[NL]Holiday GigaLems 2016 "The Harsh Winter" - Yay another post holiday release!

[ericderkovits]

I still don't understand this. Yes 1-6 and  5-11 both use kiwi but the only style I have in the style folder is lm_tundra.  both those 2 levels open for me. and I don't have a levels folder either.
Never had to use the NXPextractor.


anyways I uploaded the Gigalems 2016 to my Dropbox and then tested it in a new folder. It works so just make another Gigalems 2016 folder and download this rar file and extract it to the new folder.

Gigalems 2016 dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/okicywcxjnt4k55/AADAa7YkCaC4BEDti2uksd0ra?dl=1

[kaywhyn]

Ok, thanks. You might not had to, but the .nxpextractor is still quite helpful in order to see what's possibly causing the problem as well as to compare differences in the files. In your .nxp, there were way more files than the one I had, 150 compared to only around 115. It appears that the issue was related to the NL player I was using. v10.13 does work, but only after I rebuilt the .nxp and even then both 1-6 and 5-11 crashed due to complaining about not being able to load kiwi.dat. This likely means that the style hasn't been updated to work with the latest Old Formats version. However, yours uses v10.12.12-C, which doesn't cause any problems. In any case, my download had the exact same files as yours. It seems that it was simply a NL player version incompatibility, where upon loading with v10.13 that it threw a warning that the pack hasn't been tested and that one should use v10.12.12-C. Tried looking for this NL player version, but I can't find it anywhere. Thanks for this.

Indeed, I tested my download of the pack and used your NL player. Everything loads just fine. This therefore confirms that there's nothing wrong with my download. Just that it doesn't work on the latest Old Formats NL player and that the version to use is 10.12.12-C. It's quite a specific one. Thanks again.

@Gigalem Played the first level and all I can say is wow, the pack's already starts off brutally difficult. Will report back later with how I get on.

Edit: First level solved. Nope, it's not that hard at all, but the fact that the pack already starts off harder than normal should be a big sign that this pack is much harder than your Holiday 2015 pack which I just finished solving last week. I apparently haven't learned my lesson from LPI Anyway, I'll continue later on in several hours as it's quite late where I am.

[kaywhyn]

Ok, I'm currently up at Shivering 6, and it appears we have a case of an impossible level. Either that or I'm just a dumb dumb. I would like to think it's the former. Darn shame, because this was a pretty good pack up until I hit this seemingly impossible level before my eyes.

Spoiler

None of the gliders are able to reach the other side unless you build from the right side. There's 3 such gaps, and so that uses up all your builders. However, the main problem appears to be with the first obstacle. There's two spots where the lemmings cannot get up the purple wall, meaning one needs to use a builder. However, the problem is that you only have 3 builders. You could use a climber to bash, but I'm sure the basher needs to be used for the end, and you only have 1 basher. Then you send another climber to bomb so the lemmings can step up. Either way, I'm more than convinced that this is an impossible level. Something must had rendered the level impossible, probably incorrect skill allotments.

I guess with this I'm not going to be playing anymore of the pack until I'm told that it's indeed solvable or when it's fixed if it turns out to be indeed impossible. Along with this, it would be nice to get confirmation of if any other levels are impossible as well. 

[GigaLem]

Did a quick fix to shivering 6, new link in first post.
edit:I had to fix the link since I uploaded the wrong file

[kaywhyn]

Thanks for the quick fix, Gigalem! I have confirmed that Shivering 6 is now possible, so I can continue with the pack. If you can check the other levels in the pack past Shivering 6 and confirm solvability that would be great as well. However, I understand that you're currently busy getting your Millas stuff ready for release, and so no worries if you can't. It's just that I hate to be hit later on with another impossible level, so confirmation from you would be nice. This is a great pack and I'm enjoying it quite a lot

[kaywhyn]

Season greetings, everyone! Back to play another Christmas pack. I recently solved all of Gigalem's 2015 Holiday pack. Now I'm doing the follow-up pack, Gigalem's Holiday 2016 pack.

All rightie, I have solved up through the third rank. I'm back with some replays. The zip file contains my replays from Snuggly 1 up through Frigid 12. Except for Shivering 6, which you have already fixed, everything so far is solvable. That just leaves 24 levels that need checking to see if they are still possible. So really, I have already done most of the work for you

This is a really great pack so far. Definitely better and only slightly harder than your previous one, your 2015 Christmas pack which I recently solved everything. Then again, this is just for the first three ranks. I still need to do the final two ranks.

Snuggly Rank Feedback

Snuggly 1 - The 1st Day of December As previously mentioned, the pack immediately starts difficult. I could had sworn I've seen this level somewhere before though. I possibly couldn't have though, since this is my very first time playing the pack. Anyway, I kept running out of builders, so this was the big sign that told me the pack wasn't going to be a cakewalk. Then I realized that the number of climbers/floaters matches the number of lemmings and therefore I indeed have been doing the level correct the entire time with the builders except that everyone needs to become athletes, as that's the only way to save everyone and solve the level. namida himself has told me that I missed the easy solution to some of his LPI levels from watching my replays. Thus, I apparently seem to not quite have learned my lesson

Snuggly 2 - It's cold outside Very easy. Nothing special here.

Snuggly 3 - Send in the Swim soldiers A bit harder than the previous two levels, but still not too hard. Nice level.

Snuggly 5 - North Pole Detour Easy level. Also nicely decorated. This level does have a problem in that it's very bright and hence it can be quite painful to the eyes. Then again, I have my screen on 100% brightness, so perhaps it's just a matter of turning it down.

Snuggly 6 - Open the way like a gift Nice puzzle. I like the solution a lot and especially how you need to use a climber from the right entrance to forge the path for the left entrance.

Snuggly 8 - Jack in the frost Very nice 1-of-everything puzzle/level! Not hard at all.

Snuggly 9 - Dovely familiar Ah yes, the layout/puzzle is quite similar to that Dovelems level. Should had threw in the timer as well, though. One problem is that there's very little room for error with the building at the end. You don't build at the right place or stretch the bridges appropriately and some gliders will slip past.

Snuggly 10 - Position your firecrackers The sheer length of the level makes it appear intimidating, but it's not that hard at all. I'm not sure if all exits are possible to reach. I went for the far left one. Looking at it again, I definitely could had made it far easier by going for the closest exit by turning back to the right after reaching one of the pits with the bomber pickups.

Snuggly 11 - The light show Another excellent 1-of-everything puzzle! Solution comes together nicely

Snuggly 12 - They grabbed their pickaxe Definitely the hardest of the rank, but still not too hard. Nice level here as well to finish off the rank.

Shivering Rank Feedback

Shivering 1 - The 1st day of Winter This is definitely a backroute. I didn't have to get the pickup at all. Just 3 skills, max out the release rate before the digger pit gets too deep, and done.

Shivering 2 - Position your toy soldiers Surprisingly difficult despite being a 10-of-everything level. Here it's obvious that only the left exit is accessible, although I still fell for going for the right one.

Shivering 3 - We merry four This is an ok level. There is almost no leeway in here at all, and so lessening the tight timing/precision would definitely make this a better level.

Shivering 4 - People I present to you! This one was a hard one. The miner, basher, and builder have to be placed very precisely in order to make the miner hole big enough for a builder to be built full length and get up the miner tunnel. I kept thinking the builder wouldn't seal off both the miner tunnel and the small gap a bit further away due to the basher.

Shivering 5 - Toy to the world Great level! Much easier than the previous level.

Shivering 6 - Crystalemming Originally was impossible due to the first obstacle having two spots where the lemmings couldn't get up. After the fix, very easy level.

Shivering 7 - In due time... again Nice level that involves using builders to keep both a basher and a miner going. Luckily the setup for them is very easy. The only tricky part is placing the stoners between the walls to keep the basher going.

Shivering 8 - Fighting IceBerg I seriously thought those barrels were solid. Takes the miner to go through a builder a step further by requiring it to bounce off a blocker. I think I might had overcomplicated that part by placing the builder bridge at the very edge and therefore only one position worked to place the miner. Placing the blocker to turn the miner can be tricky as well.

Shivering 9 - Mt. Everest's Refrigerator Way too easy.

Shivering 10 - What an Ice evening This one was a hard one. You and your pixel precision. Other than the precise difficult to place bombers at both the start and the end, sending out the climbers at the right time can be difficult as well.

Shivering 11 - What's Mine is yours Wow, this is a really good miners only level. Somewhat difficult but not too hard. There is very little room for error for miners at the very bottom where they almost chip away the terrain above that would stop them from climbing out and die to the sides of the level. Definitely can lessen the precision needed and the level would be much better.

Shivering 12 - Security on Black Friday Really easy for a rank finisher.

Frigid Rank Feedback

Frigid 1 - Iron Clad Peaks Excellent level to start off the rank I only used the cloner to rescue an extra.

Frigid 2 - An Xmas miracle needs no builders Another great level! Pretty easy as well.

Frigid 3 - Cold and brash Yet another great level. More difficult than the previous two, but not much harder. Second no builders level in a row.

Frigid 4 - Christmas Coaster Very hard one. Finding an efficient route with just the skills given is not easy at all. The fact there's only 1 basher and 1 miner makes the level quite difficult, considering the huge amount of terrain that needs to be gotten through.

Frigid 5 - Abstraction of the Trees Another hard one, but a nice level. Figuring out the solution is not easy at all.

Frigid 6 - Splitting elves Excellent level! Easy one, and much easier than the previous two levels.

Frigid 7 - Freezerburn! Back to hard again. This is likely a backroute, considering I only used one stoner, and I have a builder leftover.

Frigid 8 - Shipping Error Somewhat difficult, but it's much easier than the previous one. I thought I was going to struggle here due to the stackers, but the level wasn't that bad.

Frigid 9 - Legoing up Easy one. I don't like how it looks like the lemming will get fried when bridging/platforming the gap to get the far right button. It definitely makes it look impossible to get to it, but luckily the trigger area is further to the right and so right when touching it one must cancel the builder/platformer. I originally thought it was going to be extremely annoying setting up all those bridges so that a miner goes through all of them, but as my solution shows you don't have to do that at all. Thank you for not making it required!

Frigid 10 - An Underlying Christmas Somewhat difficult, especially since getting past all those icicle traps isn't easy at all and runs a huge risk of possibly using way too many skills and hence render the level unsolvable. Once you do figure out how to get past them, the level's a bit easier.

Frigid 11 - Deny the Halls Difficult at first, but that's because I was unfamiliar with some of the stuff present, such as what looks to be an exit from the Lego tileset is actually a teleporter. When I saw lemmings jumping in/appearing to be sucked in, I thought I was killing them, but I noticed the lemming count didn't go down and did see them pop up at the left side. This one was an excellent puzzle with a really good solution! I really like this one. Of course, I could had simply activated CPM, but I generally don't and my choice to is deliberate.

Frigid 12 - Freedom Planet Friday! Nice level to end the rank that's not too difficult at all. That's a really interesting trap at the very far left under the very narrow space. This level seems to have elements of the HeyNotTooRough 30 level from Reunion, especially since I recognized the very large wall that must be bashed and mined through at the very top after making a bomber hole, as well as the next section that involves mining and using a blocker to turn him around. Here, however, you only need to use one blocker, or you can simply use a walker to cancel him. I think it's not really needed for a blocker to turn him, since there's more than enough miners here.

24 more levels to go! I'm really enjoying the pack Great job so far. I will post again when I finish the rest of the pack.

[kaywhyn]

It has been done. All 60 levels solved, and, except for Shivering 6 which was impossible due to an oversight and went unnoticed for almost 4 years since the pack's release (mostly because no one has played through the pack, and so I couldn't had known about the level being impossible) and has since been fixed by Gigalem, I have confirmed that the pack is 100% possible. All 60 of my replays are attached. I've already given feedback on the first 3 ranks, so this post will be for the last 2 ranks.

For the most part, I felt the levels got easier after the Frigid rank. In contrast to the Frigid rank, the Glacial rank overall was easier, but it still took a while to get through it. The Krampus rank itself is definitely the most difficult rank of the pack, mostly due to a lot of the levels being huge. It's also the final rank, so it makes perfect sense.

Glacial Rank Feedback

Glacial 1 - A Boom with Fire and Ice! Very rare X-of-everything level here. I believe it's the very first one of the pack? Surprisingly somewhat difficult for a 2-of-everything level. It's still not too bad since the save requirement is a bit lenient.

Glacial 2 - From the cold, to the gold Bit difficult as well, mostly due to the 99RR, but it's a really great level. I didn't save the swimmer, but now that I look back, I could had used the spare builder to save him before he falls off the block where the button is.

Glacial 3 - Unstable Ice-sotopes Easy level. I'm not sure what all those many losses are for

Glacial 4 - Dangerous Christmas Boogey Nice radiation level! Not too hard at all, easy one. The only tricky and fiddly part is saving the bottom left entrance with builders.

Glacial 5 - Monstrocity at midnight Another great and easy level.

Glacial 6 - Christrigonometry Somewhat difficult, but it's a great level with an awesome solution that's fun to watch come together. I like the title referring to trigonometry, and I'm a huge math lover.

Glacial 7 - Avalanched! Bit difficult as well, especially since there's no builders.

Glacial 8 - The chalk zone Much easier than the previous two levels. I really like this one as well.

Glacial 9 - Plow shovel rush! Solution is obvious, getting it to work is a bit tricky. It's all about sending the climbers at the right time.

Glacial 10 - Three wise paths This is probably my favorite level of the rank. Somewhat difficult but it's an excellent level with a great solution! The only tricky part is saving the climbers, but it's all about proper sequencing of the skills.

Glacial 11 - Frozen MeleMele Island Upon first glance, I thought this was going to be a difficult and very annoying level to pull off, but it wasn't that bad at all. Even then, the solution's not obvious at all.

Glacial 12 - Gift the Miners This was another excellent level! I really like this one as well. Another no builders one, but it's very easy.

Krampus Rank Feedback

Krampus 1 - Ice Puppy Pathway Somewhat easy and great level to start off the rank. Once you figure out the start, the rest is somewhat easy.

Krampus 2 - Building festive Wafflems Clearly a tribute to Wafflem in the title as well as the design with the waffles on the right side of the level. Wow, so many buttons. Not only that, the somewhat huge level size gives the impression of a daunting level. It was somewhat hard, but it's not too hard. It's a really nice puzzle, especially with figuring out how to get both the climber and swimmer lemmings to the right side of the level. Once you manage to do that, the rest is somewhat easy.

Krampus 3 - emmings Plus (No L) Clearly a tribute to the Lemmings Plus series by namida. I'm guessing LPI? Very tight timer but a really excellent puzzle. I kind of like this one, just the timer is very unforgiving and can be the thing to make others rage. I don't mind time limits in the game, so I'm good here. Just started getting a bit annoyed when I had the solution but I had to do it again because I released the crowd too late. The hardest part is the start due to the 99RR, especially since they're headed towards immediate danger on both sides.

Krampus 4 - 32 degrees Nepsteranheit Clearly a tribute to Nepster from the level title. This rank appears to be tributes to other level designers, especially since this is the third level in a row to reference one. It might have something to do with the rank name, but I'm not familiar with what krampus is. Not a hard level, just very fiddly and difficult to pull off because of the pixel precision needed. Ugh!

Krampus 5 - I'm Dreaming of a GOLD xmas Very easy. Probably the easiest level in the entire rank. I have a lot of skills leftover.

Krampus 6 - A simple kringle climb, right? Somewhat difficult but a really good level! I really like this one It's fun watching the solution come together.

Krampus 7 - Gift Box Gibberish Yet another no builders level. This was a bit difficult, but still not too hard. Similar concept and easier than Glacial 7 IMO. Wow, they're in the same position with the level number.

Krampus 8 - New Years Preparation This one was pretty hard. Probably the hardest in the entire rank. Getting down safely is the most difficult part. It's even harder with the climber hatch, as even when you're successful in making splatforms for the non-climber hatch, there are many walls the climbers will climb up and will splat when dropping back down. The very tall level really makes it very daunting. I almost wanted to skip this one due to thinking I was going to be stuck here for a long time, especially since many times I would do well but then something catches me off guard, particularly saving the ones from the climber hatch as mentioned before. Skills are also very tight, and so the solution is extremely difficult to figure out, especially when trying to conserve your constructive skills as much as possible.

Krampus 9 - Chips, Dips and Drips Difficult one as well, but nowhere near as hard as the previous level. I especially tend to have a lot of problems with levels that give a lot of stackers, but this one wasn't bad. Probably the hardest part was making sure no one falls into the water after digging away the pillars in the bottom left corners on both sides, as well as getting up on the top right. I kept trying to see if I could just make it with just one builder whenever possible, since I kept thinking I would run out of builders otherwise. Turns out there's more than enough builders, after getting the pickups, to use a second one in the aforementioned places. The top left also needs two builders to get up. I ended up using all the skills.

Krampus 10 - This christmas bytes Ugh, another level with so many buttons. Luckily, this one's not that much harder than Krampus 2. I say the hardest part is getting to all the buttons on both sides in the middle. I think it's necessary to get both diggers going around the exact same time. Also I left one of the climbers trapped, as the save requirement allows one to do that and you only have enough skills to release one of them on either side.

Krampus 11 - Gateway of Krampus Difficult no builders puzzle, but I absolutely like this one! The huge level size makes it appear daunting. I have never seen this exit before. I simply tested it to see if lemmings would exit in the top right, and once that was confirmed, I proceeded to think through and solve the level. I absolutely love how you have to figure out each section on both the top and bottom. Skills surprisingly ran out really fast, so it's also necessary to conserve whenever possible even though they look plentiful.

Krampus 12 - Snow Point Matrix For the final level of the pack, it's nowhere near the hardest, but it's still difficult and challenging enough as is. The most difficult section is definitely the right side, the bottom right entrance especially. The middle is also difficult. The bottom left of the middle area appears to be splat height, but it's not. The bottom right of the middle area, however, is. I definitely wouldn't think the level is as hard had I used CPM to confirm where each teleporter leads beforehand, but I rose to the challenge and figured stuff out as I went. This one's definitely harder than either of the final two levels in your 2015 Christmas pack. Again, skills look plentiful, but they all run out very fast. Especially the builders. In the end, I manage to have only 1 builder left. I surprisingly used all climbers too, but plenty of gliders left.

This level does have an issue in that the climbers from the bottom left who climb into the water which has the appearance of fire don't swim and simply walk in it as if the water wasn't there. However, when coming back from the left they do swim as usual. So, it appears that the trigger area of the water is misplaced. Even then, I still gave the climbers the swimmer skill as there's a lot of them and it certainly doesn't really break the level in any way. It's just the fire water doesn't work as intended when coming from the right. 

Overall, an excellent pack which I definitely like way more than your Holiday 2015 pack. The Holiday 2015 pack was great too, but your Holiday 2016 pack is even better IMO. These levels were far more satisfying to figure out and solve. I believe with the completion of solving this pack, I have now played all of your very old packs for Old Formats or older. I will be giving your Festival Millas packs a look-see soon! The ones that are released I haven't played at all yet.