[Lemmings 2] What skills can't you live without for gold?

[LemSteven]

After three and a half years of neglect, I've finally decided to put some more attention to this challenge, and I was able to get Classic 1 done to None.  It turns out that the crowd can reach the exit via the small wooden staircase at the far right by using a combination of digging skills to prepare the route for the crowd (no sliding necessary).  This eliminates the two builders previously thought to be needed.

[LemSteven]

And here are some results from Medieval:

3: 1 stomper -- The 3-skill solution from the min-skills thread uses a stomper, an exploder, and a roper.  The exploder is avoided using the 100% solution, and the roper is not needed in the intended route, leaving just the stomper.

5: 2 bombers, 2 builders, & 1 club basher -- The same as the min skills result.  I haven't found a way to eliminate any of these skills.

6: 3 twisters & 1 platformer -- Mostly based on the min skills result, except that one less twister can be used by going the regular way.

7: None -- The min-skills solution uses just a stomper and three fencers.  Although the stomper can be eliminated easily, the no-fencer solution actually works out to be a tough challenge.  See hint for details.

It is possible to trigger crawling by using a stomper+jumper+archer+platformer.  This can be done twice to get past the two tall towers in the beginning, and the remaining skills are sufficient to complete the rest of the level.

[ccexplore]

Thanks, all results updated in OP now.  Totally didn't realize there were still many levels with no reported results yet, I guess "neglect" sounds about right. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/XD.gif" alt=":XD:" title="XD" class="smiley" />

[ccexplore]

And here are some results from Medieval:

3: 1 stomper

I'm 99.99% sure at the moment that a no-stomper solution is possible as well.  This is a fairly simple route that catapaults every lemming, making use of the http://www.lemmingsforums.com/index.php?topic=199.msg6751#msg6751" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">pause glitch for cannons/catapaults to speed up the process so you don't run out of time.

And indeed, the reason it's almost but not exactly 100% confirmed is because on my last attempt, the very last lemming still ran out of time (and an exploder is used so I do need to save that lemming for gold).  However, I did have 5 spare jumpers and it was pretty close time-wise, so I'm fairly sure I can make up for the time with the spare jumpers.  Will update this post once it's confirmed, but for now I feel comfortable updating the result already in the original post.

I notice the glitch post I linked to didn't quite explain how the glitch speeds up the process of lemmings using a cannon/catapault. (although it's pretty obvious when you see the glitch in action).  There's probably already an explanation somewhere on this forum since I think it had been used previously in other challenges solutions, but I can't find it so I'll just quickly (re?)explain here:  basically you pause as soon as a lemming starts entering the cannon/catapault, and wait a few seconds.  The following will happen, depending on the object in question:

- for the catapault, it will start the firing animation immediately after you unpause.  The lemming itself doesn't actually get thrown until the normal time after it finishes its "climbing into catapault" animation (ie. its movement becomes decoupled from the catapault's firing animation, which basically happened early as a result of the glitch); however, the catapault becomes available for use again once it finishes its firing animation, so this glitch makes the catapault be able to accept incoming lemmings faster than normal--indeed at the given release rate of Medieval 3, the glitch makes it just fast enough to accept incoming stream of lemmings with basically no skips.

- for the cannon:  [caveat: following description may have some inaccuracies since I have to recall from memory]  The cannon will actually continue and finishes its firing animation while the game is paused, even though the lemming itself does not move or animate during the pause.  So when you unpause, it is possible for the cannon to have finished firing already even though the lemming hasn't actually finished climbing into the cannon yet!  In this case (and unlike the catapault), the lemming actually can only get shot out at time of the firing animation, so by making the firing happen during pause, we effectively "skip over" the firing and cause the lemming to get stuck in the cannon instead.  But again, the cannon becomes available for use by next lemming faster this way.  You can "unstuck" the lemmings by making the cannon fire again normally, without the influence of pausing, and all the previous stuck lemmings will all get shot out alongside the lemming that actually triggered the firing.

[LemSteven]

^ Good catch there.  I had assumed that there was not enough time to get everyone to use the catapult, even with the pause glitch.  Evidently that is not the case.

Anyway, here are the remaining Medieval levels:

8: None -- At first glance, it appears that stompers, bombers, and platformers are all necessary, but this turns out not to be the case.  I've provided hints below on how to get rid of each one.

10: None -- Each skill can be eliminated in separate solutions without too much difficulty.

No Stomper: Use your five bombers to break through the first obstacle, drop down the balloon shaft, and platform to the gray ledge underneath the exit.  From here, use platformers and fillers to get everyone to crawl to the exit.

No Bomber: The same general idea as the no stomper solution, except that you'll have to send one lemming down and balloon up to the other side of the initial wall.  From here, the remaining eight stompers are just enough to break through the wall.

No Platformer: Use a bomber to fling an attractor-compressed crowd over the gap.

[ccexplore]

OP updated.  I've also fully confirmed no-stomper for Medieval 3, with attached screenshots.  Turns out I probably don't even need the spare jumpers, I just need to be as flawless as possible with the execution of the pause glitch for the catapault, making sure that there are basically no breaks at all in the incoming stream of lemmings for catapault usage.  The screenshots show for example at least 13 seconds left on the timer in this successful attempt.

[ccexplore]

5: 2 bombers, 2 builders, & 1 club basher -- The same as the min skills result.  I haven't found a way to eliminate any of these skills.

I finally get a 1-builder solution working for Medieval 5.  It's conceptually simple but took forever to find the pixel-precise places I apparently need to assign certain skills in order for the solution to actually work out successfully, so I'm not surprised it was hard to find and confirm.  I've attached a set of screenshots depicting the moves.  Screenshot A and E are where the skill assignments need to be exactly where the screenshots tell you to do them at.  Also as seen in screenshot B, it is probably important for the second lemming out to get affected by the attractor as soon as possible without walking too much farther, so that he doesn't become separated from the rest of the crowd later.  So you might need to restart at the beginning if things don't work out with that lemming (given the "randomness" with how much time it takes before each lemming reacts to the attractor).