First Custom Levels: VexLems!

[Vexar]

I'm happy to finally share some of my first levels with you! 

This is VexLems (I know, I'm not long on naming), a recap of some very old levels that I made when I discovered WinLems Editor back in 2010, with a couple fresh ideas now that I'm rebuilding everything in NeoLemix. I'm not sure to mark this as a finished pack, but I patched every backroute I could find and even reworked some levels with the Tilesets that were unavailable in WinLems. Still, my brain knowing how and where to proceed, may be impairing  my ability to judge to say the least, so I'd love to see how the OG's approach my ideas.

I consider myself a more casual player, so I think the levels go from Taxing/Crazy to Havoc/Mayhem, and I separate them in 2 categories: Remake and Original, each one sorted from hard to harder, but feel free to rate them and suggest changes or ideas

I left a Read me too with some extra info to keep this post as short as possible, I hope you like it!


Edit: Thanks Flopsy for the heads up, I updated the file!


   

[Flopsy]

Remake 2: Sulfure-Friendly-Lemmings
Remake 4: Egg and Lammini
Remake 6: The Rusty Ruins

These levels seem to be missing a background image which is preventing the level being played.

Otherwise, a great looking pack so far

[Vexar]

These levels seem to be missing a background image which is preventing the level being played.

Unbelievable, I double checked this post like 10000 times and still this happens 
Thank you very much!

[Flopsy]

Oh that's ok, I'm sure it happens to all of us when we release level packs on the forums, there is always something which gets overlooked.

Even I'm guilty of making mistakes! 

[Guigui]

Im currently playing the pack, started with the Original rank.

Nice level design with some deceptions here and there. Also kind of tough levels, I could only solve 4 of them in approx 3 hours.
Currently stuck in Original 5 Cross the Wall, believe it or not I am not sure how to cross the wall !

[Flopsy]

Although this pack is still in development, I've added it to the wheel for my NeoLemmix 30 Series on my Youtube channel.

If the pack happens to get played, I'll post in this topic with a link

[Vexar]

It'd be amazing if the pack makes it, I'll make haste to improve and even add levels before the video is uploaded Flopsy, or I'll splat trying

Nice level design with some deceptions here and there.

Also Guigui, I'd love to hear suggestions, after all this is a very "old" pack (started in 2010) and I want better levels, so everything is welcome! Feedback will help me a ton

Some replays would be nice too, backroutes kept me from sharing this pack, but I'm really interested in the gameplay even if you didn't solve it, maybe the level is misleading somewhere and is actually poor design from my end

Thanks for the comments 

[Guigui]

Sure, I could get across the wall and am currently trying to solve Original 8.
I'll definitely write a little heads up of my replays when I'm done with Original, and maybe Remake too if it is not too long nor hard.

[Guigui]

I have cleared this first batch of levels you gave to us Vexar.

Those were very pleasant levels to me, clever and classical puzzles as everyone love them. Some were quite straightforward solves, while others required more thoughts from me. None seem unfair to the player, the main matter is to use skills to their full extent.

Now you said you feared backroutes, so please be aware that you may find many of them in my solves. I often end with left over skills (btw, I love the oldstyle way you give bombers everywhere when you're not allowed to loose lems) or save more than required. This does not mean that the level is bad to me, just that our brain are not wired the same and that I may know some NeoLemmix weird techniques that were impossible or not easy to perform under WinLems (which I never played).

Here's a quick breakdown of my solutions :

Spoiler

Remake 1 : nice starter, beware where/how to set the turn for the climber.
Two exits but I used only one, which seem to be a recurring fact in those levels. Maybe are there some repeat levels not available here that make use of both exits ?


Remake 2 : straightforward solve. Good use of diggers and stairs so as not to splat.

Remake 3 : I love this one ! Nice bubble environment and a beautiful walk for those lems all around this level. It took me some time to figure out where to put that final builder rescuing the whole crowd.


Remake 4 : The solution appears fast enough considering all those builders you have. There seem to be extra destructive skills and save requirement is quite lenient, so I started to try to optimize to save many more lems ... until the evil timer came into action ! It turns out that the whole point is to try to save time, is this what the extra destructive are for ?
In the end a good level with a 2 step solves : see the solution, optimize time it takes to execute.


Remake 5 : First real deception of the pack to me : the climber is not where it seems. I also love how you give only miners here whereas bashers would make the level way easier, miners force you to leave the comfort zone and use the whole layout 
Very nice level and I think I have intended solution seeing how I have no leftover skill and save the exact requirement.



Remake 6 : Pretty hard to gain all this height with so few builders and a single miner. I resorted to a zigzag blocked miner.
Though I think I have a backroutish solve here because I save an extra lemming (certainly a blocker) by containing the crowd with a builder on the left side at the beginning.

Original 1 : First level I played in the batch, and it stuck me for way too long !
In the end it is somehow a compression level and both exits are used, very good one

Original 2 : This one was straightforward, builderfest as some may call it. I dont mind it from time to time.

Original 3 : This level left a weird feeling to me. In the end I save the exact number of required lemmings and use all skill, but I cannot help but think this is not what you expected. Is that part with miner + digger to reach the diagonal shaft correctly done ?

Original 4 : Boths exits used and the two crowds helping each other make this level a very nice one !
It took me way too much time to figure out that you have the contain the bottom crowd with a builder, to save a blocker for the ending part...

Original 5 : Just Cross The Wall had me stumped for 2 days as mentionned earlier. This is why I resorted to obscure techniques of height gaining through walls.
I think you'll call that a bad backroute seeing that I have a digger and the climber left, and do not use the whole level, at all.
Well, blame it on the level's title : I just crossed the wall !

Original 6 : three independant levels in one, be warned that some players may not like those kinds of levels here. Of course I solved each level independantly at first, using as few and disjoint skills as possible for each, then solved them all simultaneously as the title implies.
I have many leftover skills, and think this level has a very high number of different solutions !

Original 7 : Definitely my favorite level here 
This has to do with how I was not able to solve the Crazy rank Dolly Dimple level in Oh No More Lemmings as a kid. And this level is just Dolly Dimple on steroids, I love it !
It is also quite deceiptive in the place where you have to store the crowd, and how to handle the ending part with those miners.

Original 8 : good looking brick level. Seeing the layout, one quickly removes the rightmost exit from the equation, though you are left with tons of possibilities with just the left one still.
I used a lem from the upper hatch to create a path for the bottom one, he was ahead of the other just enough to build over the gap, nice. The solution also uses an air-builder lem for some frames !
Though the whole solution sound hackish because of leftover skills and the dense builders concentration I made to ensure no lem gets trapped in the left pit.

Original 9 : Compression Method, at least the title is clear.
Save requirement is 8, but you teased me with silver and gold talismans requiring to save respectively 9 and 10 w/o blocking, and with a title that sounded like a challenge to my compression skills ?!

So I went havoc and used "assign climbers one after the other to slow lemmings down, and use an awful lot of fast forward" to compress a bunch of lemmings almost pixel perfect ; the time is takes to achieve this is over 30 minutes on the ingame timer. In the end I save 14, platinum talisman ? 

[Vexar]

Amazing work, simply unbelievable, I didn't even think it was possible to solve the way you did it (some of them). How would you proceed at this point?? I can update the levels removing some backroutes if you want to try again, or I could send you the intended replays to get some feedback, and since this is a work in progress, I actually want to have one-solution levels for the most part

For the record, here's my answer to your solutions:

Results

Remakes:
1. Yes but actually no, there's a single point that I need to address but that's pretty much how it goes
2. I can't believe I missed that backroute, is not a big deal but still
3. Right on! Nothing to say here, you got it
4. I thought that long bride was not possible, bad design from me, but no, that's not how I meant it
5. Yes and no, you got the up way right but is a partial backroute
6. Same, yes and no but I think the original level was good enough that didn't need a remake. Still I think I can patch the partial backroute

Originals:
1. The solution I intended was more simple I think haha, I just use one exit but is nice to see the second one. I found it but I only used either left or right at a time
2. Builderfest indeed, this was my actually first ever and I just make it long 
3. Yes, that's how it's done haha, very old one too so not the best design, but spot on the solution
4. I didn't want to open the left exit, but I really thought no one would even use it haha, I'm not sure, should I remove it?? That's not exactly the solution
5. Amazing solution, but the basher/builder was not possible in WinLems so no haha, also I leave the blockers to poke the player since you need to save everyone, but the solution should be blockerless (nice word for a level name)
6. I know, but old level too. This will remain the same since is almost impossible to force the solution I intended, and just gonna frustrate the player
7. Well, there's a lot I didn't think of haha, definitely gonna change some parts
8. I swear it wasn't possible to pull off what you just did haha, I need to adjust some things here
9. Sweet lemjesus hahaha, no level should ever take +30 min to solve, definitely not how it goes haha, this one takes me a little above 2 minutes

Thanks for playing!

[Armani]

I was wondering if I should wait until you update the pack... but I had already played through the first rank a couple of days ago so I decided to just go ahead and finish the rest of it.
Here are some comments on individual levels:

Spoiler

Remake rank: I assume these levels are your re-imaginations of other people's levels? I didn't recognize any of them so they all felt fresh to me anyway.

1 Lemmng Return Arround: Simple yet clever solution. I also loved that you put a lot of fake exits in many of the levels. They are mostly unreachable but sometimes they make you want to challenge yourself to see if you can reach them.
2 Surfure-Friendly Lemmings: This feels like a backroute.
3 Topsy-Turvy: The layout looks intimidating at first but since the given skillset is very small, you really have to figure out the placement of a few key skills. Not too bad in the end.
4 Egg and Lemini: Quite a time cruncher. Took me a few resets.
5 Crystal Cave: Pretty level with a classic-style solution. I liked it.
6 The Rusty Ruins: Most likely a backroute.


Original rank: Overall, I liked these levels more than the Remake levels. They were more challenging too

1 Find Another Way: The title implies I have to go to the far-left exit so I went for it. But I'm pretty sure you can brute-force your way to the closer exit by stretching builders.
2 Freezing Lemmings: Another pretty level with a classic-style solution.
3 A Long Way to Go: There's a unique level design style of yours here; making hollow corridors inside big terrain with eraser pieces. The solution was pretty straightforward.
4 Hell Maze: I guess this is the only level where I used both exits?(Outside of the one disjoint-union level) I also enjoy putting red-herring exits in my own levels, but also there's something satisfying when every object is relevant to the solution.
5 Just Cross The Wall: Likely a backroute.
6 Synchrolemminized: A disjoint-union level with plenty of skills. Since the skillset was generous it wasn't too hard to allocate the skills.
7 Mine Evacuation: Decent level. I think I could have saved a lot more builders had I used leftover miners to make an even longer zig-zag tunnel but this worked too.
8 If You Fall: Likely a backroute.
9 Compression Method 3: I'm pretty sure 16 is the maximum you can save in this level, so I went for it.

[Guigui]

Ahah, now Armani's replays will certainly prove to also be very interesting to watch !

Armani too challenged me on Original 9, save 16 is possible ? I'll definitely get back to it, now that you mention it maybe I can adapt my solution to reach 16.