[NFNL] Insane Steve's World

[kaywhyn]

Chaotic rank completed, so back with more replays and feedback. Also just modified the previous post and linked the LP of the pack there. I generally do that in the first post where I give feedback, but I forgot to this time

Chaotic Rank Feedback

Even harder levels here, with solving times slowed considerably, but plenty of great levels here.

Spoiler

Chaotic 1 - Rhapsody I remember this level, especially since I recently played this on the Lemmini version of RotL. I struggled a bit to remember how I solved it, but I eventually managed it. The time limit can be tight.

Chaotic 2 - Betcha can't save just one! I also played this level before. Saving one is easy, but saving more is harder, which we'll see in Hopeless 2.

Chaotic 3 - The Loser's Loop Seems that it's intended to make a builder wall to turn everyone around to the left to go to the exit. Only 5 should slip by by the time it is ready.

Chaotic 4 - The Razor's Edge (Part 3) This is definitely my favorite of all "The Razor's Edge" levels I've seen so far in the pack. It's especially clever to modify how much of the builder step is past the wall each time so that he can land on the very bottom one. Also getting down and getting back up is done in quite a clever way!

Chaotic 5 - A Towering Proposition I also remember playing this level before, and it's also in RotL. I was struggling to remember how to solve this one, but again, I managed to figure it out again. Here, it's not required to cancel a miner at all, especially when they're both climbers, as this is nearly impossible to do. Instead, one just needs to have the second one turn around while the miner tunnel is in progress.

Chaotic 6 - Leave your sanity at the door! I think I remember playing this before too. I kind of remember it being harder on Dos when I first played it, but here it wasn't as bad as I thought. Almost a breather in a way, although there's still some juggling that needs to be done.

Chaotic 7 - Boss on Parade Yet another one I remember. Much harder on Lemmini due to how you don't know if you placed the builder correctly or not to prevent anyone from following the worker. I think I remember the bashing being a bit easier on Lemmini, though. On NL, the level is only slightly easier due to skill shadows. However, the bashing is probably harder on NL due to how it's more sensitive.

Chaotic 8 - Obevat Yriry I have no idea what the title means. I think I remember playing this before. One of my favorites of the rank! Here I was a dummy and built at the top instead of in the narrow corridor to temporarily hold the crowd. Bombing the staircase so that no one goes out to the left can be hard. I really like bashing to the left-most entrance so that they can climb out!

Chaotic 9 - Split Complementaries I think I remember playing this before, but I'm not sure. Certainly the hardest part is rescuing all the entrances as quickly as you can before you lose too many. One is a splat hatch, the other 3 are all over bottomless pits. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of having to constantly scroll back and forth to check on different parts of the level. This quickly gets annoying for me.

Chaotic 10 - 98... 99... Ok, this elicited a huge "is this level even possible in 1 minute?" reaction out of me. Now that I think about it, I kind of vaguely recall playing this level with the very tight time limit. It's easier on Dos due to how the clock is slower, as well as the pause before the hatch opens trick for more time. Of course this level is possible, otherwise why would it be in here? Just barely possible, as everyone in my solution just barely made it in with a second to spare.

Chaotic 11 - I Am I.S. (Part 2 Nice twist on the "I Am A.T." level, but with miners instead and not diggers or bashers. Definitely seems to be the easiest out of the original level that it's based on and Part 1. Just need to make sure to destroy all the terrain in the way, as well as keeping the spacing of the miners such that when the steel stops them the slope is such that the crowd can still go towards the exit later.

Chaotic 12 - Vertically Challenged Lemmings I'm already familiar with the building and digging to move horizontally trick from Dos, as I grew up with that version. Therefore, this level was easy for me. Also, I've played this level before.

Chaotic 13 - A Tribute to Masonry I don't recognize it, so I'm sure I haven't played it before. Maybe from the original tileset it was made in I will, but if it was originally part of another engine besides Lemmix/Dos then I won't recognize it. I totally thought the blocks with a question mark on them was steel. I'm already familiar with bombing and bashing in the hole to make a turn around point, so this was also easy for me. This is another favorite of mine in the rank!

Chaotic 14 - 3.1.1.1.1. Not sure what the title is referring to. I was a dummy here and overthought the end part, as I missed that one just needs to dig out the first triangular terrain piece you get to at the bottom so that the crowd can walk up to the top. Really great level here! Once the crowd is contained in the starting area, the rest is easy. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I do remember the poles here on the right side, I just don't remember what tileset the level was originally in.

Chaotic 15 - It Could Happen to Anyone I totally underestimated this one. It's not too hard, but the time limit is the biggest enemy here. Even then, I don't mind time limits at all, especially since I love math/numbers. I ran out of time with the last few exiting, but I had already saved more than enough when that happened. Seems the key is getting everyone in the digger pit ASAP so that they don't have as far to walk. Also saving the hatch that's over acid ASAP before you lose too many.

Chaotic 16 - Laser Deathroom Once again, I'm already familiar with the "dig as soon as a builder brick is laid down and then building to turn around" trick, so this was somewhat easy for me. Seems that it's absolutely needed here. Very nice puzzle.

Chaotic 17 - Split Complementaries (Part 2) This is a fine puzzle involving having to figure out how to rescue those who can't get a floater since there's only enough for half of the Lemmings, but honestly I hated this due to all the constant scrolling back and forth. Perhaps that was just simply me making things harder on myself than I needed to, but I did quickly get annoyed from having to do that all the time here. Definitely need to keep a cool head here. Might had played this before, but I honestly can't recall.

Chaotic 18 - I Challenge You to a Dual! Now here's a level I remember playing before! The hardest part here was simply catching all the climbers from the bottom hatch. Once you're successful there, the rest is easy.

Chaotic 19 - Honey, I shrunk the Levels... Definitely remember playing this before. Not too hard of a level, but once again annoyed with the constant scrolling back and forth. I do like how this level is 4 mini-levels in one: Origins and Lemmings/The Crankshaft, Don't let your eyes deceive you/If at first you don't succeed..., Save me, and Been there, seen it, done it/The ascending pillar scenario.

Chaotic 20 - Phone Call from Outer Space I don't think I've played this level before. Another great one and a favorite of mine. The only hard part is getting another climber to turn around due to the work of another climber in order to bash the crowd out. Fortunately, there's enough time to build to the exit.

Chaotic 21 - Agitator Very easy. Complete breather here.

Chaotic 22 - 3 Separate Paths I really love the level concept and solution here, but the most frustrating part was getting the timing of two of the lemmings correct in order to get a climber up the final pole on the right. I definitely remember how very annoying this was on Dos. It just requires so much restarting/rewinding.

Chaotic 23 - Fall and no Life (Part 3) Nice twist on the "Fall and no Life" level. I don't think I've ever played this version before, only the two original ones. This one's just as good as the other two. Improper skill sequencing got me in trouble here. One is supposed to send the floater down the left side, not the right side, first. Then he needs to come back up to get to the right side to bash them out. The trick of building and then mining to hit steel to turn around is needed here. Also, need to build on the far left in such a way so that it blocks the lemmings from below from going up and over to the left.

Chaotic 24 - Separation Anxiety Ugh, I definitely remember how very annoying this is on Dos. I also remember the time limit being very strict here. Indeed, I checked and it has a 2-minute timer. It's very annoying due to how on Dos there's no directional select, therefore it results in a lot of incorrect builder placements to get the crowd down. I'm guessing that's why there's a lot of builders. The level would had been fine otherwise if it wasn't for the very frustrating parts of selecting the right lemming and being able to get the builder blockades correct.

Chaotic 25 - Just Stop the Bleeding Probably the hardest level in the entire rank due to the 99 RR and how the Lemmings go out in both directions. This one took a long time before I solved it. Seems the key for the left is to build and dig so that no one else can slip out to the left. For a while, I kept thinking to use a miner on the starting platform to prevent slipping out to the left, but it turns out that the builder needs to be placed very carefully, not the instant a lemming steps up on the grey/silver terrain piece. I don't recall if I ever played this version ever. Really nice repeat of Peaceful 1 with a lot of tileset mixing.

Chaotic 26 - The Base 10 Level Very nice repeat of Peaceful 4. I especially love the miner/builder combo and bashing to free the right entrance. I made the left side harder than I needed to, where it can be made easier by bashing inside the miner tunnel higher. This took me a while to see for some reason.

Chaotic 27 - Sacrifice for the Dragon I very well remember this level. Nothing too hard here either, other than being quick enough to save both hatches before you lose too many. Almost a complete breather here.

Chaotic 28 - It's One or the Other I completely ignored one of the Lemmings from the left entrance. This one wasn't as hard as I thought. Might had played this before, but I don't remember at all.

Chaotic 29 - Toy Story Returns! I wonder if this is a reference to the Pixar movie Toy Story. I love that movie a lot. Somewhat difficult, but it wasn't too bad at all. I had to fiddle with the RR a bit to get the blocker to turn the builder at the bottom just right, though. I also could had made the top a bit easier by sending out a climber to dig out the second half of the OWW first before sending another climber out to dig the other half out. That way splatting wouldn't be a problem. Also there are some extra diggers to help with it. Another way to turn someone around would be to bash so that there's still terrain to help the other climber turn around, but blocking out of the way is the easiest way to turn a Lemming around to mine and bomb the bottom crowd out.

Chaotic 30 - Back and Forth Definitely not a very hard level, but it gave me more problems than I thought it would. Certainly the hardest part is making sure the right-most entrance doesn't all go out and drown in the water on the right. Builders ran out far faster than I thought they would, so that's the main puzzle: Figuring out how to make the most of the very limited builder supply you're given. I've also learned from Swerdis that it's possible to plug up the tiny gap so that he doesn't get trapped in between the wall and builder. It needs to be done the instant the climber finishes hoisting so that it makes a nice climber friendly wall. Seems that it's absolutely necessary to bash out to the left with the entrance on the right and start building up to the exit to prevent too many losses. So, some multitasking is needed.

I'm continuing to enjoy this pack a lot and only have the Hopeless rank to play through! Be back with the rest of the replays once I get through it Hope the LP has been enjoyable.

[Proxima]

Chaotic 8 - Obevat Yriry I have no idea what the title means.

https://rot13.com/

[kaywhyn]

And, Hopeless rank completed and hence the entire pack. Back with replays and feedback for just the Hopeless rank.

Hopeless Rank Feedback

Possibly some of the hardest levels in the entire pack, and the rank where some levels finally require multiple videos to solve. I think there was only a few easy ones, but a lot of these were difficult. Nevertheless, there were truly some great ones that are my favorites here!

Spoiler

Hopeless 1 - The Shaft (Part 2) I prefer manually recreating the solution, hence why I didn't load my replay for Peaceful 30. So really, it's just repeat my Peaceful 30 solution, although obviously there's still some differences. In particular, the end part is a lot easier due to the wooden plank at the top being the original long length again. I acknowledge that it was an attempt to dissuade going for the right exit in Peaceful 30, but alas that wasn't enough to prevent me from going for it

Hopeless 2 - Betcha can't lose just one! Another repeat, except this time you need to save 3 instead of 1! Exact same skillset with the exact same layout, just the challenge is saving 3. Definitely harder. This is one I haven't played before, I think. I've only played the save 1 version, from RotL. This one was difficult for me. Here, the hardest part was timing the Lemmings so that I could use one to block at the end of the builder staircase to turn the builder around at just the right time. Also destroying the triangular slope terrain to get everyone else up, as I think the builder staircase on it has to be pretty precise in order to be able to reach the exit platform with a builder.

Hopeless 3 - Bowser's Revenge! Difficult one but a favorite of mine! Very good puzzle with a really good solution. There's some tempting red herrings to take that eventually don't work due to taking too many skills. That's super clever with using a faller to bomb to make a hole for another climber to climb into to bash the crowd out. Also with timing the climbers so that the second one turns around in the basher tunnel to clear the path for the crowd. Very well-done here! The only thing is that the builder to the ceiling on top of the structure at the bottom is precise so that he turns around to mine through it.

Hopeless 4 - A Matter of Perspective This was a difficult one for me, but that's because I was a really big dummy here for a long time. This level does a great job of making you think that certain skills go in certain locations. However, if you do otherwise from the intended solution, you will always lose at least someone to splatting. Even though the builder is slower than the platformer in sealing off gaps, the correct skill for the first gap the right entrance gets to is a builder. You need to do it in such a way so that the wall is still too high by the time the gap is sealed off so that a lemming and the builder himself turns around. I have used this trick before in some solutions to some other custom levels, but this escaped me for a while here. Once you do that, the rest is easy. This was another great level that I enjoyed when I finally figured and solved it.

Hopeless 5 - Welcome to the Warp Zone! Very easy. This is just like that one Clammings level near the end of the final rank, as it requires the exact same thing near the exit area. Building to prevent lemmings from splatting, but also a builder wall to turn everyone back towards the exit.

Hopeless 6 - The Perch (Part 2) Very nice level, although here I had visualizing how the solution should look for a while. I'm already familiar with the level idea, as there is a level that requires nearly the same thing in United, hence why I knew the ideas needed pretty much right away. It just simply took me a while to think about how the solution should look. The fact this level doesn't provide builders increases the difficulty significantly from the original version in the Difficult rank. However, I love builderless levels.

Hopeless 7 - Having Your Cake... One of my absolute favorites! I can definitely see this one giving casual players problems. I struggled with solving this only due to how you have two obstacles, so shouldn't you be given two miners? Nope, you simply use the fact that the destruction mask of a miner is quite high so that you can release the top crowd from below! Not only that, I love how the miner uses the builder staircases to mine through the terrain to get to the exit. This is just a really good level that I struggled for some time but had that awesome eureka moment! The athletic skills and top right are complete red herrings.

Hopeless 8 - Tribute to Benny Hill Not too hard of a level, but still challenging. Somehow I feel there are easier ways to solve the level than the solution I found. I'm very confused by the 30 minute time limit. Since I managed to finish just barely under 30 seconds, perhaps you meant a 30 second time limit instead?

Hopeless 9 - Razor's Revenge Another great level. As expected, it uses the same level idea of leaving a builder step past a wall. Not only that, it requires it be done from both sides! I thought this one wasn't hard at all.

Hopeless 10 - Out of Luck Nice level idea where you have to ignore one entrance completely. In this case, the right entrance is ignored. Easy one, although here I was successful in cancelling out the miner so that I saved 1 over the requirement. Guess I got lucky

Hopeless 11 - Out of Luck Again Almost the same layout. There's a modification around the left entrance area, where they cannot land on the platform before falling into the pit. Instead, they fall off the bottom of the screen. So, the left entrance is ignored this time. It still took me a while to solve this one. Seems the bomber and miner are very precise here in order to make a safe drop for them. Also, I could had made it easier by having a lemming in the pit be a climber to start building to really ensure the staircase doesn't block the other climbers.

Hopeless 12 - Out of Luck Yet Again This time, it's pretty much combining parts of solutions to the previous two levels, as well as something else that wasn't done in either of them. They all have to use the right exit this time. These 3 all had interesting level concepts and were a great series.

Hopeless 13 - The Walk-in Closet from Hell I surprisingly struggled so much with this one. In the end, I found a very fiddly solution that has a lot of pixel precision and also needs some really good timing so that you finish on time. This avoids using any of the climbers. I still occasionally hit myself for missing the much easier solutions that I saw both Icho and Swerdis move I think it's because I kept thinking that more than 10 Lemmings would be trapped at the bottom and hence I would need more than 10 climbers.

Hopeless 14 - Jumping the Shark I guess easier than the previous one in my case, although if you found the easier solution for that one then this one would be more difficult. Really, the only hard part is making sure that the only builders are used for the gaps and splatform. In other words, one shouldn't use a builder for getting the crowd up to where the water gap is, or you won't have enough to solve the level. Nice level, nevertheless, and one which I remember playing on Dos first.

Hopeless 15 - Crown Jewel Heist There's the repeat of "Laser Deathroom" where it seems that the main trick is enforced here. I refer to this as "air dropping." Very nice level concept here! The only hard part was working out the top part to fall down from and keep the builder staircases going until the exit can be reached safely.

Hopeless 16 - Bash and no time This was one of the levels that I couldn't solve when I first played it on Dos. If you take the normal route by bashing into the open windows every time, you're not going to be able to save enough before time runs out. Then, when I came back to this level years later, I was able to figure it out and get it solved. Very nice nuke solution for a level that provides only bashers!

Hopeless 17 - Watch ye Step! A really great 1-of-everything level that involves blocking a basher midstroke so that only 1 lemming goes on ahead to forge the path. It has to be done at specific spot so as to be able to release the blocker later. I think my solution on the Lemmini version for RotL is different from this one, although if I'm not mistaken, the save requirement is relaxed for it?

Hopeless 18 - Obscene Polarization Another great level! I absolutely love the solution of connecting the bomber holes together so that the Lemmings from the hatch will splat all the way at the very bottom of the level. Well done here! Now that I think about it, I might have played this level before, as the layout seems familiar here with the level concept, but I'm not so sure.

Hopeless 19 - Segmentation Fault Even though this still took me some time, nothing very hard here other than rescuing the left hatch as quickly as possible before you lose too many. Seems that it's absolutely necessary to give a walker to the very first Lemming on the right hatch right away in order to achieve this. Nice puzzle here.

Hopeless 20 - Empty Space is Hardly a Waste I surprisingly struggled with this one. In earlier attempts, I thought I had the solution, only to find out that I would save 1 less than the requirement. I really love how leaving a builder step past the wall serves as a splatform for the ones on the left side. The bomber is quite precise, but other than that a great level here.

Hopeless 21 - The duct rise Lemmings Another level I remember playing before. Another favorite of mine as well. The only hard part is cancelling a digger with another digger so that one of the climbers turns around to build over the gap and then bomb from the other side to release the crowd from the other side. Solution is just so awesome!

Hopeless 22 - Parallel Rotation Another very hard one for me and second level to require more than one video to solve. The biggest problem I had were the climbers, as well as the correct way to go about the level. There were some gaps I have would be sealed before the next Lemming arrives, but unfortunately at least one would always slip by or splat. The eventual solution I found is quite precise, especially with the builder at the very far left to get to the exit. Pretty much the miner to get the crowd out of the pit, as well as the bomber and builder, are precise. Same with the builder on the far right. Still a nice level IMO, I just didn't expect this level to give me so many problems.

Hopeless 23 - Now that's just silly I really like the level concept of mining and repeatedly blocking to turn the miner around and releasing a blocker each time, but this level would be one of those where I'm generally not a fan of repeatedly spamming the same skill over and over several times in a very short amount of time. At the same time, much easier than the previous level. The only hard part here is building in the right place so that a bomber removes the overhang and still makes it a climber friendly wall for the others that need to get up the wall.

Hopeless 24 - Mazeochism I have no idea what the level title means. A level that wasn't as bad as I thought, and quite a nice one too. I'm not sure if the second lemming drowning is intended, but that was the only way I found to spare a skill to be able to solve the level.

Hopeless 25 - Get Hype Another favorite of mine in the rank. I pretty much had the solution down, just had a misconception of which Lemming to bomb. You need to bomb the climber to stop the miner, not the miner gets bombed. I already know this trick from United, just took me some time to realize this.

Hopeless 26 - The Decent Descent I struggled here for a while. I remember not having as many problems with this level on Lemmini. Indeed, I checked my solution after I solved this, and the biggest reason for why it's somewhat easier is due to how when a miner hits steel or OWAs going in the opposite direction, they keep going in the same direction they were walking before they started mining instead of turning around. The mining to get the crowd down safely without splatting seems very precise, but that's something I brought onto myself. Also took me a while to see that a bomber is enough to have everyone go out to the right but turn back to the right when hitting the left side so that no one walks into the rope trap.

Hopeless 27 - This is a gate level Another level I remember playing before. This is a really good one. Fortunately, I was able to remember the solution fairly quickly on this one. Very nice trick of bashing away the first thin bar so that climbers can be released to forge the path. The only hard part is timing them so that two of them will turn around while a basher tunnel is in progress, and then the first one going back to the right bombs so that the other climber can fall through to forge the path at the bottom.

Hopeless 28 - The Top Shelf Another really good one and a favorite of mine! I figured out the solution very quickly, just had the misconception of sending out climbers to the left instead of going out to the right. Once again, same idea with having two turn to the left at the top. Uses the trick of bombing a faller in midair to release a blocker, which is a trick I first learned in United. I recently saw another a level in Lemmings Plus 3 that would make the level easier but the solution I found doesn't use that. I also love how this is a builderless level. Now that I think about it, I feel as if I've played this level before, as the layout seems familiar. If I have played it before, I don't remember the tileset it's originally in.

Hopeless 29 - Hey that's not cool guys If I'm not mistaken, this level is found in the NL/Lemmix version of RotL. I think the solution here is different from the one I found when I played through said version of RotL, as I don't remember using this solution for it here. The only hard part here is sealing off the gap on the very far left side before anyone arrives and drowns. Seems that it's necessary to interrupt the basher midstroke early in order to achieve this. Otherwise, nice level and not too hard at all. That is clever to dig down and bash into the wrong direction of the OWAs to turn around to mine to get the crowd to the exit.

Hopeless 30 - The Mon0lith I was told by Swerdis that this wouldn't be bad at all, but I'll have to disagree here, as I thought this level was difficult, so it's fitting as the final level of the rank/pack. This is the third and final level that needed more than one video to solve. During my break, I thought about using a digger to stop the miner at the top. in this way, I would spare a builder from being used that would help get the level solved. From there, it was all about placing the miners correctly so that it's possible to build up without leaving a gap. The time limit seems generous, but it is surprisingly tight here. I do like how the crowds need to be compressed so that a basher needs to be used to turn everyone around. Seems to be required twice here. I think I would had saved 1 over the requirement had a Lemming had a head start to bash at the top first so that only 1 basher was needed instead of 2 to turn everybody around. Still a cool level to round off the pack.

Overall, I absolutely loved and enjoyed LPing this pack. Lots of tricks to be learned here, and plenty of nice challenges that were very satisfying to figure out. Since I learned a lot of these tricks from United long before I played this pack, I wonder if Icho got a lot of inspiration for his United levels from this pack. If it was the other way around, i.e, I played this pack before playing United, I'm not sure if there would had been some levels that I wouldn't had been able to figure out, due to learning the trick from an Insane Steve's level first instead of learning them from United first, which was the case for me. I think that's pretty much the reason why I had somewhat of an easier time on the levels that required those tricks because of how I already learned them from playing United.

Anyway, good job to both mobius and Wafflem for converting the pack to New Formats NL. This is another great and favorite level pack of mine This is a bit on the large side, 150 levels in total, the first of this kind that I have LPed in quite a while, after the last one of David's The Lemmings Have Grown pack that I finished LPing several months ago earlier this year, as well as LPI before that several months prior. I think at this point Strato's LWT is really the only very big level pack left to LP, although there's still several others, including Lemmings Redux, Pimolems, and Dovelems. Once I do those, then I think the remaining packs will all be 100 levels or less.

Hope the LP of the pack is/has been enjoyable, and I look forward to reading any feedback on my solutions!

[mobius]

thanks so much for the extra super detailed feedback and of course the videos! I' ve started watching the videos. Major update likely to come to this pack after I finish with that

[mobius]

update to fix several backroutes and position changes. See first post for download.

VERSION 3: October 2021
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Level set was cleansed and all styles should be present and working. Should work as is.
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Peaceful 28 - decoration changed slightly.

Menacing 29 Endeavor increased save requirement to 74.

Chaotic 11 - I am I.S. part 2 - has a few slightly easier solutions but no fixes atm.
Chaotic 16 Laser Death Room -- removed all diggers.
Chaotic 27 Sacrifice for the Dragon - moved to near the beginning of rank
Chaotic 28 - small terrain change.

Hopeless 8 Tribute to Benny Hill - some small changes and lemming count to remove backroute.
Hopeless 26 - small terrain changes.
Hopeless 29 - one-way-wall added
Hopeless 30 - small decoration change; bashers reduced to 10.

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A couple level positions were moved but I forgot to write them down.
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other notes:
mass replay check says a few of the replays failed; yet they work fine when played manually.

thanks to Kaywhyn and Swerdis for these recent backroutes