[NeoLemmix] Lemmings Cranium (150 levels) [Difficulty: Medium-Extreme]

[kaywhyn]

Hi Crane,

I've solved all of the pack. Replays attached and of course feedback Crane already knows, but I did an LP of the pack.

LP Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbp2m4KlFpJsO6bPXihuqAXaQgDr-FtW9. Enjoy!

General Feedback

Lemmings Cranium is a level pack by Crane. It consisted mostly of his contest levels and really old levels from the Dos/Lemmix days which I helped convert to up-to-date NL, with some that are completely new and made exclusively for the pack. Although Crane has been a long-time member of the Lemmings Forums and has been in the level making scene for a really long time, until this pack's release, he has never released a full level pack of his own. Now that Lemmings Cranium is out, he finally has, when it was released sometime last year (2023). Before that, he released Lemmings Cranium Preview, which is a teaser of sorts of his upcoming Lemmings Cranium pack which is only one full rank of 30 levels, the Challenge rank, which is the 4th of 5 ranks in the eventual release of the actual pack. I'm very happy that I could be of service to help bring his really old levels up-to-date to modern NL, as well as hunt down old levels of his that he doesn't have anymore and same thing with certain music tracks that you can hear in this pack. I also had the honor of pre-testing some select levels of Crane's before the pack's release. Thus, I congratulate Crane on finally releasing a full level pack of his own many years after releasing several mini Dos level packs which you can find on the Lemmings Level Database. Note that not all of them eventually made it in this pack, but a lot of them are in here!

Lemmings Level Database link to Crane's Dos packs: http://lemmings-db.camanis.net/levelpack/list?sort=name&filter=garjen

Cute Rank Feedback

The first rank of the pack, it consists mostly of X-of-everythings and a few easy puzzles. The end of the rank does get challenging, but they're still quite tame compared to levels in the later ranks. Much like what L1 does, several of the levels in the rank are easier versions whose repeats will be seen in the later ranks. I guess due to lack of levels Crane made the personal decision to take several of his hard levels and make easier versions of them by providing an X-of-everything skillset, very similar to what RotL does.

Feedback on a Few Levels

Cute 10 - Hedge Maze - Definitely better in NL than on Dos, as the traps are hidden, but then again the retractable boulder trap can also be mistaken for terrain, since both are present in the tileset. Luckily the save requirement is quite lenient here and therefore isn't meant to be a really hard level, given that it's still in the first third of the pack/rank.

Cute 26 - Castles in the Sky Very nice 1-of-everything level! I really like how the solution can be figured out with some logic. The bomber is a bit precise, though. Of course, it's not a problem in NL due to framestepping and untimed bombers, but I think the precision can be reduced a bit

Cute 27 - Not as simple as it looks Aptly titled. I fell for the trap thinking one can backroute it from the top, as well as dismissing going through the bottom of the level, but turns out that's the actual solution. Very nice one!

Cute 28 - Death Trap Nice builderless level with probably a few possible ways to go about the level.

Cute 29 - A lonely walk Looks very intimidating due to the wide level size and very limited skillset, particularly the destructive digging skills. Though there seems to be a lot of builders, they run out quite fast. Nice level which I'm surprised I nearly got on my first try.

Cute 30 - The Final Countdown Another aptly named level due to the skillset counting down from 8 and decreasing by 1 each time from left to right, as well as how it's the final level of the rank. I think my solution is only slightly different from the RotL version but most of the same solution elements are still there. Luckily no very annoying wonky steel areas to worry about like on Lemmini.

Curious Rank Feedback

Being the second rank of the pack, the levels here are a tad bit harder than the ones in the previous rank. The levels here are mostly limited skillset ones with one solution, though there are still some with multiple solutions and X-of-everythings, just not as much as there were in the previous rank. Like the Cute rank, the end of Curious does get hard.

Spoiler

Curious 1 - Little House on the Prairie Nice level to start off the rank, though the builders run out faster than expected.

Curious 2 - We need a blow torch NOW! Probably a bit easier than the previous level, just the hardest part being to get over the top in order to reach the exit.

Curious 3 - Breakout! Decent puzzle which is harder than it looks, but way too many climbers! Also the time limit is pretty tight.

Curious 4 - The Fjord Somewhat easy that isn't anything special other than you need to be quick to save the splat hatch before you lose too many. Luckily it's not too tight on the requirement.

Curious 5 - The gate trap lemmings (part two) Nice take and twist on a level that I believe is found in the Genesis/Mega Drive port, the exclusive levels which I don't have all memorized, not like the Dos version which was the port I grew up with. It can be somewhat challenging but it's quite a decent puzzle!

Curious 6 - Chernobyl Somewhat challenging level despite having only bashers and builders. I use the builder wall to maintain the crowd, though I'm sure there are still multiple ways to do the level.

Curious 7 - The Long Way 'Round One of my favorites of the rank. Very nice solution with only builders and miners!

Curious 8 - Crazy Paving The only level with 1 Lemming in the entire pack, it's not very stressful as a result but it's not a complete pushover. It still manages to be challenging despite being another level with only builders/bashers. Like Curious 6, there are probably a few ways to do the level as well.

Curious 9 - Reverse Engineer Can be harder than it looks, though I did fall for the common trap of not noticing there are enough climbers for every Lemming from one entrance. The time limit is quite tight here, and I believe Crane mentioned that he added some more so that it's not too frustrating. That's a pretty good change that I approve!

Curious 10 - Two Steps Forward, One Step Back A level that I spent far longer on than expected and where I incorrectly thought it's a really evil level where you just needed to find the right timing before assigning the builders so no one slips by. Turns out that where you place the builder is super crucial. The level makes you think you need to place the builders at the very edge of each platform, but if you do that then one Lemming will slip by each time. The answer is to build a few pixels away from the edge so that by the time the Lemming behind the builder reaches the edge he will use the builder step to get over the gap. Now that I think about it, it might had been this level where I discovered this importance of the builder placement or if it wasn't this one, I definitely remember playing a level like this one on Dos. Great level once I did discover the solution and one in which I totally forgot about this builder mechanic with a maxed out RR.

Curious 13 - Overhang Deceptively difficult and one which I unfortunately backrouted

Curious 14 - Three-way Call Another great favorite here, where I especially like that turnaround with the miner trick to get the glider in place to build over each gap and over the exit before releasing each side with a miner.

Curious 15 - Deep Freeze Already played this before from the single levels Forums topic, but just want to mention that even though it doesn't look like it IMO the level's too difficult for its position and can move further down the rank.

Curious 16 - Nelson's Column Decent level which isn't anything special other than just knowing how to manage the crowds while also preparing the area where the column is.

Curious 17 - Island Hopping Looks very intimidating but it really isn't that bad. Just like in the other levels with plenty of builders, they run out faster than expected.

Curious 18 - Glide Slope Easy one, especially if you're aware of how to extend a basher.

Curious 19 - Triad Repeat of Cute 7 bu far harder due to a much limited skillset and a super tight time limit. The latter especially I can imagine being very frustrating for other players! In a way I do like the sense of urgency of keeping the crowd moving from time to time, but yea, I don't understand why it has to be this tight. Especially as this can really mess up the timings of other skill assignments, therefore resulting in more frustration than needed. I would definitely give more time or even cull the timer altogether!

Curious 20 - Precarious Construction Nice challenging 1-of-everything level in one of my favorite Lemmings Plus tilesets, particularly since green is my favorite color I don't remember if Crane said my solution is intended.

Curious 22 - Release the Hounds Nice easier version of Steeplechase which is found in the next rank. I especially like the containing the crowd in the pit while one worker bashes at the bottom of the structure to prepare the route.

Curious 23 - Stop, Look, and Listen Already played this from RotL which was a minor backroute, so the only thing I'll mention is that it took far longer than expected here as it now seems I can't do the same solution as before, until I ultimately came up with mining to get under the icicle trap and building over to the island.

Curious 24 - Mincemeat Pre-tested this one for Crane back at a time when this was a contest level and one in which I really like the concept here.

Curious 25 - Iron Curtain Decent somewhat challenging level, especially given the very limited amount of builders. Again, too many climbers here!

Curious 26 - Virtue? Hard but really good one. The player will likely wonder how in the world do you get up there with only 3 builders. I especially love building to climb from the left side to free the blocker who helped the rest of them get to the exit.

Curious 28 - Cold Burn Repeat of Cute 6 that's harder but still isn't too hard. Can't go out the right side like you can in the Cute version.

Curious 29 - Blockout Another level I pre-tested for Crane which is supposed to be an introduction level to teaching the blocker turns a digger trick. Sadly I raged on this one in my LP and ultimately found another backroute. I will try again to see if I can piece together the rest of the intended solution which I'm really close on.

Cunning Rank Feedback

Now the levels really start getting very hard in this rank. It was definitely slower going in my LP with this and the Chaos rank. Still a lot of great levels here and the point where I really started enjoying the pack!

Spoiler

Cunning 1 - Build it up with iron and steel Already played this level many times, but I just want to say that this level might be too difficult for its position to start the Cunning rank, given that it's necessary to make sure the climber turns around since there's not enough time for him to make a trip back to the starting area to climb and then make the trip to the exit. Also, it's way more frustrating on Lemmini since it's harder to stretch bridges on that engine.

Cunning 2 - The Incinerator Very nice builderless level and one in which you only have the classic digging destructive skills! I really enjoyed this one.

Cunning 4 - Supersaturation Nice introduction to teach a player that a climber can hoist himself in a basher tunnel without turning around. Remember this, don't dismiss it as nothing special like I did, because it will come in handy for a level in the Chaos rank!

Cunning 5 - Precarious Construction (part 2) Another level that I pre-tested before the pack's release which I found a backroute too, and also backrouted here again. Definitely a lot harder than the original!

Cunning 6 - BEWARE! The Ninja! Crane said that he included this level just for me, after I detailed my frustrating experiences with the level on Dos all those years ago. On that, the traps near the exit are hidden and also the time is very tight. I definitely remember dreading doing the level all over again before I finally succeeded after so many restarts. It's definitely a much better level in modern NL since you can see the dangers ahead of time but it's still a really challenging level. Possibly a bit hard for its position. I do like the eyes in the level which add an ominous touch, like a Big Brother is watching you thing.

Cunning 7 - Two's Company I feel as if I've already played this level from RotL. Backroute here, particularly as I ignored one Lemming completely. The time limit is quite tight here, and I had a working solution that sadly runs out of time a few frames early until I found this one that does work.

Cunning 10 - T.E.E.T.H Contest level of Crane's that I've never played before. Somewhat challenging despite the minimal skillset but a really good one. I especially like that cloning a faller so that you can get a glider and floater each. My only nitpick here is that the level can be done on a much smaller map

Cunning 11 - Steeplechase Another one I sadly raged on but that's because I ultimately found a backroute that resulted in more frustration than needed. I also played and solved this from the LDC it came from, but it was one of the last R1's I solved because I kept running out of time. I checked Icho's solution after solving this level and turns out the time limit isn't a problem as long as you realize that it's set in such a way that the last Lemming exits with 1 or 2 seconds remaining.

Cunning 12 - Around the Block Somewhat challenging but decent level. Minor backroute according to Crane.

Cunning 13 - Compression Method 2 Another repeat and IMO way too difficult for its position. The hardest part seems to be managing the upper crowds as you cannot lose anyone, and with a very limited skillset it's not easy to do at all. It's likely I missed an easy way to do so, but this level is definitely too hard for its position.

Cunning 15 - Cloning Vats I think I pre-tested this one before the pack's release too. If I did, I think it was a backroute. Definitely more challenging here and yet another backroute here Still took me a while to find!

Cunning 16 - Just a Little Closer... Very nice level featuring the trick of bashing to interrupt a builder so that when you reassign the builder he'll do it so that he covers the rest of the gap and doesn't turn around. I've already seen it a few times and therefore it was easy for me to spot and the level in general was easy for me. It does make me wonder if Crane got some inspiration from a few custom levels that uses it.

Cunning 17 - Nemesis Already played this from RotL but it was a backroute. This one might be too but I'm not sure. Nice decent challenging level!

Cunning 18 - Crunch Time It really feels as if I've played this level before, like a case of deja vu. I might have, I might not have. Anyway, no challenge here, especially as you have the help of a climber bomber to get higher for the right entrance.

Cunning 19 - Shim-Shimminy, Shim-Shimminy Ah, Mary Poppins fan, I presume. Great level here with figuring out how to keep the preassigned swimmer/climber going when he shimmies! The basher is pretty precise, especially as it comes very close to splat height, though if you place it correctly so that the shimmier doesn't stop it won't ever be a problem. Even then, I would probably make it clearer that it isn't splat height

Cunning 21 - That's it?!!!! Don't think I've ever played this level of Crane's before on Dos. Decent level and much easier than I thought.

Cunning 22 - Water Hammer Nice level. Seems like there's multiple ways to do the compression

Cunning 23 - Oil Refinery Already played this from RotL and I think that was a backroute. This one seems more solid, though it's probably an acceptable solution rather than intended.

Cunning 24 - Heaven and Earth One of my favorites and one which I played at a time when Crane had trouble getting the level converted to modern NL. I assisted and was able to and hence preserve a level of Crane's Took me a while to come up with the solution here since it's been a while, but I eventually figured it out again.

Cunning 25 - The Ziggurat Hard one. It's not easy to figure out how to get up to the exit along with losing at most 3. The stackers gave me the most trouble here, though I always have problems with the skill whenever they're provided to solve levels with.

Cunning 26 - Prize Catch Already played from RotL but was a backroute. Here it seems solid now. I'm not sure what the change was, but I think it was an increase in the RR.

Cunning 27 - Die Doppelgaenger Another really hard contest level of Crane's which I've never played before. My entire solution is very pixel perfect and timing heavy. Crane later supplied me his intended solution and as I suspected I really overcomplicated it. Definitely belongs near the end of the rank.

Cunning 28 - The Wishing Well Another bad backroute, though I think I can see what's intended here.

Cunning 29 - Short-changed Harder repeat of Cute 1 with a much more limited skillset. I really love the challenge here.

Cunning 30 - Run! Another zombie level, the type of which I tend to be really bad at. Turns out that it's very important you make the third Lemming a floater so that everything else can work out. Not intended but acceptable solution, Crane told me    

I've already played the Challenge rank when I did my LP of Lemmings Cranium Preview from almost 2 years ago, so if you want to read my feedback for that, you can do so here:

https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=5851.msg96087#msg96087


Chaos Rank Feedback

The final rank of the pack, these are pretty much the hardest levels of the pack, with a few breathers here and there. It especially gets quite hard at the end! This culminates into Chaos 28, which seems to be the agreed upon hardest of the pack.

Spoiler

Chaos 1 - SUNSOFT Swindle Hard level to start off the rank. The lynchpin here is that you need to build outside with the right entrance to get them up the level. In addition, you need the raised pixel in order to get to the OWW. That might be a bit evil, though. Before I realized going through the outside, I kept trying to go up the narrow shaft, which almost works but you run out of builders/skills. Even when I did succeed, the last problem I had was the climber would get himself into danger when going over to the left side. Turns out the climber is a complete red herring. Nice decent challenging level!

Chaos 3 - Incompressible Way too difficult for its position despite only 3 skills total. Several things: You need to use the steel to dig so that the shaft isn't as wide and hence allows you to lose just one to the stomper trap. Also, you need to dig at a point on the far right so that everyone falls out facing to the left. Another solution would had worked except I would lose 6 instead of 5, while all others would run out of time.

Chaos 4 - Containment Excellent level! I especially like how you need to figure out how to get the disarmer to the top to disarm the traps and then later get him down safely to disarm the traps at the bottom. I wasn't sure if the shimmier jump as a delay is intended, but Crane tells me it is, so I did get the intended solution.

Chaos 5 - S.C.R.O.O.G.E Another contest level of Crane's I've never played before and another zombie level. Hard one, though it probably would had been solved earlier had I actually tried it out rather than assume the timing wouldn't work out. Quite a nice touch in that you need to release the blocker after all but two neutrals turn around on it.

Chaos 6 - Mind the gap! Already played this before, and it's quite a decent hard level. I'm told my solution is a backroute, which kind of surprises me. I think I can see what the intended route is, though.

Chaos 7 - Don't Bother! Nothing special here other than the main challenge of getting everyone down safely. Looks intimidating but it wasn't too bad.

Chaos 8 - Tier Drops Already played from RotL but that was a backroute. Almost looks like it can still be backrouted in the same way but it apparently isn't. So, everything seems good here now!

Chaos 9 - Overflow Same as Chaos 8, though still a backroute here.

Chaos 10 - Wrong-side Failure Somewhat challenging but ultimately another backroute here. Somehow I think the intention is for every exit to be used, but here I ignore the bottom left one completely.

Chaos 11 - Stonecrest Bay Much harder than it appears though same thing as some of the few previous levels in that it's another backroute

Chaos 12 - Chilly Disposition Not very hard but still challenging. Nearly had the intended solution at one point but I found an alternative which is much fiddlier and harder to pull off. I made the incorrect assumption of needing to mine through the OWW and then platform, when in fact fencing is correct and I completely forgot about thin enough ceilings to step up through. Nice level.

Chaos 13 - Cliffside Hostel Challenging level but another decent one. Not sure if my solution is intended, especially with the stacker at the end to turn around. I think there's only one spot to do so.

Chaos 14 - There's One Small Problem... Medium-ish level for which I found another backroute.

Chaos 15 - Dropship 12 Another one that's harder than it appears. The timing is a bit tricky. I would either reduce the Lemming count or even the RR, though I can understand that it needs to be a certain way as the climber still needs to bounce off the blocker before being released with the last Lemming from the entrance. He can't be too far behind the climber, or he'll fall into the pit at the bottom and can't escape since you only have a climber remaining for the freed blocker. Nice level and congrats on reaching second place with this in LOTY!

Chaos 17 - Divisive Action Hard one but a pretty good one. The hardest part is at the start so that no one slips by the miner. Also, there are plenty of good red herrings here. In particular, I kept thinking the jumper is for near the exit, but it's actually for getting over the miner tunnel at the start. It really does look like there's a few ways to do the level but they all fail and it seems only the intended way works here now.

Chaos 18 - Splashdown Really bad backroute here

Chaos 19 - JAILBREAK! Already played from RotL but it was a backroute. My solution is also a backroute here, thanks to the added chain in the middle area Playing and solving the level on camera for the first time was fine, but honestly in subsequent playthroughs it's one best to work out off-camera given that it's quite a hard level in itself and takes a while to come up with any solution.

Chaos 21 - Think Fast! Easy one, but only because I've already seen the trick of saving an ohnoer plenty of times. It otherwise does warrant its position here, because it can be challenging otherwise.

Chaos 22 - Hallowed Ground Harder repeat of the level found in the Cute rank. It almost looks like this can be backrouted in a few ones, but I ultimately found only one that works. I'm guessing the intended route does collect the builder pickup on the far right.

Chaos 23 - Thanatos Gambit Pre-tested this one before the pack's release, though I don't remember whether Crane said my solution was a backroute at the time. Once I solved the level, I recorded Crane's intended solution on CustLemmix and confirmed it originally relied on a mechanic in that engine.

Chaos 24 - Halls of Reflection Hard level which would be impossible if you didn't remember Cunning 4. Indeed, I made the solution harder than it needed to be. It really looks like the level can be done in other ways, but they all seem to be impossible now. Decent level, though honestly I would reduce the precision even more, as this subtle climber mechanic can look quite unfair to other players. I'm aware of it but it's definitely something for which I wouldn't make solutions rely on it.

Chaos 26 - Are you kidding me?! It's a really hard level if you're not aware that it's a nuke one. Indeed, it's cleverly disguised as one given the very high save requirement. It kind of helps that I solved a Doomsday Lemmings level that has a similar design near the exit on the side even though it's not required nor intended. At the same time, I accidentally spoiled myself in this being a nuke solution when I was going through the nuke bypass Forums topic. My thought at the time was that I had played all nuke levels in existence in the custom Lemmings scene so I thought it was safe to open the spoiler tag in Icho's post. Nope, didn't occur to me there is one by Crane. Though I suppose every top level designer makes at least one of these levels. I've yet to make one, but I do have a WIP one I haven't gotten back to in months now. I should really finish it up! In any case, other than that it's a nuke solution, I wasn't spoiled with anything else about the level beyond that, and so I still figured out the solution for myself. Even if I wasn't spoiled that the nuke is needed, I think I would had figured out it was eventually anyway. I've gotten a bit better at spotting them over the years, though namida's level from LP3D which I've played very recently kind of says otherwise Anyway, nice job with your LDC win here!

Chaos 27 - Dodge This! The only hard part is at the very start with making sure that you don't lose more than you're allowed. The rest is easy after that once you're successful. There really are no other very nasty tricks here, and the solution is as you might expect with the swimmer fencing through the columns. Nice NL skills only level that is still challenging, so definitely surprises that some hard levels can still result with just NL skills. Then again, some really hard level packs exist that are classic skills only, eg, Lemmings Reunion, Lemmings Stampede, and NepsterLems.

Chaos 28 - Denial Already backrouted this a few times in the past but wasn't able to solve the most recent version before the pack's release. To my surprise, I ended up solving supposedly the hardest level of the pack in a very reasonable amount of time on-camera. Quite the ironic twist here, given that I needed a second video show the solution to some earlier levels close to this one which supposedly aren't anywhere as hard but still challenging. Great solution and all, especially with figuring out how to keep the climber who mines the crowd free safe. Probably too much precision which can definitely make for an unfair level, though as I later found out after watching Armani's solution I made it more precise and complicated than it needs to be. Can't quite use the same solution as Armani's due to the steel, but it should still work.

Chaos 30 - Last Lemming Standing Already played this before the pack's release. Very nice level to finish off the pack on where you have the freedom to carve out any solution you like thanks to having an infinite amount of every skill. Certainly nowhere near the hardest but a very nice epic level to finish the pack with.

Regarding what to swap Chaos 3 with, so far I can only think of Chaos 14, though that might be too far down the rank. Maybe Chaos 8 is another suitable swap candidate, as it might be somewhat easy as well. Chaos 3 definitely needs to move, though. You don't want players rage quitting that early in the rank, though the pack is certainly not for beginners!

With this, thank you so much for your pack Crane! Aside from the few levels I raged on in which I blame my sleep deprivation on, I really did enjoy this pack, especially once I got into the Cunning and Chaos ranks. Some were a bit more frustrating than they needed to be when I couldn't figure them out during off-camera time, but most of it was self-inflicted precision and timing heavy solutions I brought onto myself. Though I've already learned most of these tricks I saw in the pack in other packs, I still nevertheless enjoyed seeing them applied in some of your levels.

Hope the feedback is helpful and don't hesitate to ask me for assistance should you require any. I'm here to help if it's needed!

[Crane]

Thank you for your feedback kaywhyn.  Your playthrough has been incredibly insightful and I'm glad you enjoyed playing it.  I made some changes and rearrangements and now version 1.06 has been released (see first post for the download link).

[Crane]

Okay, version 1.06 contained a critical bug in that Cunning 17 was impossible to complete (at least intentionally) because I was experimenting with something that somehow did not get reverted.  So 1.07 has now been released (see first post), a bit earlier than I had hoped, but it also allowed me to insert the correct version of Curious 17 as well (it was meant to have a backroute patched in 1.06, but had uploaded the unpatched version).

EVERYONE I recommend you download 1.07 as soon as possible because of the glitched Cunning 17 in 1.06

[MASTER-88]

Nice job Crane. I have still only your 1.05 version. But WTF?

Spoiler

Is here still backroutes Stone Crest Bay? I really make my best when i patched all

I just keep myself nearly 6 months break about lemmings. Thats your 1.05 version testing really drain my power. I also build my new own pack (which will also contains 150 levels)  That are taking me one year. I am quite done soon 8 levels remain yet.