Lemmings Plus Alpha - Development Topic

[namida]

This pack has now been released - see the release topic.



So... I decided lately to make a new pack. My original intention was that I was going to make Lemmings Plus VII, but I just wasn't feeling it with creating graphic sets, so I decided to do something different.

Thus - I'm now working on Lemmings Plus Alpha. A relatively small pack - only 45 levels, across 3 ranks (Mutilation, Decimation, Obliteration) - that revisits the Original and OhNo graphic sets, the only ones used in the Lemmings Plus series that haven't been paired up with use of NeoLemmix features. It also makes use of the previously-unused Sega set. This pack resolves that, as it does make use of NL skills, etc. Not all of the levels are going to be brand new - I've repurposed some of my spare levels (including some that were originally Community Pack submissions but were later withdrawn while that seemed dead) to use in this pack. Probably about 10 or so levels are not new, though many of these have had backroute fixes since the last seen versions.

Difficulty? If all goes to plan, this should end up being my hardest pack yet. At any rate, expect it to be hard.

You can download a six-level demo here: https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?id=284
This demo features two levels from each rank.
As with LPI, this pack (including the demo) was designed with the Master System version musics in mind.

(For the record: Only three levels for LPVII got made before I changed my mind on it. Two have been remade in Orig/OhNo styles for Alpha; the third one really wasn't all that great.)



Current progress: All levels have been created. Testing and ordering are ongoing. No level currently has known backroutes.

[namida]

Alright, so most of you who are interested, by now, would've clicked the download link, and many of you would've realised something dodgy was going on. Some might've realised that just from the way the post is written.

The truth? Lemmings Plus Alpha is a real pack. The prank wasn't that the pack is fake, but rather that the demo download link (sort of) was, while the pack itself was a real pack being played off as a prank.

The download link actually had three possible results, with equal probabilities. The first result - an actual 3-level demo. The second result - a fake demo also consisting of three levels, but two of them were silly levels and the third was impossible (EDIT: Or at least, it was intended to be - one person has actually managed to solve it). The third result - a good ol' rickroll.

I've now made the opening post more serious, and the link now points only to the actual demo. Additionally, it's now a four-level demo - I added the real level that the joke demo's impossible level was a modification of.

If you didn't get the fake demo and want to see it - you can download it here: https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?id=280

Original content of opening post

So I thought it's time to make another pack! I didn't feel like new graphic sets, so I did something I haven't done in a while - I'm working on a pack using the official graphic sets.

It's going to be a really awesome pack, maybe the best pack in Lemmings history! I'm building a pack and making the weasels pay for it! I've got some awesome levels that were unused, that are going into this one so they aren't wasted, but most will be all new and totally awesome!

Not only that, but it's SUPER hard. Like really, really, really hard. Maybe even impossible. Who knows.

And guess what, I've already got a 3 level demo ready for you all! Why 3? Because that's how many I decided to have.

<Link removed>

I bet none of you can complete it! But it's still gonna be the best pack ever!

[Proxima]

How intricate I got the real demo and played through it during break this morning. I'll post feedback and replays in case you want them, but let me know if I shouldn't post them publicly yet and I can remove them.

Comments

Level 1: Decent level but pretty simple. This would work well as an early level.

Level 2: Not sure if this was intended! If so, it was a very nice puzzle, looking thoroughly impossible until I spotted the trick.

Level 3: Perhaps a bit simpler than 2 but still very imposing at first. It was a tad annoying that the brute-force route (bash, build, climb, bomb, mine, walker) fails by a single pixel and there's another red herring route that fails by only two; but in both cases it was clear enough that the routes couldn't be made to work, so I didn't spend much time on them. One feature I particularly like -- I've spoken about this before in discussions of the walker in general -- is that you don't know beforehand how it will be used, so it's plausible to examine routes where it's used differently.

[namida]

In general - any level I've posted publicly, it's acceptable to publicly post replays and/or feedback for (even if I haven't posted my own replays yet). Of course, don't assume any other author applies the same standards - that's just my standards.

Will post feedback shortly.

EDIT: All three solutions are intended, though it's possible to complete the second one much faster.

Re: Level 2

Bomb the blocker, when the worker is at the highest point of the clump with the steel block - this does NOT have to be particularly precise. If you do this, the timing for the rest of the level should fall into place immediately, instead of having to wait many cycles for everything to line up.

Based on feedback from you and from a tester, I think I may have to reconsider the position of the 2nd demo level; I think I've underestimated its difficulty.

[namida]

I've uploaded an updated version of the real demo, with a backroute fix to the third level "Mission: Difficult". The other three levels are unchanged.

I won't be making further updates to the demo, though this doesn't rule out further backroute fixes to the demo levels in the eventual release version.

[namida]

Only 7 levels to go now. Also, the 2nd rank is now full - although I expect there'll be a lot of reordering happening, as I haven't paid too much attention to ordering so far.

I've also decided that in addition to the 5 Orig and 4 Ohno sets, I'll also be using the Sega set in this pack - this is the first time it's appeared in Lemmings Plus.

[namida]

I think I've set a new record for most backroute-prone level I've created. T_T

This level - which hasn't even been seen by playtesters yet - has already been modified to fix backroutes six times. And the latest version still has one. It's almost to the point where I think I need to scrap most of the level and build a new level around the key trick...

EDIT: Ultimately, I'm not sure if the intended trick even can be enforced. I might try it again on another level, but ultimately, I've given this level an entirely new solution (with an entirely different right half).

[namida]

Well, it's official, I've now created all 45 levels!

Of course, there's still some testing and ordering to do. I already have a couple of testers, but if anyone else is interested, feel free to drop me a PM.

Style usage - somewhat intentionally - is quite balanced, at least over the pack as a whole. There's five levels each in Fire, Marble, Pillar, Brick and Sega styles, and four levels each in Dirt, Crystal, Rock, Snow and Bubble styles.

While this may be open to change based on testing feedback, the pack currently begins with a Dirt level, and ends with a Pillar level. The third rank also begins with a Dirt level, but neither of the other ranks end with a Pillar level. It's hard to say for sure at this stage, but the level I'd guess is the hardest one is a Brick level. The one I'd guess is easiest is a Sega level. The last level in creation order is a Sega level. The first one in creation order, I'm not entirely sure due to re-use of some old levels, but I think it was a Fire level.

There's none of the super huge levels that a few of my other packs had; all levels are confirmed solvable in under 6 minutes game time (and all but three in under 5 minutes). Super-hard though... you bet.

[namida]

I decided to update the demo again. It now reflects a closer-to-final order, has (based on current ordering) two levels from each rank... which yes, means I've added two more levels to the demo.

https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?id=284

[joshescue18]

Finished the demo.

[namida]

Finished the demo.

All the solutions are intended or acceptable.

[namida]

Decimation 12, "A Lot Of Lemming Going On Here"

Save 28 of 30, SR 90, no time limit
1 Floater, 1 Bomber, 1 Platformer, 4 Builders, 2 Bashers, 1 Miner, 1 Digger

This one seems to be the worst offender backroute-wise so far. I've just sent out the 15th test version (yes, even more so than White Noise, which actually seems to be quite solid now!). This level first showed up in the 5th test version, and almost every update since has included a backroute fix to this level. T_T The two most recent updates have consisted solely of fixes to this level.

[namida]

Obliteration 10, "Dirty Joke"

Save 16 of 20, SR 75 (Locked), no time limit
1 bomber, 7 builders, 5 stackers, 3 diggers

This is one of the last remaining stragglers among backroute-prone levels - and to be fair, that might be because this level was added much more recently than any other. The original Obliteration 10 had a backroute that seemed unfixable, so I replaced it with this as a new level. (That removed level later got put back, with the backroute intact, at an earlier position, since the tester who found the backroute mentioned that it was still pretty challenging to even find that. In place, a different level - probably the worst one in the pack - got removed.)

This is also the second-widest and second-largest level in Lemmings Plus Alpha, at 1016 pixels wide (x 240 tall), beaten by a level of 1296x200 (259,200 pixels total, vs 243,840 total for Dirty Joke). Both these levels fall well short on tallest level though, as one level is 400 pixels tall (though only 160 pixels wide). Despite the size, Dirty Joke's intended solution replay solves in under 3:30 - and I'm almost certain this could be brought under 3 minutes, and maybe even under 2:30, with some optimization.