[NeoLemmix] Lemmings Reunion [Difficulty: Medium-Hard]

[kaywhyn]

Determination is the key, but the true motivation for me is in this place. I often wander far away from LemmingsLand but coming back to the forums often makes me want to dive into it again. It's inspiring to see that the community is still very active today! Lots of good vibes in here, which motivates me to play and create levels, even after months/years of inactivity

Well, whatever your reasons for taking a long absence, I can honestly say it's great to have you back. I've been a registered member since 2017, but I visited this site daily to silently read the posts in the background. You will recall that was the year I came back and got myself unstuck on your Pimolems pack on Lemmini. It wasn't until early this year in March that I finally made myself known to the community. So, I believe this was at a time when you were still on your hiatus from the forums, particularly since we ended up missing each other for several months until now. In any case, I'm so glad to have finally met the very talented author of Pimolems

The level in the pack that I was stuck on the longest was Nightmare 16 - Another Brick in the Wall. This one took me about 2-3 weeks.

This bodes well for my sanity

I should also add that Nightmare 16 is also a very huge level as well I'm semi-joking here. It's not THAT huge, at least not to the point that it would make you explode like a bomber If you can't resist, simply take a look at your Special rank of your Pimolems in the NL version, as there's a couple of Reunion levels in there. You are correct though that the road ahead will be rough, but again I know that you can do it. A lot of these were very satisfying to solve and figure out. Just don't let the later ranks intimidate you and you should be fine.

[IchoTolot]

V 4.6 is out!

No backroutes to fix in Pieuw's replays, but Reunion's menu has received a great upgrade in terms of logo and rank signs thanks to the effort of GigaLem and Plom!

Again, a big thank you for the "facelifted" menu!

[ericderkovits]

yes, i love this new menu now, very nice.

[Pieuw]

I'm midway through rank 3 and felt like giving some feedback! A lot of good levels for sure.
I beat levels 1 to 24 except for 16 and 18, and I didn't try levels 25 to 30 yet. Here are my thoughts on the first half of them:

01 - Path Of Ankh
Starting the rank with a level that gave me a little trouble already! I guess I was looking for a down-to-earth solution, only involving logical use of the terrain removal skills and no trick. What was I even thinking, of course a little trick was involved! It's a good level to start the rank.

02 - Casualty Count
A quick level, I think I beat it on my first try. But it was really fun!

03 - And Here Comes The Lemmings Train
Another fun level! Not a hard one since the layout makes it clear what has to be done, but I needed a few tries to make it work.

04 - The Sports Bar
Ah, my first roadblock. I had to skip this level to keep my sanity and solved it when I came back after beating a bunch of other levels. I used the same trick as needed in a later level, and if it's the intended solution I really think this one is harder.

05 - Don't Get Sucked!
This one was a bit deceiving: it seemed really easy at first but then... oh noes, how do I free the crowd? It made me think a bit but when I figured it out I thought it was brilliant

06 - Winter Soldiers
An easier level which felt more like rank 2. A breather is always welcome!

07 - Nightstalkers
Excellent level! It all depends on the very start, then the solution unfolds beautifully. I love this"sandglass" type of levels.

08 - Redeeming of the Dead Lemmings
This seemed easy but it's always nice to come back to a classic with a twist.

09 - The Royal Halls
This one felt a bit too big for its own good, but I liked the solution. It's always fun to find new ways to bash things

10 - Did everyone turn Left?
I was really puzzled at first but then the solution came quickly enough. I didn't use all the skills but I guess it's intended?

11 - A Rocky Mountain Night
Another excellent level! It takes observation to solve, which is always nice. I managed to save 100% while solving it the intended way: if the blocker is placed at the exact right spot it can be released

12 - Lost Your Ground?
I enjoyed this one quite a lot. This is a really cunning packed puzzle, it's everyting I love about Lemmings! I also love how you decided to mirror the level, this way it's twice the fun

13 - The Glacier Station
Splat distance trapdoor, tensioooon!
The use of the steel seemed a little backrouty to me but as I used all the skills I guess it was intended?

14 - Go West!
Going east seems like a bad idea anyway. I like how everything is very logical in this one, still it took a few tries to get it right.

15 - The Lemming Tank Suicide Train
Ah, this is pretty much everyting I don't like in a Lemmings level! I skipped it almost instantly the first time, I guess I was overwhelmed by the size of it and the number of builders. I came back to it with a fresh mind and it wasn't too bad, still this level is on the bottom for me. That being said, the theme and layout are nice

I will come back after solving the remaining levels. I have to say I'm really puzzled by level 18. Seems like something fishy is going on here

[Pieuw]

Second half of the third rank cleared

16 - Green Hill Zone
I made this level harder than it is! Looking at the replay, everything seems so simple and logical... I absolutely wanted to use a convoluted trick to block the crowd It's a nice deceiving level!

17 - Staircase Under Construction
A single look at the skills gives the solution away, then it's all a matter of execution. The mirrored layout makes it, if not harder, tougher to execute.

18 - You don't need them!
This is the level that stumped me the most I think, and I'm not proud about it because the reason was simply that I used my skills in the wrong order. I was looking for some intricate digging manoeuver to execute, and at one point it clicked: I just had to switch two assignments and voilà.

19 - To Hell and Back
I loved the solution here, it's a trick I was not familiar with. I may have encountered it in the past but it's been such a while, it felt brand new when it came to mind. This is the level that allowed me to solve level 04 later, using the same builder trick.

20 - Castle Get-Together
This is a really fine level but it seems a lot easier than its rank siblings. I had one bomber left and thus saved an extra lemming, maybe my solution was a bit backroutish?

21 - Field Trip
I enjoyed this level very much. The very start took me a little while to get right and the rest of the solution needed some tweaking, but it was all fun. I got two extra climbers in the end, not sure where they would have been useful?

22 - A Christmas Journey
Another good level! The right side was a bit fiddly maybe, but I guess this is why you have some extra floaters.

23 - Sternenhimmel
At first glance I was like "oh no " and the messy start of the level didn't make me feel any better. But the crowd blocking method is really nice, so it's not bad at all

24 - The Alternative Way
I'm not sure I solved it the intended way, but it still was a hard solution to pull off.

25 - Metropolis
Ah, I have so much trouble to concentrate on these "non classic" tilesets This one was on the easier side. No special trick here, only ressource management and some timing. Which is perfectly nice too

26 - Evolve
Quite intimidating at first, but it all fell into place quickly. I liked it, and the size of the layout felt right

27 - Whispers And Lights
Something recurrent in Icho's levels, at least for me, is that I often instantly get what has to be done on the second half of the puzzle, but the beginning takes a little while to get right. This is interesting!

28 - Dirty Work
This one looks like a multitasking monster at first But it really is easier than it looks. I saved a digger, so I may have taken a shortcut somewhere?

29 - Controlled Release
Very interesting idea. It was easy to know what to do here, but the execution took lots of try-and-rewinds and became somewhat frustrating . Also, very imposing looking layout, in a good way!

30 - Edge To Insanity
Boss level! It's nice that all the rank finishers have a common theme. They feel chaotic for sure! I'm not a fan of these mixed and messy looking layouts but I get why they're made that way and I guess it's effective. Nice collection of little tricks here, lots of brainstorming was needed to figure out how to use the skills in the most effective way.

An excellent rank! Each level has something special to offer and some of them bring back tricks from previous levels in a less obvious way, which makes for good progression!
I'll dive into the next rank soon

[IchoTolot]

Thanks for all the feedback. Will look through the replays soon.

But as Swerdis has just uploaded the 2nd last level of PimoLems I think I will check and patch that first as it will probably be the most work.

[GigaLem]

V 4.6 is out!

No backroutes to fix in Pieuw's replays, but Reunion's menu has received a great upgrade in terms of logo and rank signs thanks to the effort of GigaLem and Plom!

Again, a big thank you for the "facelifted" menu!

Think you could update the credits in the first post? Since Plom did the new logo, at the time of this post that has yet to be updated

[IchoTolot]

Done.

[IchoTolot]

V 4.7 is out!

Backroute fix thanks to Pieuw's replays:

- 3 21 (Removed some terrain)


All your solutions for the thirs rank were either intended or acceptable alternatives. The ones where you saved a few skills were close enough for me.   3 20 is a little bit backrouty though.

Sometimes you made it a bit messier than it needs to be though - 3 22 for example.

Let's say quite a few levels here have "leftover" skills or different ways to solve them. Sometimes there are also design decisions in there that I wouldn't do again if I would make the pack from scratch again.

[kaywhyn]

Hey Icho, I would like your input on this, as I'm having second thoughts. I said before that I wouldn't mind doing both an LP of Reunion AND a level solving commentary video series for the pack, just like I did for your United pack. For sure I want to do the commentary video series, as it makes sense due to how I did it for United, your sequel pack. However, this seems to make an LP of the pack unnecessary, as the commentary video series will pretty much be almost the same thing, just easier to see the solutions to the levels instead of watching me possibly not make any progress on any level for a while due to solving in real time. At the same time, I realized there's no LP of the pack in New Formats NL, so for that reason alone I think it's a good idea to. Keep in mind that I've already solved this entire pack on Lemmini from back in 2017, so I'm aware that the levels are pretty much the same in the NL version, just more updated and backroute patched. Maybe because all the levels are the same as on Lemmini and I already know pretty much every level, so an LP might not be needed.

What say you on this? If I end up doing both, would you still watch the commentary video series? Not going to be doing this now, maybe in a few weeks or so after I finish an LP of another pack or two.

[IchoTolot]

Do what you think is best and what you are having fun doing.

I would watch a series of this of course. Doing both I would find a bit unnessesary though, I would pick only one of them. Which one I would totally leave up to you.

[kaywhyn]

Hello Icho,

I just started playing through this pack for New Formats NL. I have finished up through the 3rd rank. Replays attached and feedback inbound.

Thoughts on the Pack So Far

As mentioned in various places around the forums, I originally played and solved all of the pack on Lemmini way back in 2017. This was also when I registered to become a member of the site, although I visited the site daily and read the posts silently in the background for the next 2-3 years before I finally made myself known to the community around this time last year. I think this was at a time where you stopped updating the pack for Lemmini, as you transitioned to maintaining the NL version of the pack.

Though I was busy with school/work back then, I slowly made progress each day whenever I could. Though the levels got quite difficult with the HurtMePlenty, Ultraviolence, and Nightmare ranks, I still persevered and kept going, as I was quite determined to finish the pack by any means. Especially since I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Lemmings and was quite a fan of Lemmini back then. I still kind of am, although I'm certainly used to the quality of life features of NL by now I certainly don't mind coming back to Lemmini/Superlemmini on occasion.

Anyway, I recently had an itch to play through Reunion again and remember why I liked the pack so much Indeed, I never played the pack when it was still really early shortly after release, but from what I gathered the pack definitely got much better from the feedback/suggestions that Nepster provided you, even if it was harsh at times, although I know about the tendency of certain people being blunt, for which I'm one myself

As many various members have said, this pack has a really nice difficulty curve and is one of the most highly regarded packs of all time. Though the pack is considered difficult, this was certainly very true back then. Now that I'm playing through the pack again for like the 3rd or 4th time, I'm certainly in agreement with Icho that this pack is far easier and tamer in comparison to most of the other packs that are now out. It's not the challenging pack that it used to be for me when I first played through the pack 4 years ago. If anything, instead of the puzzle, some levels are just simply far harder to execute on Lemmini, dramatically in some cases. Needless to say, this pack does display some of Icho's nastiness when it comes to the puzzles/level making, especially in the much later ranks, but it doesn't reach its peak here. For that, you need to go through United. That's where it really shows

Feedback on I'mTooYoungToDie Rank

Not much to say here other than some great tutorial levels to start off the rank before getting into easy puzzles that were generally X-of-everythings before getting into the difficult ones near the end of the rank. I remember I'mTooYoungToDie 16 - In the Shadows being a difficult one on Lemmini, as time there runs out surprisingly fast. It's not a very hard level, but it still provides enough of a challenge, especially since you have to use the skills carefully or risk running out, which can happen.

I'mTooYoungToDie 20 - Lemming in the Sky with Diamonds can also be difficult, although certainly with the huge amount of builders it's not very hard at all. For the extra challenge, one can try going for a save all solution, but it's not necessary, so there's certainly no pressure in going for it if one doesn't want to. I think it ends up using nearly all the builders, as I remembered when I went for it.

I also remember I'mTooYoungToDie 25 - Good Sportsmanship being a difficult one on Lemmini, although the challenge is not so much the time limit, but rather giving the lead lemming enough time to finish all tasks before the crowd arrives. It can also be difficult due to the very limited skillset.

Then I'mTooYoungToDie 28 - Morituri te salutant! This I remember was the first very hard level in the rank for me back then. It's still a difficult level, but this is justified due to being near the very end of the rank. Skills are extremely limited, and it's certainly not easy to figure out the most optimal route. I don't think it's possible to have any skills remaining. Also not too relevant to the solution, but here the music is different from the one that plays in the Lemmini version, where the soundtrack for that one is loud. Here, it's a much softer and lighter soundtrack, which I guess is fitting for a difficult level, in contrast to the Lemmini version, where it's more intense and could possibly add to the frustration of the player trying to solve this hard nut.

I also remember I'mTooYoungToDie 29 - Roofjumpers being a hard one, although not as difficult as the previous one. The solution's great, though.

To round off the rank, I'mTooYoungToDie 30 - Disturbance in the Matrix is a definite roadblock for nearly everyone. It certainly was for me when I first played the level on Lemmini back in 2017. I remember the huge satisfaction that came from figuring out this tough nut. I certainly remember making this far harder than I needed to on Lemmini.

Spoiler

I didn't use the builder wall trick, and I remember doing something quite fiddly at the top. Bashers also work very differently on Lemmini, where they can't bash miner slopes as easily, although here I think I remember pulling it off with just one basher on Lemmini

My favorites in this rank: I'mTooYoungToDie 21 - The Saviors, I'mTooYoungToDie 22 - Bubbles and Builders, I'mTooYoungToDie 23 - Oh, You Wanted Some of These?, and I'mTooYoungToDie 30 (I always like the mixing of all the OL/ONML tilesets in one level (Epic tileset), and you did a great job with all the rank finishers in this pack )


Feedback on HeyNotTooRough Rank

More difficult levels, although I would say the difficulty is only slightly higher than the I'mTooYoungToDie rank, because it's not that much higher. More tricks that you get taught that will come in handy for some of the later levels. Nothing here was particularly too hard for me, although I would say the ones that I consider hard for the casual players are HeyNotTooRough 17 - Wheel of Fortune, HeyNotTooRough 18 - Bash and Mine Time!, HeyNotTooRough 21 - Valley of the Sphinx, HeyNotTooRough 22 - Rock and Metal, HeyNotTooRough 23 - Let's Block Some Lems, HeyNotTooRough 24 - Knights of Honor, HeyNotTooRough 26 - Line of Steel, HeyNotTooRough 28 - The Official Lemmings Swim Team, HeyNotTooRough 29 - One Basher To Rule Them All, and HeyNotTooRough 30 - The Fusion. Both 17 and 21 I say it's the timing that's difficult, although the latter can be a hard puzzle due to how you don't have builders. The save requirement may look generous for the former, but it's really not. The timing is especially difficult on 24, along with a devious puzzle of how to make the most of the skills provided.

As for me, I had a bit of trouble with 17 and 21, but of course they're still easy for me since I have played the pack many times 26 is also a deceptively difficult level that looks simple despite the 1-of-everything skillset.

My favorites in this rank: HeyNotTooRough 3 - Distract Them!, HeyNotTooRough 5 - We Are But Lems! Rock!, HeyNotTooRough 6 - Please, Stop!, HeyNotTooRough 12 - On a crystal clear night, HeyNotTooRough 19 - Middle Age Mining Technique, HeyNotTooRough 22 - Rock and Metal, HeyNotTooRough 28 - The Official Lem Swim Team, and HeyNotTooRough 30 (again, I like the tileset mixing in the Epic tileset, and it's a really nice puzzle, although there's plenty of difficult timing here).


Feedback on HurtMePlenty Rank

This is definitely the point in the pack where it stops messing around. While I went through the first two ranks pretty fast, this rank was slower going, although again not very hard for me due to being quite familiar with many of the solutions. For sure a lot of tough nuts in this rank especially for the casual players. I don't really consider anything here breathers.

More detailed feedback:

HurtMePlenty 1 - Path of Ankh Hard level to start the rank. Difficult to figure out the most optimal route, especially with only 3 builders and the very limited skillset. The timing here can be difficult as well.

HurtMePlenty 2 - Casualty Count Nice level, and one of my favorites when the precise bombers are eliminated. Not a very hard level, but certainly far harder on Lemmini due to timed bombers.

HurtMePlenty 3 - And Here Comes the Lemming Train I struggled with this one, but most likely due to how it's more properly patched up in NL as compared to the Lemmini version, which is still very backroutable. I'm not sure if my solution is intended, especially with the way I handled the crowd at the beginning. Still a nice level, though.

HurtMePlenty 4 - The Sports Bar Ah, I remember struggling with this one on Lemmini and it being a roadblock back then. This might be the first level where I learned the builder trick needed to isolate a worker lemming. Or at least the first custom level one I've seen where it's required/enforced. This is one of my favorites of the rank.

HurtMePlenty 5 - Don't Get Sucked! This is probably the closest I would consider to be a breather for casual players, although it's still challenging. The hardest part is isolating a worker(s) and getting the bottom crowds up with the very limited skillset.

HurtMePlenty 6 - Winter Soldiers Probably the first level that needed a slight adjustment when going from Lemmini to NL. I think it's possible to save everyone on Lemmini, but here on NL due to the Lemmini solution not working because of how the builder mechanics are different, the save requirement needed to be adjusted while keeping the skillset 1-of-everything. One of my favorites as well.

HurtMePlenty 7 - Nightstalkers Another nice level. The only hard part is the timing and isolating of workers at the beginning, but I really like the solution when all the timing works out. It can be tight, but it's all about knowing when to release the right entrance to create the necessary timing and space so that no one slips by before the worker has finished building over the water gap near the exit.

HurtMePlenty 8 - Redeeming of the Dead Lemmings Repeat of Cascade from OL, but as the title suggests you have to save everyone. Not only that, the time limit is quite tight here. Level is only slightly harder on Lemmini due to the clock being faster.

HurtMePlenty 9 - The Royal Halls One of my favorites! I remember being really proud of myself for discovering the basher trick needed here. I think I remember spending about a good 15-20 minutes on this level on Lemmini.

Spoiler

Using a basher to make a dent on the underside of the wall to stop the basher from the left so that none of the three lemmings coming will walk into the flamethrower trap. Such a clever trick here!

HurtMePlenty 10 - Did everyone turn Left? Currently has a very bad shortcut on Lemmini due to the way miners work. As for this level on NL, can be difficult, but it's still not too hard. The time limit may seem scary, though. Also, it might seem that one of the lemmings will slip out to the right at the bottom, but it's possible to turn everyone back to the left, hence the tile

HurtMePlenty 11 - A Rocky Mountain Night Another one of my favorites. Somewhat of a breather as well. I like how the timing works out here to get everyone to the bottom and sealing off the gap before anyone falls into the vine swamp. That's really cool how you did the moon here

HurtMePlenty 12 - Lost Your Ground? Difficult one. I think I remember doing something slightly different on Lemmini, although I don't remember if the skillset is the same. Not sure if my solution is intended. Timing is also difficult here, although it's simply imitating the same thing on each side.

HurtMePlenty 13 - Glacier Station Unlike some others, I didn't find this one hard, although certainly on Lemmini due to not being able to see whether you have the basher lined up right. This time, I had a bit of a struggle, but that's because I failed to see the alcove on the far right to stop the basher and to avoid the icicle traps. Ah, what the lapse of time can do to you

HurtMePlenty 14 - Go West! Another favorite of mine! Can be difficult, but the solution is quite nice.

HurtMePlenty 15 - The Lemming Tank Suicide Train Looks intimidating, but it's still not really hard, considering the most prominent skill provided are builders. Even then, figuring out how to get through the terrain is difficult. I think I somewhat remember the solution being harder on Lemmini, but here I don't think it is, as it should be the same. I think it's because I remember the very difficult timing for the end part to conserve that last builder, but here I could be remembering wrong.

HurtMePlenty 16 - Green Hill Zone Hardest level in the rank for me. Finding the most optimal route and efficient way to use your skills is not easy here. Certainly one of the hardest parts is managing the crowd at the very start so you don't lose anyone, as you need to save everyone. Even after you figure it out, it's still a difficult level. I'm not sure if my solution is intended here.

HurtMePlenty 17 - Staircase Under Construction Definite breather for me, and theoretically for most players as well, considering you only have 3 skill types. Truthfully, levels that require you to spam the same skill over and over I'm generally not a fan of, but that's just me. It's still really cool to see the crowds walk up to the exit in this fashion though

HurtMePlenty 18 - You don't need them! One of my favorites as well. I certainly remember having the "how in the world do you do this level" when I first played it on Lemmini those years ago. Felt very satisfying to figure it out. I definitely like these no builders levels, especially since they're great for getting players to think laterally and in other ways when the most powerful of the classic skills, the builder, is not provided.

HurtMePlenty 19 - To Hell and Back Another favorite of mine. I like the trick at the beginning to turn around to the left on the starting platform, which is almost the same one used on HeyNotTooRough 23. Here the trick from HurtMePlenty 4 returns.

HurtMePlenty 20 - Castle Get-Together Can be difficult, but it's more the execution that's hard rather than the puzzle itself. It's especially madenning on Lemmini, as I certainly remember having to keep restarting to get the digger placements on the columns correct.

HurtMePlenty 21 - Field Trip I remember this one being a hard one when I first played it those years ago. This is still one of my favorites, though. I found releasing the blockers at the end on Lemmini the most difficult to execute. That's a really neat way to delay one of the lemmings that goes to the left along with the blocker to give the lead lemming enough time to bash to the left exit

Spoiler

Having the first one climb and dig while the other one simply bashes through it

HurtMePlenty 22 - A Christmas Journey I also remember this one being a hard one when I first played it many years ago. I think the solution is more fiddly on Lemmini. I think I simply used good timing on Lemmini to get everyone from the top down safely rather than take advantage of the steel here. Should be possible to do so here on NL as well. I would still leave the floaters in in case some don't make it on time.

HurtMePlenty 23 - Sternenhimmel Ah, I remember seriously overcomplicating this one on Lemmini. Quite a difficult one and extremely annoying to pull off. It's still a hard one on NL, especially given the small amount of space to work with at the start. Builders may seem very plentiful, but don't be fooled, as all of them end up being used in the solution, meaning you can't waste any of them!

HurtMePlenty 24 - The Alternative Way Nice level. The only hard part is the timing needed at the start with the climbers, but other than that this is quite close to a breather as well.

HurtMePlenty 25 - Metropolis I certainly remember this one being a hard one when I first played it many years ago. The precision with the digger at the end seems super precise on Lemmini. No matter the engine, this is still a difficult level, especially with getting both crowds down safely and just a difficult to figure out solution.

HurtMePlenty 26 - Evolve Looks somewhat intimidating due to the sheer width, but it's not too hard. Even then, it's still challenging figuring out what to do, and once again builders might seem plentiful, but all are used in the solution. I think I remember doing something slightly different on Lemmini.

HurtMePlenty 27 - Whispers and Lights Not sure what I did at the start is intended. Almost a breather, but still challenging, with the hardest part I think is getting two workers to where they need to be in order to forge the path/solution.

HurtMePlenty 28 - Dirty Work This one was a bit difficult, but that's because I kept overthinking the solution and wasting unnecessary skills and hence kept coming up a skill or so short. Certainly the start is the most stressful part, managing each entrance so that they are survive and aren't in any danger, but once you are successful you can take it more slowly and easily.

HurtMePlenty 29 - Controlled Release Very difficult one to execute, especially on Lemmini where even one misplaced blocker is enough to restart, and you have to do it several times here. I certainly remember the frustration when things should had worked but unfortunately the timing was slightly off or the blocker was placed incorrectly or given to the wrong lemming makes the attempt fail. The concept here is really nice, just can be very difficult to pull off. Really, the solution is obvious, just getting the timing and spacing needed to achieve it is quite hard.

HurtMePlenty 30 - Edge to Insanity Another really nice looking level with the Epic tileset. Probably just slightly easier than the previous two rank finishers.

Do what you think is best and what you are having fun doing.

I would watch a series of this of course. Doing both I would find a bit unnessesary though, I would pick only one of them. Which one I would totally leave up to you.

Haha, I love this response and high level of trust you have in me to allow me to do what I think is best I'm in agreement with the second part, and after much debating with myself, I have reached a decision, but I'll reveal it at a later time, although it's probably already obvious based on what I'm doing here

I will continue with the rest of the pack soon! I'm definitely remembering why I like this pack so much again, even though I have solved it so many times on Lemmini in the past few years. I think what I will do is post again after I finish the UltraViolence rank, and then finally one last time when I finish the Nightmare rank.

Hope you're having a great time back in your hometown! Just remember to take it easy on yourself for the next few days while you are. You definitely deserve it after finally finishing off your dissertation and the Master's program From my experience, finishing a Master's program is a great milestone achievment, but it is also very exhausting. Even more so if you happen to be one of those who worked while going to school, but I worked part-time while I was working on my Master's, about 3-4 hours each week. After I graduated with my Master's, I took two years off to work a real job to get some classroom teaching experience before I came back to school to work on my teaching credential program for math. I've now been out of school for almost 3 years, but I certainly would like to come back to school again sometime in the future to work on either a PhD or a second Master's degree. I just need to figure out where, though I would love to come back to my alma mater where I got my Bachelor's to work on a graduate degree

[kaywhyn]

Ultra-Violence rank completely solved. Replays attached up through Ultra-Violence 30.

edit: Whoops, forgot to change the name of the file to say "up through Ultra-Violence." It still had the name "up through HurtMePlenty" even though all the Ultra-Violence replays were in there too

Feedback Ultra-Violence Rank

Wow, these levels are a huge step up in difficulty from the HurtMePlenty rank. There were several levels in here that took me a while, mostly due to not remembering the solutions because of the huge lapse of time since the last time I played the pack on Lemmini, as well as how some of the levels I vaguely remember, and also because a lot of the levels play out very differently from the Lemmini version due to being backroute patched. Even then, there is immense satisfaction in figuring out the levels all over again. Even moreso with certain levels' solutions being very different in the NL version.

Spoiler

Ultra-Violence 1 - Empyrean Somewhat difficult level to begin the rank. Also somewhat unique with sending out multiple workers.

Ultra-Violence 2 - As above, so below One of my favorites of the rank I like how the timing all works out with the lemmings from the top entrance.

Ultra-Violence 3 - Deadly Heights Another favorite of mine. Definitely some Pimolems vibes from the Hurricane rank here with the builder step through a thin wall

Ultra-Violence 4 - Knights of the Round Table Yup, I remember how very stressful and difficult the level is due to the timing/multitasking needed so as to not run out of time. The hardest part is certainly the left area, especially with figuring out that you must build to the left and then mine from the right of it so as to open the path forward to the right for the two upper crowds and the bottom left entrance. This area with building to get to the upper entrances can also be difficult to work out.

Ultra-Violence 5 - Sharing the World Somewhat of a breather level. Seems to be only 1 solution here, and it will always work out if you do the tasks in the order shown in the replay. I love seeing the solution all work out. More leaving a builder step past a wall, although with the help of a bomber.

Ultra-Violence 6 - Tryhardlon "Tryhardlon" indeed. Difficult level but one of my favorites as well. I'm sure this is one of those levels where it plays out differently in Lemmini due to the miner not turning around when hitting steel. I really like how you can't leave the blockers for too long, as it will be impossible to release them later if you don't have anymore lemmings going in the correct direction. I really love the keep the crowd moving in this level and how the solution comes together.

Ultra-Violence 7 - Choose a Side Deceptively difficult level even for a very short 1-of-everything level. Still, one of my favorites as well, especially with extending a basher using a builder. This differs in that no builder is needed for a basher to have some ground, as there so happens to already be a nice ramp via the terrain for the basher to keep going uninterrupted on the ground.

Ultra-Violence 8 - Ten Friends Somewhat difficult, and certainly one that plays out very differently in Lemmini. That version is currently very backroute prone. Because of that, I couldn't rely on remembering the solution there to solve the NL version. I'm not sure if my solution is intended, especially with the way I interrupted the miner with a digger. I'm guessing it's intended to dig the far left side to get the worker to the bottom?

Ultra-Violence 9 - Specialists Difficult level, but another favorite of mine. This also plays out differently in Lemmini, as it's possible to simply stop the lemmings going out to the left at the bottom with just a basher I think. So, another level that I can't rely on the Lemmini solution, as that simply cannot be done here. Instead, the way is to dig and then block to turn the digger back to the right and then bash. As the title suggests, you have two specialist groups, a set of 5 climbers, the other 5 floaters. None of them get both skills. Once again, Dolly Dimple/The Sports Bar builder trick needed here, but a special one, as you need a worker who's a floater. Once you do this, you can finally take your time with the level, as the stressful parts are essentially over. It's still not exactly trivial from that point on, but it should be fairly easy to work out what needs to go where.

Ultra-Violence 10 - Engage! Difficult one as well, but the solution is very interesting. Pretty much more using bombers to stop bashers. In some ways, the timer isn't really needed, since basically the basher section at the very far left is the timer. Still, I don't mind time limits, particularly since I'm quite a traditionalist when it comes to Lemmings and how I just love math/numbers. Max out the RR at the wrong time, and you will lose some lemmings when the basher breaks through all of it. I also think that it's extremely tight, as max out the RR one lemming too late and not everyone will turn around on time. Max out the RR one lemming too early and you will have more than one lemming turn around to the right at the top and hence some will splat, as I only had one floater left at that point, for the lemming to start bashing towards the right at the bottom. Hence, the RR has to be maxed out at exactly the right time, when the right number of lemmings has already been released. Then again, perhaps some RR fiddling can make the timing a bit easier. However, in my replay a second lemming nearly turns around in the basher tunnel at the top even at the default RR. So, perhaps more leeway with the basher section at the very far left by extending it a bit more? If not, I understand, as this pack was released a long time ago, although I would point to HeyNotTooRough 9 which did have some terrain changes just before the water gap near the exit, and that the change was made just a little over half a year ago.

Not much point of interest either, but I used an extremely timing heavy solution in the Lemmini version as well, but instead of bashing at the very far left, I simply made a bomber hole near where the builder makes the splatform and then I have a much longer basher section to the left as a result. Then when the builder finishes, he's the one who will bash to the left. Perhaps this solution can also work in the current NL versoin, although maybe not because of possibly some skillset changes that prevent it? I'll have to check.

Ultra-Violence 11 - It's Closing Time at the Mall Aha, there's the closing at the mall level, while the mall opening is in the Bonus rank of your United level. I think Gigalem was the one who might had suggested the opening the mall as a title as a counterpart to this level's title? Somewhat difficult, although the only hard parts is the timing with the basher at the top and also near the end to get a lemming to turn around. I could had made the ending part easier, of course

Ultra-Violence 12 - The Bubble Cave One of my favorites! Nothing too hard here, except that the digger placement is the most important. Indeed, in some earlier attempts I would essentially have the solution down, just the digger was in the wrong place which prevented me from solving the level. I also thought having the 2 minute time limit from Lemmini here would had been cool

Ultra-Violence 13 - Electric Prison Ok, time limit here, though again I don't mind them. Somewhat difficult, although it's all about managing the crowds correctly. The one loss you're allowed is quite easy to determine, as it's obvious who needs to die here.

Ultra-Violence 14 - Neuschwanstein Yet another level that is slightly different on Lemmini. In that one, I used a blocker to turn the second lemming around and then quickly dig to release him. The rest of the solution is more or less the same as the replay, except using the trick mentioned is not feasible, as it appears that there isn't enough resources to be able to solve the level afterwards. So, that would mean there's an extra blocker provided on Lemmini, then. As for the level, somewhat difficult, but a really nice solution. Not sure what the title means, although I'm guessing it's more German?

Ultra-Violence 15 - Night of Nights I remember really liking this level on Lemmini, and it continues to be one of my favorite levels! Several tricks needed here: Mining inside a digger tunnel, using a builder to extend the miner, basher continues on his own due to the terrain slope and how the pipes are close enough so the basher keeps going, and cancelling a digger with a blocker. All in all, a really nice solution which is just so awesome watching it all come together and to work out in one's mind

Ultra-Violence 16 - The Three Seals of Memphis Somewhat difficult, but another nice puzzle. Essentially keep the lemmings moving, as there's absolutely no way to hold back the crowd, only stall/delay. The timing is quite tight at the end with the digger and stopping the basher with a builder, as if he continues walking out to the left he cannot turn around because the gap is much bigger than a full length builder bridge. However, even if the second climber climbs while the first one is oh-no-ing, the second one can still keep going to the left, as he'll simply hoist himself when he's not climbing on terrain.

Ultra-Violence 17 - Generation Gap Definitely way different from the Lemmini version, as I believe there is a wall containing the lemmings at the bottom in the starting area, whereas the lemmings can simply walk out and hence no destructive skill is needed. Also, it's possible to simply build up to the floating terrain from the right to get the right-most entrance to keep going to the left. Regardless, the level's still somewhat difficult in either version. It's crucial to note that the miner near the exit must not be allowed to build, as otherwise you'll run out builders and can't solve the level. It's fine, as there's still some land over the miner tunnel so that no one from the right can fall into the bottomless pit.

Ultra-Violence 18 - Coming Through! I remember this level being different on Lemmini, as the climbers simply turned around at the top due to the terrain extending to the ceiling. Because the ceiling is deadly in New Formats NL, the level had to be tweaked a bit. I love how a digger needs to go until he's low enough to be able to be released by a basher later. I don't recall solving it this way in Lemmini, though.

Ultra-Violence 19 - A.M. I remember thinking how in the world do you solve the level when I first played this on Lemmini all those years ago. Later on I noticed the ceiling at the very top, and that's when I realized the solution. Solution is more or less the way I solved it on Lemmini. Somewhat difficult level but a great one.

Ultra-Violence 20 - Lems Go Cliffjumping I remember making this far harder on myself than I needed to on Lemmini, where I believe I simply left it all to timing and hope that it would work out with the left-most area in bashing the OWW to the right. Of course, that's absolutely unnecessary. Even then, it's still a difficult level, especially with managing the crowds despite how it's quite obvious where all the diggers go in order to stop the crowds from splatting at the start.

Ultra-Violence 21 - Rescue Team One of my favorites as well. Almost can be considered a breather here. The only hard part is figuring out that climber-bombers are needed so that someone can go in the bomber holes to build to get higher and save the top entrance from splatting.

Ultra-Violence 22 - The Face of Evil Ah, here's the level that was very well-liked and how you made a level using similar concepts for United, Revenants, which was the level that ended up winning LOTY 2019. Congrats on that, btw. I certainly can see why this level is liked by the community. I like this level as well. It's all about managing three separate lemmings: a climber, floater, and just a regular one who's neither. I couldn't quite remember the solution here for a time, but of course I eventually figured it out. It's all about realizing that the climber needs to bash both blockers free and that the climber needs to use the bottom path while the regular lemming bashes the very long section at the top to delay him to give the floater and climber enough time to get certain tasks done before the regular one arrives. Just a very nice solution to see come together

Ultra-Violence 23 - Eaten! I remember solving this differently on Lemmini, as I think I don't remember bashing the bottom to stop the digger. Somewhat of a breather. The bashing the bottom to stop the digger mentioned is one of the hard parts, as well as making sure you have a lemming just ahead enough when turning back to the left to block and turn everyone back to the right, as no one can get past the blocker. Also the digger placement at the very start to contain the crowd while sending only one lemming ahead can be difficult.

Ultra-Violence 24 - Heroes of Lemkind And now, the level of Reunion that won a LOTY contest from way back. I think it was either 2016 or 2017. So, you managed to snag a LOTY win for both your Reunion and United packs. Well done Like namida, I also found this level to be difficult back when I first played the level on Lemmini. It's all due to not realizing that building as high as possible on the chain near the end was crucial. Here, I kind of was struggling with remembering how with that part and also a couple of small details in other places. Everything else was figured out fairly quickly.

Ultra-Violence 25 - No Blocker Zone! I think it's yet another level that is slightly different on Lemmini. I don't recall using this exact solution, particularly with the way the top entrance is managed. I certainly don't remember having to place the second digger carefully where the steel block is so that the climber doesn't go back out to the left. I think I simply remember mining through at the top and then digging. I think it's due to extra skills provided on Lemmini. Nice level, although it took me a while to figure out how to get the top entrance down safely without losing anyone with the limited skillset. Here it appears that RR fiddling is necessary so as to catch the top crowd with a builder on time.

Ultra-Violence 26 - The Worship of the Pickaxe Difficult one, particularly since it's quite wide and hence appears very intimidating and overwhelming. As the title suggests, it's all about the miner here, and even then, it's quite obvious where the miners go. In some of my earlier attempts, I'm still not sure why I was a miner short. I'll probably investigate later on.

Ultra-Violence 27 - Please, Remember Us Somewhat difficult, but a nice one. I do have a floater leftover, which I'm guessing could had simply been used for that falling bomber instead of bombing him just before he splats.

Ultra-Violence 28 - Tomb of Ramses III The only repeat of an earlier level in the entire pack, but it's certainly a much harder level, especially since the original is an X-of-everything from the I'mTooYoungToDie rank. I remember this one taking me a while when I first played it on Lemmini, but here I ended up figuring this out very quickly. Probably due to remembering most of the solution. I like this one. The only very precise assignment needed is the digger at the top on the left side so that both he and the left-most entrance can climb up later.

Ultra-Violence 29 - Lemming Boxes I also remember this one being quite difficult when I first played it on Lemmini. I think I remember doing something very similar to namida at the time, where some extremely fiddly solution was used and it seemed to all come down to luck on finishing on time. I certainly didn't use the solution where another climber builds while the digger keeps going near the exit. When I saw this solution from your Creator's Commentary video long after I had solved this level from years to prior, I remember thinking, wow so much easier and wondering why I didn't ever think of that.

Even then, this level is still quite difficult, particularly since there's multiple entrances, along with a very high RR. Once again, builder steps through a thin wall just like Ultra-Violence 3. Lots of multi-tasking needed, and is definitely required so that you don't run out of time.

Ultra-Violence 30 - Only Nightmares Ahead Another nice rank finisher, especially visually, but certainly harder than some of the previous ones. The Lemmini version also plays out differently, as I certainly don't remember using this solution for it. Also, I kind of remember there being some OWAs on the floor from namida's LP of the pack. I remember I wanted to compare my solution just to see if there was a more efficient solution than the one I found, but unfortunately I couldn't due to the NL version being different from the Lemmini version. So, that was a bummer.

Interestingly enough, I don't think I have ever seen a digger being able to release a blocker in a bomber hole. Just when I thought I knew everything about the classic skills, I'm still continuing to learn some things with them! Perhaps even moreso since I still need to finish Nepsterlems which has me currently stumped on Black Hole 1. Although, as previously mentioned I certainly didn't have to do that on the Lemmini version

All rightie, just the Nightmare rank left. Let's see how long this takes! As usual, continuing to enjoy the pack even if it has been slower going than usual and remembering just how really good it is, particularly since figuring out these challenging levels is quite satisfying, as well as seeing how very different the levels are playing out in NL in contrast to Lemmini.   

[kaywhyn]

Nightmare rank solved and thus entire pack is completely solved on New Formats NL. My entire replay collection is attached. So, let's see if I managed to backroute any of these levels. Regarding the Nightmare rank, the one that immediately comes to mind is Nightmare 12 - Way Into Madness, as I have a lot of skills leftover. In a way, I kind of expected it, since it's currently very backrouteable in Lemmini. Unless my solution is acceptable, I think most of it is intended, just some parts allowed me to take a shortcut

Another would be Nightmare 27 - Unsecured Area, as I ended up not using one of the climber pickups

Feedback Nightmare Rank

Nightmare indeed. Though these are the hardest levels of the entire pack, truthfully these didn't take me as long as I thought it would. Certainly these designs were meant to be intimidating due to the sheer size and how there's so much going on, and hence most often give the appearance of a highly difficult level. In actuality, most of these are difficult due to the execution rather than the puzzle, though there's still a lot of very gnarly ones in terms of the puzzle. Again, my advice for those taking on packs like Reunion and other highly difficult ones is to not get intimidated by the levels. In my case, as I have mentioned before, I've already played through Reunion a few times in the last few years, and hence I'm mostly familiar with the levels/solutions. It's just a shame that I never saved my Lemmini replays for the pack, but as one can see that didn't matter, as I'm not one to load or go by memory what the solution is, especially since a lot of the NL version of the levels are much different from the Lemmini version and hence you can't really rely on the solution in Lemmini. Besides, it's good for exercising one's brain to try and hash out the solution again manually Even if some are just a huge pain to execute, cough, Nightmare 29 - Lemtris Version X, cough

Despite the tough nuts, the Nightmare rank is still very tame compared to the Genocide rank of United. Yes, these levels are some of Icho's nastiest, but again they don't reach their peak here, only for the Reunion pack itself. If you really want puzzle nastiest to the max and aren't intimidated by the very high difficulty, take a look at United instead, Icho's sequel pack to Reunion

More detailed feedback on the Nightmare rank levels:

Spoiler

Nightmare 1 - From Unrest to Atrophy Not a very hard level but still quite challenging. I definitely remember this being a time cruncher on Lemmini, although there's no timer here. Even then, my solution here runs out of time under the Lemmini timer, as I took longer than 5 minutes. Not sure why it ends up running out on time, considering that the solution is more or less what I do on Lemmini.

Nightmare 2 - Castle Rush Indeed, the timer is more the challenge than the puzzle, although I remember this one stumping me badly on Lemmini back then too. I think I even had the solution in some early attempts but unfortunately it was too slow because I kept running out of time. Not as difficult as the previous one, but again still challenging, particularly finishing on time and getting the timing right.

Nightmare 3 - Lemming City Stories Ok here just barely finished under the Lemmini timer of 6 minutes, although again not a problem here since there's no timer. Even then, I try to make sure I beat the levels under the Lemmini timer pretty much at all times, even when there's no reason to, eg, there's no timer in the NL version of some levels. I think I remember doing a different solution on Lemmini in contrast to the replay, despite the skillsets being the same, I think.

Nightmare 4 - Stop and Go! Level plays out slightly differently due to how lemmings turn around when mining into steel, in contrast to Lemmini, where they don't. I certainly remember having a hard time with the level on Lemmini, although here I didn't have as much problems. It's a nice level, and a favorite of mine to an extent.

Nightmare 5 - Four Pals Somewhat hard level, although it's the timing that can be difficult. In some of my earlier attempts, I realized that I was supposed to have a lemming slip by the builder around the middle area to get through the terrain and build the splatform to catch the others coming from above. Thus, some of my restarts weren't necessary. Here, I had a basher leftover, although I can easily swap out the miner I used to help the lemmings avoid walking into the steam blower and have a miner leftover instead.

Nightmare 6 - Brick Confusion Hard one. This one took me a while to figure out. It was hard for me on Lemmini, and that remains true for NL. Even then, it's just a difficult level in general. The hardest part is the beginning and working out the timing of when to climb and dig away the pillar. I made the mistake of using the blocker at the start to avoid the ketchup wheel. It's more useful for turning everyone around at the top to turn back to the right after catching them with a splatform. Still, nice level.

Nightmare 7 - Tactical Foul I remember a huge amount of satisfaction I felt when I first solved this level on Lemmini years ago. I absolutely love that trick of making a dent in the wall with a miner to get a climber into it to build to catch the top left entrance. I definitely agree that it's a difficult one to see, as it did take me a while to figure it out, but it's very similar to the level The Royal Halls with the bashing the wall underneath to stop a basher. This is definitely one of my favorite levels of the rank

Nightmare 8 - Up and Down the Shafts Somewhat a difficult level. More using a builder step through a thin wall. The start can be difficult to figure out, especially with sending two lemmings from the bottom entrance up ahead while delaying everyone else for them to get the work done so that no one is in danger. Also, the blocker must be freed with the final lemming from the bottom hatch, as there's no way to save him afterwards if everyone turns to the left.

Nightmare 9 - Pipe Grid Puzzle Difficult level, especially since it's properly patched up in NL. The current Lemmini version has a very bad backroute. This one took me a while to figure out, especially with getting the timing just right. I really like how the solution works out in the end, especially with getting a lemming to get past the builder who just barely got past the trigger of the sucker trap to build the bridge over the final gap before the exit. Genius!

Nightmare 10 - Shadowrun If I'm not mistaken, I believe this was the winner of a past LDC? At a time when Lemmini was allowed. I can definitely see why, though. Not too hard of a level, just the timing is hard, especially with just getting two lemmings past the pipe at the top while everyone else turns back to the right. Also with just getting one lemming trapped in the digger pit at the start along with the digger. It's awesome seeing the solution/timing work out.

Nightmare 11 - The Chosen Lemmings of Ra This one also took a while, although that's because I kept trying to save the second lemming when in fact you're allowed to lose him and the climber that leaves a builder step past the wall in the middle section. Once again, the timing can be quite tight, especially with getting the bridge complete at the bottom where the smasher trap is. It's just barely enough time before the crowd arrives to get killed by the trap. The only other hard part is figuring out the timing so that only one lemming goes over the top to right, while the builder needs to turn around to the left to complete the splatform for the left crowd who will go over the top on that side. Still, quite a nice level here.

Nightmare 12 - Way Into Madness As already mentioned, I might have badly backrouted the level considering that I have a lot of skills leftover. At least it's more properly patched up as opposed to Lemmini, which has a very bad backroute where it's possible to finish in far less time.

Nightmare 13 - Face Down and Pushing Through The hardest part here is isolating four lemmings, two of which walk out to the right while the other two fall out to the left. Everything else is rather straightforward. Luckily the timing for the bridges to cross in the middle works out perfectly.

Nightmare 14 - Justice for Heroes! I remember struggling with this level a lot on Lemmini. I kind of struggled here as well, although certainly nowhere near as long. It's definitely a hard level for many reasons. Working out the very beginning is difficult, especially with the timing and getting just two lemmings isolated, one falling out to the left, the other to the right. This has to be done quick, as there isn't much time before the miner gets deep enough to turn the others back to the right, where they will splat if the splatform isn't done. Even after figuring this part out, the rest of the level doesn't get easier, since it can be difficult to figure out the right side of the level.

Nightmare 15 - Try Die Cry Yet another level that took me a long time when I first played it on Lemmini many years ago. It's especially frustrating because of how you have no idea when placing builders if you placed it at just the right distance so that the lemming doesn't turn around when it finishes sealing off the gap or if you're going to end up short. This is a non-issue on NL due to skill shadows, that is, if you play with them enabled. Even then, it's still a difficult level, especially with freeing both crowds to get them to the exit. I like the setup to extend a basher in the middle to free the right crowd. Also with bombing the OWW to make a hole for another climber to get inside and bash free the left crowd. I do have a builder leftover, though, so possibly a minor backroute or even an acceptable alternative.

Nightmare 16 - Another Brick in the Wall Ah, the level that stumped me the longest out of any other level in the pack back when I first played it on Lemmini. I think it ended up taking me 2-3 weeks. It was all due to me missing the part with digging at the start on the left side so that the lemming who falls in there can climb out to the right later. In other words, one of the diggers I couldn't figure out for a really long time. I had everything else figured out but that one. Since I already know the solution from before, it was much easier this time. It's definitely frustrating on Lemmini, particularly since the bombers are timed. Also, you got to make sure that they explode in the right place, as even though the chains are somewhat thin it's still possible to bomb all but the other half away.

Nightmare 17 - Frozen Mind Difficult one, but it's really the timing of sending out climbers that's really hard here, especially since the level is quite huge, making it very hard to know when to send out climbers relative to others. Other than this, I say the other hard part is figuring out the building section near the very end to make sure the crowd survives the falls. I also got lucky here with the two climbers at the end with digging away the terrain that blocks the lemmings from getting to the exit before the other one can climb out and walk into the steam blower

Nightmare 18 - Under the grinning moon Somewhat difficult, especially now that it's properly patched up in NL. In Lemmini, it's possible to simply build straight up to the first wall to get to the exit, but doing this is difficult considering the precision needed. Still, nice level.

Nightmare 19 - Balls Ahead! Ah, I kept unnecessarily trying to get the timing of the climbers right so that you can get to steel platform with just one builder after using a blocker to turn him. That took so many attempts to get right. When it finally did work, I totally didn't take into account that where the builder finishes the wall is too high for the crowd to get up. I also had to check the Lemmini version at some point to see if if the skillsets were the same, as I kept wondering why I was a builder short after using two builders to get up the area where a blocker is used to turn everyone back to the left. Indeed, it turns out that I fell for the red herring at the very top of the right side, where it's not necessary to use a builder to get over the very tiny gap, even though it's necessary for the same gap in the starting area. Quite a nice deception there Oh well, I managed to figure it out.

Nightmare 20 - Pachelbel's Canon One of my favorites. So here, we have a level where Icho voiced his dislike of disjoint unions, although others might like such levels, designing and playing them I definitely remember struggling with this one on Lemmini. While you only need to manage two lemmings per section, both have their difficulties. In particular, the top is more about delaying one of the lemmings as much as possible to allow the other to get tasks done before either of them get into danger. The bottom is all more about using tricks with builders to extend a basher and a miner, although there's still some delaying/stalling needed. All in all, I say the top section is the harder of the two, although given the skillset the difficulty also lies in knowing where the skills go and which ones to use for either section.

Nightmare 21 - Rockbiter Once again, in Lemmini it's possible to just simply build up in the starting area, while it's possible to destroy the green emerald at the top and therefore avoid some skills. Here, the level's definitely more of a challenge. It looks simple, but it's deceptively difficult. I think the main trick with getting the bottom entrances up is intended, although perhaps blocking lemmings on the left at the top where the OWW is isn't intended. I'm also not sure if the part near the end is intended as well.

Nightmare 22 - Kairo One of the hardest levels of the rank. It took me a long time on Lemmini, and it also took me a long time here too. Certainly the hardest part is the very start. In many of my earlier attempts, I kept trying to delay one of the lemmings by getting a lemming to turn back to the right to get killed by the trap while the first builder going left after finishing gets past unharmed. This was to give the lead lemming enough time to seal off the gap to the left at the bottom, but this never worked out. Then I came up with blocking and then digging to release him after turning to the right to bash. I don't know if this is intended. Also, here I can swap out the miner for a basher for the end part to get the worker to die to the trap while the crowd passes by unharmed. So, possibly a minor backroute?

Nightmare 23 - You Have to Believe! Difficult one I remember from Lemmin, but another favorite of mine. The trick at the very beginning with digging just before the very tiny gap and then building to seal it off once he's low enough so that a lemming from the right crowd can use the builder step to extend the miner and also release the blocker is quite clever! Once again, I ran into difficulties with the OWW at the top, where I kept thinking the miner needed to start going to the left, when in fact it's the other way around, where you're supposed to start the miner going to the right. Some things never change, I guess Certainly the hardest part is getting a blocker to block in the right place so that he can use the builder bridge to keep going to the bottom left. The second blocker isn't as difficult to place, but you still have to make sure some lemmings happen to be nearby when the miner is around the right place. Something tells me you got inspiration from the Maso level from Dovelems, as it too also uses two blockers to turn a miner. You could had had it happen with your Cerebus level from United too

Nightmare 24 - Rise of a Digital Nation Ah, one of the hardest levels of the rank as well. Not only is the puzzle quite difficult, but the timer is really tight. This one certainly took me a while on Lemmini back then, and it was true to an extent here as well, although it didn't take me as long as I thought it would. In some of my earlier attempts, I kept trying to get a lemming to finish the final gap to the right at the very bottom so as to avoid using a builder in the section right above it for the same gap, but this never worked. The digger/bomber on the right side can be super tight on timing. I think more often than not when the bomber was successfully with getting the right entrance to go to the left one of them kept turning back to the right on Lemmini, which you couldn't afford to happen because you would run out of time otherwise.

Nightmare 25 - The Flameout Looks intimidating and difficult due to the size of the level, but it's not too hard. It's still challenging, though. Perhaps the most difficult was getting the timing for the part with the terrain that has arrows going in both directions and making sure no one is nearby to give the builder enough time to build over the gap before anyone can fall through. Nice level, though. I ended up saving 1 over the requirement, so maybe minor backroute too?

Nightmare 26 - The Master System Yet another level that looks overwhelming and intimidating due to the huge size, but it's not too hard either. Once again still challenging. Way more frustrating to do on Lemmini due to not knowing whether you placed the miners correctly ahead of time, which is especially problematic with the very long miner section at the very beginning. That's definitely a nice trick and also with sending two climbers up the left side and bombing the first to allow the second to get up over the top. Quite a nice level and one of your best designed with the Sega tileset.

Nightmare 27 - Unsecure Area Oh man, that's a lot of masher traps at the start Can be difficult, but it's still not too hard. Here, I had a problem with being a builder short in some early attempts, but that's because I used one of them unnecessarily. More using builders to extend a miner here. As a matter of fact, this trick is used for the remaining levels of the rank, starting with the previous one. Something that I barely realized just now One of my favorite levels to an extent. I didn't use one of the climber pickups, so maybe a slight backroute?

Nightmare 28 - Cranking the Stress Hard level, especially with a tight timer. Getting the setup for the miner can be difficult. Once again, need to place the blocker just right to turn the miner.

Nightmare 29 - Lemtris Version X Very intimidating and difficult level, considering the huge amount of Tetris blocks you need to get through. Diggers might seem plentiful, but they surprisingly run out fast. I think I remembered having some of the more important skills leftover, but here I ended up using all the destructive skills. I certainly remember feeling a huge sense of relief when it finally all worked out on Lemmini. Being economical and getting the most out of your skills is the name of the game here.

Nightmare 30 - The LIVING NIGHTMARE Certainly the hardest rank finisher in the entire pack, although for the final level of the pack it's nowhere near the hardest level. It's just even moreso in NL, as it's more properly patched up in contrast to the Lemmini version, particularly since I used the stuck climber glitch to solve it. It's good to know that it's not required to solve, and so I really overcomplicated it, although it does allow me to save some skills on that version Pretty much some tricks that have been seen on many of the previous levels come together here, most notably using builders to extend a basher and to extend a miner.

Now that I've played and solved this level again after so long, albeit a patched up version, once again I'll reiterate what I said in the United pack topic, and that a better way to put my feedback would be to say that Nightmare 30 "feels" harder than Genocide 41, only because it's less obvious where the skills go in the former than on the latter and hence Genocide 41 "felt" easier to me. Also because how I generally have this view that levels that use only the classic 8 skills tend to be easier than the ones that use at least one Neolemmix skill, but I suppose it's just all about getting familiar with the skills. Even then, I agree that they both have their own difficulties as the final level in regards to the packs they come from. In Nightmare 30, certainly the hardest part was setting up the middle left-most entrances just immediately to the right of the pyramid structure where the exit is to work out. There's very little room for error here, particularly with the fire blower traps on either side, and so the lemmings from either side have to fall just right in between in order to survive. Also getting the builder bridges set up right for extending the basher, but luckily that crowd is quite tight so that it makes the timing easier.           

Overall, great job with this first pack of yours, and now that I've played through it again after so long but on New Formats NL for the very first time, I definitely remember why I liked this pack so much when I first played it on Lemmini years ago. I can also see why it's a highly regarded pack from the community. Of course, I've played both your Reunion and United packs, and there's absolutely no doubt that United is the much higher quality pack and is many times better, as it definitely shows how much you have grown as both a level designer and level solver.

I am looking forward to playing your Isolated pack when it's done and ready! Also, I still need to take a look at the new levels that you have made for the NL Introduction pack, as well as resolve some levels that have been patched up in the meantime. And of course, I look forward continuing to be your pre-tester and pre-testing your future contest levels See you around when you return from your hometown!

[IchoTolot]

Thanks for all the feedback, replays and kind words!

I will slowly work myself through these and prepare a new patch with some comments.