EXTREME DIFFICULT LEVELS! Which Is good or Bad Extreme difficult level?

[MASTER-88]

I am really interested try completed and also make EXTREME Levels myself, but only few times i am create real Extreme levels myself i think my best Extreme levels are Levels Oh yeah More Lemmings Step 5 Levels 9, 15, 16, 18 & 19. Contains 4 main elements
1: Genius plan
2: Sharp timings
3: Very hard figured out
4: Backroute free (Have to say i miss levels 9, 15 & 18 because those backroute cannot perfect patched, but those not was bad one.. I got really succesfully 16 & 19. 19 Decimation is my Lemmings gem. Plan this level take me several years and i failed it over and over.

When played Crane pack. I´ll say Chaos levels 13 Cliffside Hostel Chaos level 26 Are you Kidding me & Chaos level 28 Denial are real EXTREME Levels. All those levels required sharp timings, super genius plan and yeah those are pretty backroute free. Though i did solved Denial & Cliffside Hostel my own ways. But heck those levels take me long. Just weeks, months and hours. Im not still never figured out that Are you Kidding me myself. Only level i´ll just give up when attempt it 7 months.

I am liked play Nota_Steve pack. Any those levels not are close even Extreme difficult, but some those are super cunning ones and its sometimes ashamed me when im not figured out that simple thing and overlook everythings else. Nota_Steve pack is awesome, but its not EXTREME. Its maybe ranked Hard. Still few hardest levels are take me 6 hours. Potholing, pendulums and No Justice. All those levels will ranked difficult hard, but sure not very hard or Extreme

How long solved Extreme level might take? Usually months and maybe you will give up.

Which is good Extreme level which keep you trying and interesting? Even you cannot solved it, but you will still keep attempts and enjoy it?

My personal turn off are very long levels where is very limited skills. Short levels keep me always trying, no matter how hard it is executed.

[IchoTolot]

I did a topic in the past where I tried to outline what makes levels difficult.

Of course difficulty can also be highly subjective and a level that's a major roadblock for one can be quckly solved by another person.

But the main things I want to point out are the following (at least for puzzle-centric content):

A) The usage of unusual skill combinations - or rather tricks.
B) The amount of possible actions that you can make to progress inside the level in a meaingful way. Or as I called it back then: Entropy.

These are usually the things that make a puzzle centric level hard.
If you need to discover a new trick, or have so many possible ways to proceed then things get difficult.

You mentioned: "2: Sharp timings"

I would argue that this something you want to avoid as much as you can in puzzle-centric content. This contributes more to execution-centric content.
Of course you cannot always avoid it and having everything to fall into place at the perfect time can be very satisfying, but this is very difficult to achive without it just getting plain frustraiting to play.
Most likely you just end up with annoying stff like:

- The time limit is barely enough to complete the level (even when using the intended method!) and you need to readjust a few skills / turn up the RR earlier to get these exttra seconds, so you nearly need to make a TAS.
- Tight timings depending on multiple lemmings and you need a long time to get them right even though you clearly see what needs to be done here.

Just very rarely are these implemented in such a way that they feel good without testing patience.
They also get worse the longer the level goes!

The main goal is still to make even the hardest level somewhat fun!

Of course you cannot prevent these completely at some point.

I try to reduce these instances in my levels and when I need them I try to give the extra seconds that won't open backroutes, try to make timings forgiving or ensure things fall into place automatically when the correct way is found.
Still sometimes they cannot be completely avoided.