CustLemm Level List Game

[JM]

Indeed it will  B)



Isteve09 - Level 1: Wood Puzzle

Number of Lemmings: 30
To be saved: 90%
Release Rate: 70
Time: 3 minutes
Skills: 1 climber, 1 floater, 1 bomber , 1 blocker ,1 builder

Good: A nice tricky level to start off the levelpak, the scenery is cool

Bad: 3 minutes is a bit too high, it can take just a minute to pass the level

[Jazzem]

Wow, these levels look great! Shame I'm on my brother's computer (Without permission ), I can't play them.

[JM]

They sure do. I can't review the second level because it's against the rules to review two levels in a row.

[guest]

Isteve09 - Level 2: Level F. Random Terrian pieces

Number of Lemmings: 80
To be saved: 80%
Release Rate: 80
Time: 5 minutes
Skills: 99 blockers, 1 of eveything else

Good: Great scenery. Nice simple puzzle for early in the pack. The 80% target makes makes it seem like one of those get-past-the-trap-by-making-a-clump levels, but it really isn't.

Bad: The time limit is way too high. I did it in 1:12.

[JM]

You can also save more than 80% of the lemmings.

[Conway]

  Isteve09 level 3 - A Beast IV of a Level

  Save: 76/80
  Time: 5 minutes
  RR: 50
  Skills:
    Climbers, Floaters, Bombers, Blockers: 1
    Builders: 0
    Bashers, Miners, Diggers: 10

  Good: A nice, challenging version of an old level. The lack of builders really makes you think about how to best use the other skills.

  Bad: The amount of time it takes to bash through all the trees is boring.

  For a little extra challenge, try saving 100%.

[JM]

When I passed the level I only let 1 lemming die. It took me 4 minutes to pass the level.



Isteve09 - Level 4: Undermined

Number of Lemmings: 40
To be saved: 80%
Release Rate: 20
Time: 4 minutes
Skills: 10 climbers,10 floaters,10 miners

Good: The design of the level is good and similar to A trapdoor above the rest from Anthpck3.dat but with miners.

Bad: Why save 80%? It's possible to save 100% in the level and you can complete the level in just 3 minutes

[Shvegait]

Hmm.. Ok.. It seems that now EVERY level has its time limit criticized. (Just look at the past several reviews, except Conway's.) If a level gives more time than you need, it just means that the challenge isn't in the time limit. That doesn't make the time limit "bad". The only time I think a time limit could be "bad" is if, say, you had a level called "Just 2 minutes..." and you really only needed 1. The focus is on the time here, and that part of it was undermined (although really this just means there probably is a backroute.)

It's actually relatively *rare* for the time limit to be the focus of designing a level. You're also forgetting one thing: an intentionally high time limit can mask a level's solution. Say you had a really convoluted level that gave you 8 minutes, but the only way to pass the level was to use some trick at the start of the level, and you could win in 1. Setting the time limit to 1 minute would make the level's solution more obvious and takes away from the level. So consider that a time limit can also be *too low* if the time is unimportant. Sometimes those 1 minute time limits give a lot more away than intended...

Just wanted to comment on this. I think it's silly to say an 8 minute time limit is bad on a level that you can complete in 7 minutes. Come on!

(I'm mainly posting this to encourage more variety in the reviews...)

[chaos_defrost]

Wait, Undermined is 100%able? I didn't think that was possible... mind messaging my your solution, JM?

[Conway]

What's the intended solution, Steve? I also used a solution that could have given 100%, but I two lemmings went the other way.

[Proxima]

Hmm.. Ok.. It seems that now EVERY level has its time limit criticized. (Just look at the past several reviews, except Conway's.) If a level gives more time than you need, it just means that the challenge isn't in the time limit. That doesn't make the time limit "bad". The only time I think a time limit could be "bad" is if, say, you had a level called "Just 2 minutes..." and you really only needed 1. The focus is on the time here, and that part of it was undermined (although really this just means there probably is a backroute.)

I agree; and similarly, I think it's silly the way JM always criticises the amount required to save. The challenge is to save the amount that actually is required, and if you can work out how to save more, that's a bonus.

Also, on many levels the amount to save doesn't matter at all. For example, many of the Fun levels. You can save all but 2 with the two-blocker method, so the save requirement could be anywhere between 2 and all but 2 without affecting the difficulty.

Choosing a nice round number is often a good way to mask the solution -- like Shvegait was saying with time, but even more so. If a designer always required the exact maximum, then if you reach a level that requires all but 2, you know that the solution will involve losing 2, and that can be a big hint.

[JM]

I'll PM it to you Steve. I've also passed the 5th level but I'm not allowed to review it.

[ccexplore]

I've also passed the 5th level but I'm not allowed to review it.

Just as well, now you have some time to think about how to write better reviews for #6.

[JM]

I'm already thinking about how to write a great review for 6. So far the only level I can't pass is Level 9. I can pass the rest. Has anybody else been able to pass the 5th level?

[Conway]

I'm still stuck on level 5. Does it use the push-lemmings-through-wall-using-blocker trick?

  edit: Well I've just passed level 6, and realized that Stever's The Impossible Room (Cheapo Lemmings Plus set 'Evil' level 15) totally rips it off! Either that or Steve's level is a ripoff of Stever's. Or maybe they both had a very similar idea and level layout.

  Still stuck on 5 . . .