/10 means "indifferent / mixed / forgettable", while >5 means I had a positive reaction and <5 meaning I had a negative reaction. Expect the majority of levels to get 5-8, with 9s and 10s reserved for things I'd consider LOTY candidates. That said, this is very much in flux, I'm still figuring out exactly how I want to do it myself. All of the ranks so far are subject to change.
Quote
I'm wondering if a Fun-type level that was really good at being a Fun-type level would get a high mark.
Yeah, I'm doing my best to not arbitrarily rank stuff higher or lower for being difficult. That said, I do feel there is a natural tendency for some of the harder levels to get higher marks, just because they tend to have more exciting puzzles. But for example, this is why I rated the first level 7/10 despite it being a pretty simple puzzle - because while it's not innovative, I think it suits its role quite well.

The first update was a lot of work, more than I was expecting, so I'm currently pondering ways to streamline the process a bit.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2020, 09:15:09 PM by DireKrow »
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My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline DireKrow

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2020, 12:14:08 AM »
MazuLems — Part 2 (Playthrough)

MazuLems 4 — Can You Dig It?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 5 — Two Minute Warning

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 6 — The China Syndrome

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: April 14, 2020, 05:13:58 AM by DireKrow »
LOTY 2020 Winner
My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline Proxima

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2020, 12:38:03 AM »
Level 4: I originally solved this the same way as you (which I feel fairly sure is intended), but it is possible to do it the other way. Replay attached.

Level 6:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Offline Dullstar

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2020, 03:28:26 AM »
I have to agree that
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
on level 3 would improve it. I nearly solved it but my solution didn't work by like two frames and one or two pixels above max safe fall distance, which is always the most annoying way to fail a level, because you never really know if you're totally barking up the wrong tree and your solution will never work, or if you have to spend absurd amounts of time making minor tweaks to get it to work. It's also why, as a general rule, if I find something in one of my levels that can fail based on the lemming spacing, I'll often go ahead and lock the release rate just to reduce the number of variables influencing the spacing. I don't think that was an option when this pack was made, though.

Offline DireKrow

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2020, 05:40:23 AM »
I've done some thinking about my rating system and decided to adjust it. I've changed the numbers for previous levels to suit the new system. Just so people aren't scared by the numbers of giving:

5/10 indicates that I'm indifferent towards it or have a mixed opinion. Generally this will be levels that are one of the follow:
- Sound as a puzzle but had things that bothered me
- Decent but forgettable (the kind of things people would call "pack filler" by modern standards)
- Levels that are really cool but not fun to play
- Levels that are fun to play but underwhelming as puzzles

If I give it >5, it means I enjoyed it, had a positive reaction or felt there was more to enjoy than not. If I give it <5, it means I didn't enjoy it, had a negative reaction or felt there were noticeable flaws. Expect most levels to get 4-7 out of 10, with 8s being reserved for puzzles I particularly enjoyed and 9-10s for absolute highlights and loty-standard stuff.

For things like Mazu, I am keeping in mind that these are old packs with tricks and designs that were novel at the time. However, I do want to use the same rating scale for everything if I can, which means I inevitably have to compare it to modern packs too. Bare that in mind if it seems like I'm being harsh.
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My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline DireKrow

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2020, 08:24:27 AM »
MazuLems — Part 3 (Playthrough)

MazuLems 7 — Crystal Clear Lemmings

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 8 — Achtung Lemming

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 9 — Holy Cow!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Since I was stuck on 9 for a while, I went ahead and solved 10 and 11 in the meantime. So provided 12 doesn't give me too much trouble, I should have the next update within a couple of days.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2020, 05:14:14 AM by DireKrow »
LOTY 2020 Winner
My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline Proxima

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2020, 02:50:23 PM »
I don't have much to add to your excellent reviews of these three levels. You caught on to the trick in Level 7 much sooner than I did :P For the longest time, I was looking for ways to get the entire crowd down via the large crystal, so for me the eventual solution had that satisfying feeling of solving something that had previously seemed impossible.

Level 8 has an alternative solution, which I found first:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It's not a level that's harmed in any way by multiple solutions, though: it's hard to find any solution (I'd rank it as one of the hardest in the pack) and all the solutions have satisfying linchpins.

Offline DireKrow

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2020, 03:17:21 AM »
MazuLems — Part 4 (Playthrough)

MazuLems 10 — Episode X - The Phantom Exit

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 11 — The Lemmyrinth

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

MazuLems 12 — The Brick

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: April 14, 2020, 05:14:27 AM by DireKrow »
LOTY 2020 Winner
My NeoLemmix Levels: The Krow Files (File A v1.2 released 21-Feb-2020)

Offline Proxima

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2020, 03:55:22 AM »
mobius remade "The Lemmyrinth" for Lix as "Path to Mahiman". Originally it just added jumpers, while lowering the number of builders; this made it a lot less annoying because you could jump up to ledges like the one in your screenshot just below the green wiggly line one. Still, not the most interesting level from a puzzle point of view, and at one point we were considering dropping it from the community pack. Eventually, geoo managed to salvage the level by adding one basher, while reducing the jumpers and builders further. Now, it's a puzzle to find the correct place to bash so that the maze is solvable with the limited skillset; a really nice level, in my opinion, even if different from the original author's intention.

"The Brick" has a backroute that's a lot less tight on time, making it easier to execute:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Offline WillLem

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2020, 01:51:01 PM »
Episode X - The Phantom Exit could probably have been improved by having multiple hidden exits (I'd have suggested a minimum of 4 on a level of that size, and evenly spread throughout the map), so the chances of finding one are greater. It then has replay value because you can go back and try to find the other exits.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2021, 06:01:08 AM by WillLem »

Offline ccexplore

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Re: DireKrow's Playthroughs & Reviews
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2020, 06:28:36 PM »
In its current form in Mazulems, that hidden exit level is probably a prime example of the kind of level that would cement a strong dislike of hidden stuff for some people here, in case people are still wondering how that might've come about.  You may say it's a "bad" example, but the fact is, a mediocre level that refrained from hidden stuff may be a little boring, but at least doesn't induce the kind of rage and negative emotion that a mediocre hidden-stuff level could.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2020, 12:41:06 AM by ccexplore »