Level Design Contest #18

[IchoTolot]

Welcome to another contest of the Lemmingsforums! This time the three rules have been picked by Crane for winning contest #17.

A few words to new participants and forum members: If you haven't entered before, I strongly encourage you to try - even if you don't win, it's fun to participate; and we have had cases where first-time entrants have won before!; there are three choices of rules given, you may enter one level each for up to two of the rules.
You may either use new format NeoLemmix, or Lix.
If you have two entries, they may (but do not have to) be for the same engine. Please make sure you tested your level for basic solvability before submitting and be sure to also submit any custom tileset you are using, so others have no problem playing your level.

Pre contest testing: You can choose 1 person who does a bit of pre-testing for you, so that the biggest backroutes and screw-ups of your levels can be detected before the playing phase. I cannot control this so it's only a guideline, but still I would prefer not everyone knows every level before the playing phase starts.

Here are the rules on how the submission deadlines work:
- Initial submission phase deadline will extend such that it's 72 hours from the time of the last submission, up to the 5th submission (inclusive). After this it no longer changes no matter what.
- Update phase deadline will not extend over the initial dead line!
- Even if you missed the cutoff date for the initial submission phase, late entries are accepted until the update phase ends. There is no penalty for a late entry, beyond that people are less likely to spend as much time on the level before voting begins.

And here is the new ruleset:

Rule 1: Back to Basics

    - Create a level with at most one trapdoor and one exit with no other interactive objects - this includes steel and one-way arrows
    - No preplaced Lemmings
    - Lemmings cannot enter the level with permanent skills already applied to them
    - Water can be used to decorate the very bottom of the level (the bottom of the object must be at least touching the lowest visible part of the level), but no Swimmers are allowed (so no interactions with objects)
    - You can't have pick-up skills because they count as interactive objects.


Rule 2 - Subset

    - Take a pre-existing level from the original Lemmings, Oh No! More Lemmings, Genesis Lemmings, SNES Lemmings or any of the official Holiday Lemmings games, or faithfully recreate one in a different tileset (it must play exactly the same though; I'll let IchoTolot decides if it counts or not - and I will )
    - Timer must be equal to or less than the time limit of the base level
    - Skills and skill counts must be equal to or less than what's given to you in the base level (you are allowed to remove a skill completely)
    - Total number of Lemmings must be the same as the base level
    - Lemmings to be saved must be equal to or higher than the base level
    - Release rate must be equal to or higher than the base level, and cannot be locked (unless it's 99)
    - As a guide, your solution should work unmodified in the base level
    - You can't have pick-up skills because it's adding to the base level.
    - Some levels have 100 Lemmings, but on the PC version is reduced to 80.  If this is the case, especially if you don't know if a level originally had 100 Lemmings or actually had 80, then either Lemming count is valid.  Just make sure you don't mix up the number of Lemmings you have to save between versions (e.g. "If at first you don't succeed..." originally had 100 Lemmings with a save requirement of 99 - in the PC version, this is reduced to 80 and 79 respectively, so you can't have 100 Lemmings with a save requirement of 79... or even 98, to equate the 98% that was displayed).


Rule 3 - Specialists

    - You may have at most two different skills. How many you have of each doesn't matter (e.g. 20 Builders and 20 Platformers, or just 10 Diggers).
    - Lemmings can enter the level with permanent skills already applied to them.
    - You can have pick-up skills, but they must be one of the two skills that you start the level with (i.e. you can't add a third type of skill, since this will appear as a third skill in the toolbar).

Submission phase ends September 7th 2019 at 00:00 UTC. Normally I would set this to the end of August, but I will be at my hometown during that time period, so a few extra days for everyone to think about a level. Deadline for the playing / update phase will be announced when it begins.

Ruleset in detail again: http://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=2246.0

Send me a personal message with your level/s and if needed tileset/s to participate. It would also be nice to also tell me the rule which each level satisfies.

Please use the following naming format:  User1_Levelname_R3V1.lvl ---> Level "Levelname" by User1   for Rule 3   Version 1 of the level   

Prize selection:
- US $5.00
- One month's advertising on the forums news ticker
- Pick next contest's rules

Entries so far: 12

- Crane (2)
- IchoTolot (2)
- Colorful Arty (1)
- namida (1)
- SQron (2)
- Proxima (1)
- Minim (2)
-Nessy (1)

[Minim]

Rule 2 - Subset

    - Take a pre-existing level from the original Lemmings, Oh No! More Lemmings, Genesis Lemmings, SNES Lemmings or any of the official Holiday Lemmings games

I like this rule for the contest! And I'm looking forward to see what I can come up with. I don't remember seeing one before where levels must be submitted out of a pre-created template from the official games.  Hopefully my laptop will be fixed before the deadline.

[Crane]

I had fun choosing these ones!  Good luck, have fun everyone!

If anyone needs clarity on what counds as valid for Rule 1 in terms of water, I consider "Origins and Lemmings" from the original game to be a valid level, since the level only has water at the very bottom of the level and it doesn't interfere with any meaningful solution - it's there for decoration.  And other than the water, the only other interactive objects are the single trapdoor and exit, with no steel anywhere.

[Crane]

I should probably clarify something - hopefully IchoTolot is okay with this.

Some levels have 100 Lemmings, but on the PC version is reduced to 80.  If this is the case, especially if you don't know if a level originally had 100 Lemmings or actually had 80, then either Lemming count is valid.  Just make sure you don't mix up the number of Lemmings you have to save between versions (e.g. "If at first you don't succeed..." originally had 100 Lemmings with a save requirement of 99 - in the PC version, this is reduced to 80 and 79 respectively, so you can't have 100 Lemmings with a save requirement of 79... or even 98, to equate the 98% that was displayed).

[Crane]

I hope this doesn't count as changing the rules midway through, but I always forget about the existence of pick-up skills.  I think the implications of the rules go without saying, but I should clarify my intentions on their use:

- Rule 1 can't have pick-up skills because they count as interactive objects.
- Rule 2 can't have pick-up skills because it's adding to the base level.
- Rule 3 can have pick-up skills, but they must be one of the two skills that you start the level with (i.e. you can't add a third type of skill, since this will appear as a third skill in the toolbar).

Clarity request from Proxima:

- Any pre-assigned skills can be different from the ones in the toolbar.  As an example, IchoTolot's previous contest level "Trinity Tower" I consider a valid entry for Rule 3.

[IchoTolot]

Added the clarification rules.

[Crane]

Another clarification, I'm afraid!

You are allowed to make derivatives of levels from Mac, Covox, Sega Master System and Prima.  Basically, as namida put it, "L1, or any port or variation of it", along with the official packs already listed.

[IchoTolot]

Just a little post to bump this topic as I put the finishing touches on my 2nd entry.

[IchoTolot]

I'd love to see a few additional entries when I come back next week!

Get your levels ready! Deadline is slowly closing in!

[IchoTolot]

Only 4 days left! Get your entries in!