Lock and Key [Difficulty: Hard]

[92Dexter11]

Hey everyone!

I've created a level pack for NeoLemmix. It's called Lock and Key.




It has a single rank with 22 levels. It is quite difficult in my opinion, on par with LemRunner, if not harder. I would not recommend it for beginners.
Each level varies in difficulty, but all are quite tricky.

The pack is gimmick-y, in the sense that every level starts with only a single lemming, and has a save requirement of one. I do feel as though each level is quite varied and distinct from one another, however.

This level pack is more narrative driven. It tells a story using the preview and postview texts. As such, I recommend playing each level in order if you want to experience the story.

The story is somewhat serious, and is loosely based off of my own struggles with mental health.
It's not a huge downer, as I tried to keep it as light as possible, but it probably won't be suitable for everyone since it does have themes of isolation and abandonment.
As such, if you don't feel like engaging with the story, that's totally fine.

The story text doesn't really impact or spoil the pack's gameplay all that much, so feel free to skip the texts if you aren't interested in the story, or if it's not doing anything for you.

The pack requires the graphics for 'Lemmings Faithful', as well as 'Let's Go More Faithful', so make sure you have the latest versions downloaded if you haven't done so already:
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=6713.0
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=7026.0


Here are some screenshots:

Spoiler

The pack uses custom UI/menu graphics, hence the large file size.

It also utilises music from various games, or licensed under creative commons: (Reveal spoiler for full credits)

Spoiler

The following songs are credited to Chris Zabriskie:
'CGI Snake' and 'Oxygen Garden' from the album 'Divider'

'Thanks for Trying to Rescue Me But You've Made Things Worse' from the album 'Angie's Sunday Service'
'An Extraordinary Camera Was Custom Built and Used Only Once' from the album 'Abandon Babylon'

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
If you enjoy his work, please consider supporting him by purchasing his albums:
https://chriszabriskie.com/index.html
https://chriszabriskie.bandcamp.com/

The following songs are credited to Kevin Macleod:
"Thunderbird"
"Equatorial Complex"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
https://incompetech.com/

Additional credits:
'Rain and Surf' and 'Oriental' by Bjørn Lynne, from the games 'Worms Armageddon' and 'Worms World Party', respectively.
'Cobash' and 'Hengist' by Robert L. Euvino from the game 'Space Colony'.
'Hell3' by Tim Folin and Bjørn Lynne, from the PSP version of 'Lemmings'.

(A copy of these credits, 'credits.txt' is also available in the pack itself, both in the 'level' folder and the 'music' folder)

I'd also like to give special thanks to my brother, tan x dx, for assisting me with the story.

This pack took me a long time to make, and was very rewarding to do so.

I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to all the inevitable backroutes that the NL community will undoubtedly find!

Let me know what you think, or if there are any problems.

Thank you all, and I hope you enjoy!


Link to the level pack:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ay4p1h1nmvbqyoxd4ra8y/LockAndKey_V2_2.zip?rlkey=f0nuui9svkznzuaatpzsy5uu0&st=q0nexylw&dl=1

Link to the replay solutions:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zf6wfclerw9ke16i5o5bm/LockAndKey_ReplayV2_1.zip?rlkey=op5jaric2kf77qnwbvpc1zs0x&st=vla6axli&dl=1

UPDATE - V1.1

- Added success.ogg and failure.ogg for level completion with jingles enabled

UPDATE - V2.1

Modified the following levels:
"Prologue" - Added steel to fix a backroute
"Autopilot" - Added two traps and some steel, repositioned wires to fix a backroute
"Undertow" - Repositioned terrain and removed an underwater staircase that led to a backroute
"Diving Chamber" - Reworked level slightly, recorded a new replay
"Epilogue" - Added steel to match the changes made to "prologue"

UPDATE - V2.2

Modified the following levels:
"Autopilot" - Repositioned the left trap to be higher, and added more wires to (hopefully) fix a backroute
"Diving Chamber" - Filled in some gaps on the right side of the level to prevent a lemming from being turned around
"Epilogue" - Added a slight crack in a brick to fix a backroute

[IchoTolot]

I will try and give the pack a go soon as things get less busy for me now. 

The basic idea of a pack with only 1 lemming in each level sure sounds interesting!

[Guigui]

I did try the first 2 levels, could not solve them 
I love the setting and the mood though, lots of attention went into details for everything. Will try to give the pack more time when possible.

[IchoTolot]

I played through the pack and I am really impressed about the variety and quality of 1-lemming puzzles in here (even if there are some neutral/zombies/cloners here and there)! 

A couple of solutions seem slightly backrouty, but that's up to you to decide. 

Difficulty wise I would say it is slightly easier than Lem Runner, but not by much. Still a hard pack for sure!

I attached my solutions. 

[92Dexter11]

I did try the first 2 levels, could not solve them 
I love the setting and the mood though, lots of attention went into details for everything. Will try to give the pack more time when possible.

Thank you and good luck!

I played through the pack and I am really impressed about the variety and quality of 1-lemming puzzles in here (even if there are some neutral/zombies/cloners here and there)! 

A couple of solutions seem slightly backrouty, but that's up to you to decide. 

Difficulty wise I would say it is slightly easier than Lem Runner, but not by much. Still a hard pack for sure!

I attached my solutions. 

I'm impressed that you managed to solve them so quickly, well done!
Most of your solutions are intended, but there are a few backroutes:

Spoiler

00 Prologue - Backrouted... I may need to rework this one
01 Maverick - Differs from main solution, but uses all skills, so I consider it valid
02 This Erosion - This one doesn't really have a set solution
03 Building, Fencing - Intended solution
04 Autopilot - Backrouted, but the backroute is very impressive! Fortunately this one seems relatively easy to fix.
05 Bugs in the system - Intended solution
06 The Split - Intended solution
07 Hanging Gardens - Intended solution
08 Top of the Ladder - Intended solution
09 Pillarist - Intended solution
10 Blockhead - Has no set solution, any route is valid
11 Undertow - Backrouted! Fortunately, this one also seems like an easy fix.
12 Drowned Rat - Has no set solution, any route is valid
13 Bell Toll - Has no set solution, any route is valid
14 Diving Chamber - Major backroute - the level will need a complete rework
15 Disjoint Disunion - Differs from main solution, but uses all skills, so I consider it valid
16 Babel - Very impressive solution! Differs slightly from intended solution, but not enough for me to consider it a backroute.
17 No Turning Back - Intended solution
18 Silver Mines - Intended solution
19 Daybreak - Intended solution
20 New Leaves - Intended solution
21 Epilogue - Intended solution

I'll get to work on a fix for a few of the levels

[92Dexter11]

Just posting here to let everyone know about the update to a few levels. These changes may break existing replays, especially for the level 'Diving Chamber'. See above for more details. Special thanks to IchoTolot for finding these backroutes!

[IchoTolot]

I got the resolves here! 

Looks a lot better this time! 

[92Dexter11]

That was quick!

Spoiler

All of the new replays are the intended solution!

[Armani]

Here're my solutions. I guess I backrouted two or three levels.
This pack really shows how much puzzle potential the new objects can provide.

[92Dexter11]

Here're my solutions. I guess I backrouted two or three levels.
This pack really shows how much puzzle potential the new objects can provide.

Thank you and nicely done! All of your solutions are intended, but with a few exceptions:

Spoiler

Autopilot - This is a similar backroute to what IchoTolot discovered. I thought for sure I fixed that! 
Diving Chamber - Very creative solution! I hadn't considered using the gaps in the right side of the level to turn the Lemming around. This has been changed in the latest patch.
Epilogue - WOW! This solution is extremely creative! Unfortunately, I do consider it to be a backroute.

Thank you for discovering these routes!

I have updated the pack again with changes to those levels. The intended replays, as well as the replays by IchoTolot are unaffected.