NotaLems Level pack

[JawaJuice]

Easy 12 "Lemmings death" - Lemmings should have an apostrophe. As for the level, yea, I think this is a bit better for demonstrating that traps can only kill one Lemming at a time. The only thing I'm not seeing is how it's possible to save everyone here Unless the level changed since the time JawaJuice resolved it for which it's possible to.

Check my replay I was pretty sure I had the latest versions of all levels before attempting them, but I'd like to know if that wasn't the case.

[kaywhyn]

Check my replay I was pretty sure I had the latest versions of all levels before attempting them, but I'd like to know if that wasn't the case.

Thanks, but didn't have to. Checked the level in the editor and ah, didn't realize the first trap is completely misplaced so that it doesn't kill the Lemmings! Now I see that it is indeed possible to save everyone thanks to the misplaced trap! I've now edited my feedback to reflect this newfound knowledge  

[JawaJuice]

Check my replay I was pretty sure I had the latest versions of all levels before attempting them, but I'd like to know if that wasn't the case.

Thanks, but didn't have to. Checked the level in the editor and ah, didn't realize the first trap is completely misplaced so that it doesn't kill the Lemmings! Now I see that it is indeed possible to save everyone thanks to the misplaced trap! I've now edited my feedback to reflect this newfound knowledge  

Sorry, I should have mentioned the trap was misplaced - I assumed this was done on purpose for some weird reason (not sure why I'd assume that haha). FYI, I usually scan a new level with CPM as a matter of course to scan for hidden nasties such as hidden terrain or traps (which I don't like, so use CPM as a tool in my arsenal to defy them); I noticed the misplaced trap then, so exploited it in my solution. Not sure why I didn't mention that!

[kaywhyn]

Sorry, I should have mentioned the trap was misplaced - I assumed this was done on purpose for some weird reason (not sure why I'd assume that haha). FYI, I usually scan a new level with CPM as a matter of course to scan for hidden nasties such as hidden terrain or traps (which I don't like, so use CPM as a tool in my arsenal to defy them); I noticed the misplaced trap then, so exploited it in my solution. Not sure why I didn't mention that!

Yea, makes sense It's a perfectly valid way of playing, even if some, such as myself, normally don't use and activate CPM during gameplay and only checks after the fact I simply prefer to send a Lemming there to see myself what it is, when in fact I could avoid all doubt and save a lot of time by activating CPM beforehand. Needless to say, I know the features are there, I just prefer to not use some of them Or rarely.

[Nota_Steve]

Hi everyone.

I did say that I was going to solely focus on the second pack I am making, but I had a bit of a mood change, because I felt like this pack was left a tad unfinished and I don't feel right doing that, so I'm hoping this update will help round it off into a complete pack. Please find NotaLems V2.1 attached in the original post.

Patch Notes

The easy rank is in a much better spot now, I feel the Levels are in a good order with the tutorials, a couple of simple solution levels in the middle and a little bit of a challenge towards and at the end. Just a few minor tweaks to help it become complete based around the feedback I have been given.

General Patch
Updated all levels with a new random ID to prevent any replays being bugged.

Easy Rank

Easy 1 to 12 - Updated pre-text to be correct.
Easy 10 - Changed position of the trap doors, updated Lemming save requirement, added Bronze talisman (designed for newer players)
Easy 12 - Fixed trap not being in the correct spot.
Easy 13 - Halved the Lemming Count.
Easy 25 - Upped the release rate to 92.

The Medium rank in still intended to be a challenge for newer players, it is intended that some of the levels are a little bit of trial and error as part of the satisfaction of solving.  For myself when I played the game for the first time on the old Amiga 500 was discovering what I could do. I reiterate that solving Postcard from Lemmingland is still up there with my greatest gaming achievements when I was a child,  with that in mind I have decided to keep levels like Medium 8 as they are for players to possibly feel that.
I feel it's important to try keep this pack interesting all the way through so I have removed "What lurks beyond" and "They're everywhere" as I agree that single spam levels are not the most entertaining, therefore I have moved 2 of the easier "Tough" levels to this rank.

Medium Rank

Medium 10-15 - Levels in different order due to removal of "They're everywhere"
Medium 15 - Now "Crystal Clear?"
Medium 17 - Now "Rope Swing"
Medium 28 - Level redesigned for a tougher challenge, Talisman Updated ("Pole Dance" was a quick addition from my second pack, I have updated it in order to fit in with it's place in the medium rank)

With the move of 2 tough levels to the Medium Rank, I have added 2 new Tough Levels in order to fill the void. I hope they offer a challenge for you, I would love to hear your feedback on them!

Tough Rank

Tough 2 to 10 - Now one level up in order due to the removal of "Rope Swing" and "Crystal Clear?"
Tough 9 - Added Steel to prevent backroute (a big oversight on my part, I hope this offers a better challenge)
Tough 11 - New level "Mogok Stone Tract"
Tough 14 - New level "Construction Yard"

[kaywhyn]

Hello @Nota_Steve,

I have resolved all the new levels and including the ones where my replays didn't work anymore. Once more, my entire replay collection is attached.

So it appears that I need to clear something up here regarding the level IDs, and that is it's not necessary to change the ID for every level in your level pack. Instead, you simply needed to make sure that any levels that are repeated have different IDs from the original. For example, Easy 4 has a repeat later on, Medium 12. Here, you don't need to randomly generate an ID for both levels. Instead, it's enough to keep one of the IDs the same while simply generate a new random ID for the other one, i.e, either Easy 4 alone or for Medium 12 alone, but not both.

Because the IDs changed for practically every level while my replays for the most part still work, this means I needed to copy the ID of the level and replace the ID for the corresponding replay file, a task which quickly becomes annoying because most of the replays now cannot find a match because the IDs don't match when I run a mass replay check. The replays are fine, the mass replay check simply outputs a lot of "level not found" due to the mismatched IDs and hence I need to manually edit the replay files and replace the IDs with the new ones.

Anyway, some remarks regarding V2.1. For the Easy rank, the pre-texts are so much better for the most part now! The only ones that can still be a bit improved are Easy 8 and Easy 9, but other than these two the pre-texts for the rank are a big improvement from the previous version   Admittedly, I'm quite honored that you went with my suggested wording for most of them even though I'm certainly no English expert and instead am a math/science person At the same time, even though Lemmings isn't an English game, I still feel it's important to make sure the pre-texts are done and written correctly in expressing the ideas and thoughts properly. Especially important for those who are new to the game.

Easy 20 complains of missing pieces, but actually it's due to the background not having the right name from the nin10_ta_dragon style. The background is actually called TADragon_bgHoriz but for some reason in the level text file the background is called ta_dragon_bg_horiz. Indeed, if you look in the nin10_ta_dragon style in the styles folder and then navigate to backgrounds, you'll see a .png called TADragon_bgHoriz, where there's no underscore between ta and dragon, as well as no underscore between bg and horiz. So, the fix for this is to simply open up the level file and paste in the right name for the background, which again should be TADragon_bgHoriz.

Easy 22 is still called Methodology in the level select menu in the game. Seems that you forgot to change the level name in the editor. Here, the fix is to either load the level in the editor and type in the correct level title of Bashing time... Oh..., or simply open up the level file in a text editor (eg, Notepad) and change the name after the TITLE field at the top.

Easy 25 - It's still possible to complete without pausing

Medium 28 - A bit more of a challenge now but still not too bad and has the potential to trip players up if they aren't observant. Indeed, I at first fell for a trap but quickly realized that it's not necessary to have everyone be able to ascend up the level. That's what I get for trying to go for save all's or max saves at any given opportunity!

Tough 9 - Should be intended now and if so excellent level! The only criticism I have is the pixel precision in one part of the solution but other than that it looks to be a solid level now!

Tough 11 seems to be a bit of a backroute, while Tough 14 seems intended/acceptable. Great levels nevertheless!

I don't understand why when I run a mass replay check that it cannot find Medium 18, but I can confirm that my replay still works for the level.

Great job with V2.1!              

[JawaJuice]

Hi Steve,

V2.1 replays attached - just the ones that changed since the last version, namely Easy 10, 12, 13 and 25, Medium 28 and Tough 9, 11 and 14.

I won't give too much feedback this time around as kaywhyn has already covered pretty much anything I'd want to say, including the style issue relating to Easy 20, so just my thoughts on the Tough levels:

Tough 9 'Calacatta Monument' - Wow this is really tough now! One of the hardest levels of the rank imo. Even when you have seen the solution - which took me a long time! - the execution is incredibly precise; maybe a bit too precise? Either way, it's a cleverly designed level and a proper challenge.

Tough 11 'Mogok Sone Tract' - Not too bad, though not sure whether I solved it in the intended way. I imagine there could be a few different solutions here.

Tough 14 'Construction Yard' - Again, not too bad, since the skill set gives you a big hint about what needs to be done. Like 9, the timing and execution is quite precise, though not as precise. Needed a bit of RR fiddling right at the end, but I probably wouldn't have if I'd timed the worker lemmings better.

Looking forward to the second pack you mentioned you working on - good luck with that And congratulations on producing a really nice pack in NotaLems.