can mantha make a pack???

[mantha16]

And now for something completely different....

and not even remotely similar to my solution.  Now I understand why people have testers lol

[mantha16]

ok so theres a steep learning curve so I have decided I will work on my levels first then worry about additional graphics titles etc at a later date

The working title is Sammings (I'm sure its not hard to figure out why) I've got 8 levels so far

Feedback welcomed (please be kind this is the first time I've ever attempted anything like this and I'm learning as I am doing so there will be lots of mistakes I'm sure)

[Proxima]

Interesting set of miniatures. I like the "variations on a theme" idea, and they were all fun to solve. Several of them had skills left over or I was able to save more than required, but that's not a bad thing. The only one I haven't solved yet is Level 3 (the swimmer level).

[mantha16]

Interesting set of miniatures. I like the "variations on a theme" idea, and they were all fun to solve. Several of them had skills left over or I was able to save more than required, but that's not a bad thing. The only one I haven't solved yet is Level 3 (the swimmer level).

I think I'm going to go with this sort of format for my whole pack I havent quite worked out how to increase the size of the playing area yet and I think for a newb like me keeping to a one screen level helps and just by making minor tweeks to the terrain you can completely change how to solve the level.  I think it can still be a fun pack and each 'rank' can be a different tileset.

What do you think?

[mantha16]

heres a few more levels from my next 'rank'

feedback welcomed

[WillLem]

Solved the "mantha" levels - these are great: good fun, not too difficult, but not gimmes either. Plenty of thinking space for different solutions as well, which is always a bonus.

I'm not sure if these solutions are intended, but I managed to solve all of them in under 1 minute which was very satisfying!

My stats for these levels:

mantha 1- 0:51.94 / All 41 Saved
mantha 2 - 0:51.06 / 39 Saved
mantha 3 - 0:57.76 / 30 Saved

One thing I would advise is spending just a little bit of time decorating your levels. EDIT: Don't worry too much about this btw, some of the best levels are the ones with the simplest layouts!

You clearly have decent puzzle-making skills, so once you have the main structure of the level down, it's worth dipping back into the tiles to add a bit of eye candy (back in the DMA days, Dave Jones always used to tell Gary Timmonds to decorate his levels as well, so you're not alone!)

Also solved the Sammings mini-pack as well. These were great little levels, some neat puzzles in here and, like Proxima, I enjoyed that they were all linked by a similar theme. You could definitely develop this idea, expand on it, and make a full pack of levels like these.

Here are my stats for the Sammings levels (again, all solvable in under 1 minute, and some were solvable in under 30 seconds as well - great fun getting these!):

Sammings 1 - 0:29.06 (36/40 Saved)
Sammings 2 - 0:27.41 (37/40 Saved)
Sammings 3 - 0:39.59 (37/40 Saved)

Sammings 4 (click to show/hide)

Sammings 4 (without buttons!) - 0:24.71 (All Saved)
Sammings 4 (with buttons!) - 0:27.00 (All Saved)
Sammings 5 - 0:26.35 (All Saved)
Sammings 6 - 0:26.94 (All Saved)
Sammings 7 - 0:49.59 (All Saved)
Sammings 8 - 0:53.00 (All Saved)

You only need to go for the buttons if there's a locked exit! I'm sure you already knew that; it's an easy thing to overlook when you're putting a level together.

I havent quite worked out how to increase the size of the playing area yet

In the editor, under the "Globals" tab, next to "Size" change the values for W (Width) and H (Height). The "Start" values determine the start position of the screen (press F5 to see where it's currently set):

just by making minor tweeks to the terrain you can completely change how to solve the level.  I think it can still be a fun pack and each 'rank' can be a different tileset.

What do you think?

Definitely, it's a great idea. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of your levels - I'd say the answer to the OP's title question is a resounding YES!

[mantha16]

One thing I would advise is spending just a little bit of time decorating your levels.

I don't want to add terrain as I feel that takes away the idea of my pack but can i add backgrounds stuff like that?  That will be another learning area for me yike.  I think I'm aiming for around 40 levels total for the pack because I don't want to overwhelm myself

shall have a look at your replays now

[mantha16]

Proxima and WillLem ok so for some reason I'm having trouble watching your zipped replays obvs I've unzipped them but when i load them in the relevant level nothing happens all the lemmings die.

[Proxima]

I think I'm going to go with this sort of format for my whole pack I havent quite worked out how to increase the size of the playing area yet

EDIT: WillLem answered this while I was typing

For a pack like this where you are only using a very small area for your puzzles, one option is to add decorative terrain around them, but another, equally respectable option is to decrease the level size to the portion you are using so there isn't a lot of empty space around the puzzle area.

I don't want to add terrain as I feel that takes away the idea of my pack but can i add backgrounds stuff like that?

Yes, the background selection menu is at the bottom of the "Globals" tab. Bear in mind, though, that every background comes from a specific style, so if you set a background, the user will have to have that style to be able to play your level.

Proxima and WillLem ok so for some reason I'm having trouble watching your zipped replays obvs I've unzipped them but when i load them in the relevant level nothing happens all the lemmings die.

There's a number of possible causes. For one, you may have loaded a replay for the wrong level; this would be easy to do when they don't have titles. Also, you may have accidentally cancelled replay mode by left-clicking after loading the replay. (You can tell when you are in replay mode by the red "R" in the upper-left of the skill panel.) If that happens, you have to load the replay again.

[WillLem]

Proxima and WillLem ok so for some reason I'm having trouble watching your zipped replays obvs I've unzipped them but when i load them in the relevant level nothing happens all the lemmings die.

I've sorted it now - all the levels were in the wrong order. This sometimes happens when they don't have titles - even if you apply a title as simple as "Level 1", it's preferable to leaving it blank mainly for this reason.

I've uploaded the replays again in the correct order and rearranged the above stats accordingly!

mantha16 - Are you on Discord btw?

[mantha16]

mantha16 - Are you on Discord btw?

since I don't know what that is I will have to say no lol

[Proxima]

Solutions to the "part 2" levels. Another nice batch. Levels 2 and 3 felt a bit repetitive -- stacker staircasing is not the most enjoyable activity in the game, and personally I would be okay with one level like this but not two in a row. However, Level 4 was a really nice puzzle where I really had to work out how to make the most of the given skills. This is definitely your best level so far

[namida]

mantha16 - Are you on Discord btw?

since I don't know what that is I will have to say no lol

Discord is basically an app used for chat. There are various "servers", which could be thought of as a collection of related rooms. For example, you can click here to join the Lemmings Forums Discord server: https://discord.gg/2MyfSfN

You'll figure it out quickly enough, and we don't bite.

[mantha16]

ok so I've been playing some more taking on board feedback I'm not sure If I'm doing things right so if people can check it out and let me know

[Proxima]

The levels.nxmi in your main folder is set up correctly, but each rank folder should also have a levels.nxmi inside it listing the levels in order.