cLemmings

[Minim]

Well, I'm excited about reviewing this particular set of levels; seeing how these sets of levels compare to my level pack. Could be the new Holiday Lemmings '96 and '97 respectively, with the difficulty ratings being Slush, Ice, Chill and Freeze. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/winktounge.gif" alt=";P" title="Wink-Tongue" class="smiley" />

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This isn't Holiday Lemmings, it's Holiday cLemmings. That makes it '94. Nice idea, though. I'm only using one rock level, though, just like the original set. And it's in Flurry.

[exit]

It's been a long time coming, and it's finally here. Holiday cLemmings 1994 is now released!

This will definitely be the most satisfying cLemmings game, with very few long levels, and many levels that will blow your mind(somewhat). Look at the topic post for download.

[namida]

I'll check these out later on. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />

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Okay. I look forward to your feedback.

[namida]

Frost:

Frost 3 - Nothing wrong with the level itself, but the title is a bit strange for a level that presents no risk of dying. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />
Frost 4 - This level very strongly resembles one of the Xmas/Holiday official levels (I'm not overly familiar with them so can't name exactly which one, but IIRC it's level 1 of something).
Frost 5 - No problems from a functional point of view, but it looks a bit bare. Maybe some extra decoration is in order?
Frost 8 - This could've had potential as a higher rank level with a more restricted set; either way though it's a neat level.
Frost 9 - Not really a fan of this one. :/
Frost 11 - This one is quite neat!
Frost 15 - This is another one that seems quite reminiscient of an official Xmas/Holiday level.

It's hard to say much as these are just the early levels, but they do seem fairly good for the most part. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />

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Quick Note: Frost was done very quickly(I made nine levels today), so it won't be the most satisfying. Hail will be much better, and Flurry is where the long levels end(no long levels in Blitz).

Frost 3: The title simply represents that you need to build past the pit, not actual death.
Frost 4: This is somewhat of a vague remake of the first level in Flurry. I was aware of the resemblance.
Frost 5: Like I said, I did nine levels today, including this one.
Frost 8: I was going with a Fun-type thing in the Frost rating, and if you recall, most of the Fun levels could have been harder with a more limiting skill set.
Frost 9: One of the rare builder-heavy levels. It goes very quickly if you use the ten second skip.
Frost 11: Thank you.
Frost 15: This one is also similar to a '94 level in Frost.

Looking forward to Hail.

[namida]

Hail 5 - I'm starting to feel like it's sliding back into the excessive amount of buildery levels by this point. :/
Hail 6 - This is a nice level! Though I feel it'd work better if the icicle was one pixel further to the right. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />
Hail 7 - See comment on Hail 5.
Hail 11 - Fun, if a bit easy.
Hail 12 - Did I backroute this, or are the builders just distractions? http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />
Hail 13 - ..................................................
Hail 14 - See comment on Hail 7.
Hail 16 - This is a really neat one! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

Replay set does not include Hail 14, I'm sure I don't need to explain why.

Got a few of the excessively buildery or otherwise seemingly pointless levels here, but for the most part, these are also pretty good. Though, a glitch level in the middle of a "normal" pack - and in a low rank at that - probably wasn't a good design choice.


As per your response for Frost 8 - yep, of course. Just pointing out that this one might've been a bit of wasted potential, that's all.

[namida]

Flurry 1 - Oh No! More Bomber Timing!
Flurry 2 - See comment on Hail 14. As far as the invisible exit go, it is hinted at, so credit to improving in *that* regard.
Flurry 3 - See comment on Flurry 2. From this point on, I'm not going to continue pointing out these excessively buildery levels; but if a replay is missing with no explanation given, you should probably assume that's why.
Flurry 4 - Apart from the obvious, buried exits are also starting to get annoying. It's fine if there's a thematic or strategic point to them, but a lot of these levels seem to be doing it just for the sake of doing so. :/
Flurry 5 - Proves my point in Flurry 4's comment; aside from that though this is actually a really good level. Though one suggestion - have the window hidden behind the terrain, the terrain being obscured by it is a bit annoying. And just wondering - is the title meant to be a South Park reference? http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />
Flurry 6 - A good level, but a bit on the easy side for this point.

Flurry 7 - I can't seem to solve this one, so must be pretty good! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" /> I have to go out for a bit now, so I'll pick up from here later on. Attached my replays for Flurry 1, 5 and 6.

[namida]

Flurry 7 - Okay, I beat it now. That was a GREAT level! Nice and short, but still challenging.
Flurry 9 - Using block-bombers as substitutes for other destructive skills is another thing you're doing far too much. It does not add any difficulty inherently - the reason it works for Mayhem 26 is because it forces you to take the route through thinner obstacles. When just used as a general substitute, all it does is make the level tedious.
Flurry 10 - Another really good one! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />
Flurry 11 - And another! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" /> The bomber timing needs to be very accurate, but for this level, there's not that much that can be done about that.
Flurry 12 - Good level, but I'm not quite sure what the bashers were meant to be for?
Flurry 13 - Major backroute here... unless that's what you intended, of course.
Flurry 15 - Another excellent one!
Flurry 16 - I'm sure I played another level like this one lately... might've been in GeoffLems? Though regardless, this is a very well known trick by now and this setup has been done a hundred times (including in some of my own levels - the intended solution to PSYCHO 30 from LPDOS uses this at one point, for example). Re-using the trick isn't inherently bad if you can come up with a new way to use it (or a new combination of tricks to use it as one part of), but re-using the setup gets kind of boring.

Contrary to what you say about them being "rare", there are a lot of builder-heavy levels this time around - although definitely not as many as in the original cLemmings. Levels that are long and tedious without nessecerially being builder-heavy are also... I wouldn't say *common*, but a bit more frequent than they should be. There's a lot of buried exits that seem to be so just for the sake of it, and a lot of levels that use bombers (although at least with blockers) in place of other destructive skills which does little but make the level annoying, unless there's a reason why bombers are more effective or (as in the example I gave before of Mayhem 26) the limited range of a bomber actually forms part of the challenge.

That being said, this pack also contains some of your best levels so far, too. I notice you mention that you put together many of the Frost levels in one day - that is often a recipe for disaster. Rather than throwing together low-quality rushed levels, take a bit longer to release the pack if need be. You're not working for a professional developer, you don't have any set release date to stick to. I'm also not sure if you've done this the same way as you did with ONMcL, but also don't focus on one rank at a time - just create levels, and when you've done one, put it where it suits best. If you find a really good more-restricted solution to a level, move it into a higher rank and reduce the skillset - it's easier to create a new low-rank level than it is to create a new high-rank one.

And yes, I still have one rank to go - going to play that now.

[namida]

Blitz 1 - An EXCELLENT level!
Blitz 2 - The only real difficulty on this one comes from the time limit which is generally just frustrating; this would've made a good level (with a higher time limit) for around the end of the 2nd rank or start of the 3rd, I reckon.
Blitz 3 - Another very good level. There is one minor issue - once again, important parts of the terrain end up hidden behind the window, so you should probably set it as No Overwrite.
Blitz 4 - Yet another great one! This might actually be my favorite of this pack so far.
Blitz 5 - Another good level, though maybe a bit easy. Also, why so many builders? - it can easily be solved with only 4 (or even 3 if you added another climber).
Blitz 6 - This one... it's definitely not bad, but it isn't great to the same extent as 4 of the last 5 were. Still - as I said, it's not bad either.
Blitz 7 - Again, this one isn't quite up to the standard of the earlier ones, but is still fairly good. Quite tight on time though.
Blitz 8 - This one is fairly good too! Took me a while to work out what to actually do, I was trying a few other approaches before I noticed this one might work.

I'll do the other half soon, but I wanted to end this post and give the comments at this point because there's something I feel should be pointed out ASAP,
which is that Blitz is a HUGE step up in quality from the first three ranks (at least so far). Out of these first 8 levels, 5 are great, and 2 more are still pretty good. Only one (Blitz 2) isn't so great, but even then it isn't bad, just not up to the same standards as the others. I'm wondering, did you by any chance spend significantly more time on Blitz than you did on the other ranks, or put more effort in, or something? Because if you did, it really shows so far - Blitz is great! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

[namida]

Blitz 9 - This level has the same problems as my own PSYCHO 2 from LPDOS, namely that you must fine-tune everything to virtually perfection in order to squeeze every leming in within the time limit, which is one reason why looking back I consider that to be one of my worst levels. :/
Blitz 10 - This is a fairly good level - though it can be solved with one less builder than given. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />
Blitz 11 - Another buried exit for no real reason, but this is a good level. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />
Blitz 12 - I SERIOUSLY hope my solution is a backroute... if not, this level belongs in the first rank, not the last...
Blitz 13 - Same here (though maybe not quite "first rank", but it's still too easy for the final one unless this is a backroute, which it probably is).
Blitz 14 - Another backroute?
Blitz 15 - Sorry, but this trick is SO well known that most players even have memorised exactly what release rate to use to do it with *just* builders (no digger). http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />
Blitz 16 - This is a good level, but I don't really think it's suited to being the *final* level. Just my opinion though.

The levels that I backrouted do look like they could be very interesting if the backroutes were patched, and in general, the second half of Blitz mostly kept up the high standard of quality seen in the first half.

Overall, while the first three ranks were a bit hit-and-miss - though still had some EXCELLENT levels in there - Blitz was extremely good, quite consistently. Well done! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />

[Minim]

Whoa. I haven't even downloaded the set yet. I was actually going to have a go at reviewing these levels let alone trying them. Namida's so quick. Maybe I'll just see how these compare to my set of levels. From my instincts and by looking at his review of levels this should be a good set.

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My replies for Hail and above:

Hail 5: As you've already noticed, the buildery levels thin out going up to Blitz and then(in my opinion) completely disappear.
Hail 12: Obviously you can't do the builder solution since you only have one minute, so the builders are just distractions for people who don't pay attention to the time.
Hail 16: Thanks.

Flurry 1: One of the two levels in this whole set with timed bombers.
Flurry 2: The showing part is meant to have you know that you don't need to build into it. I was originally making a level somewhat like this, but with the title saying "read the level" and the level saying "no entry no exit". I ended up using all 256 terrain pieces. Then I went to save it and I accidentally clicked "Close Level".
Flurry 5: This one I don't regard that buildery, because four of the builders are used to enclose the lemmings. And yes, it is a reference to South Park.
Flurry 6: I guess, but the high release rate can still make it tricky.
Flurry 7: Thank you.
Flurry 10: Thanks.
Flurry 11: Thanks again.
Flurry 12: There are multiple solutions to this level. Yours simply didn't use bashers.
Flurry 13: Not intended at all.
Flurry 15: Thanks.
Flurry 16: This level was made before GeoffLems was released. Anyways, I know that this trick is very well-known, it just makes for a somewhat tricky level because you need to strategize on where to place the blockers.

Blitz 1: I knew this level was going to be liked. Although your solution wasn't intended. I'll give you the actual solution replay.
Blitz 3: Those aren't really important. Unless if you solve it the way you did.
Blitz 4: I thought you would backroute this one, and you did. At least the solution only left two skills.
Blitz 5: Backroute, although not that much different that the intended solution.
Blitz 8: Not exactly intended, although it is as hard as the original solution(and use all of the skills so . . .).
Blitz 9: I knew this level wouldn't be liked.
Blitz 11: I buried the exit because it doesn't stand straight on the 23 piece. I don't like overhanging exits.
Blitz 12: Major backroute. I can't believe I didn't see that.
Blitz 13: Another backroute, but I can't prevent this one because it will mess with the actual solution. I'll give you the actual solution.
Blitz 14: Yes.
Blitz 15: I thought that I'd made that not possible. I'll give you the intended solution. I don't know how to prevent this backroute, so would you mind helping me?
Blitz 16: That's also a backroute. I'll attach a replay for that, too.

[namida]

Crazy: 12
Wild: N/A
Wicked: 5,8
Havoc: 4,8,15,16,17,18,19

Okay, I finally had a go at these, sorry about the delay. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />

Crazy 12: Pretty standard worker lemming level. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />
Wicked 5: This one wasn't bad, but it's nothing special either.
Wicked 8: Now this one was really good!
Havoc 4: I think I might've found another backroute?
Havoc 8: This one took me ages to solve! This is a really good level now that it's possible! One thing though; this level is challenging enough without the time limit, there's no real advantage in having it so tight.
Havoc 15: This level is still pretty annoying, sorry to say. It would probably be not so bad under NeoLemmix due to the better steel mechanics, but still.
Havoc 16: I'm not sure what you changed here, can't remember the original too well, but this level is still pretty easy... and relying on a glitch to remove backroutes (I'm guessing that's why the one way arrows are there?) is not exactly an impressive way of dealing with it... :/
Havoc 17: This one is also still pretty easy.
Havoc 18: This one requires frustrating precision with the bomber timing - and that's if the basher position is such that it allows the bomber to even be possible. Once you get past that bit, the rest of the level is really simple.
Havoc 19: The same solution I used before works with a few slight changes.