Lix LemForum, feedback by Forestidia86

[Forestidia86]

I solved all Cunning levels of the lemforum pack (as of v. 0.9.1) and attached the replays. 35 were done in 0.9.1 the other 5 in 0.6.36. I checked the older replays with 0.9.1 and they should work there. For "Lix Cannon" I happen to have two (quite similiar) solutions.
I played it mainly on my old laptop, so bigger levels were a bit laggy, which had its advantageous sides but also made certain sections more tedious. But that's my fault for using outdated technology there.
It was sometimes quite rough for me. On some occasions it had to do with finding the approach, on other it was the precision required and on some there was much to deal with at once. Some levels really seemed to require advanced knowledge of the game. But in total it was an interesting task to perform for me. Thanks for making these levels.

Some remarks on some of the levels:

Spoiler

I noticed generally that a often used trick was the exploder-on-the-wall that creates extra ground to work with.

I liked in "Under the Rainbow" that my attention was focused on the lower route but in fact I was sucessful with the upper route.

I really liked the "Tapestry" level, which had a nice puzzle.

Labyrinth of Persia has a plus with me because of the allusion. I really love the DOS Prince of Persias.

"A Soulful Bounding Leap!" was the level I solved last and was with "Seven Pillars of Lixdom" the levels that I had most problems in finding approaches.

"Don't look back" was a nice short level.

"Once You Pop, You Can't Stop!" felt a bit random to me though it is probably fully controlable.

In "Some Like to Run" I found the use of runner a bit strange since it mostly waited.

"Compression Method 2" was with "Mice in the Pipeline" one of these levels that have an interesting idea in using game mechanics but overdo it in the implementation in my opinion. Both replays are lenghty and I seemingly do nothing but I either missed the point or had to wait. Fortunately they are rather lenient with the amount of lix to save though in "Mice in the Pipeline" I had the ambition to save all the climbers.

I like the Little Miner Puzzles since I like having different tasks in similiar levels because I have already thought myself into the puzzle setting.

"Buy One Get One Free" had actually a nice puzzle but I didn't know the quirks of the cuber at that time so I had to learn it there the "hard way".

"Well OK then" was a strange funny level.

"Jacob's Ladder" and "Dr Strangelix" were the levels that I had trouble with overseeing all the actions. They were very busy.

For "Walk the Plank" I didn't plan for the second climber to make it that close.

[Forestidia86]

I have played through Lovely difficulty (v. 0.9.1) and have only very few remarks:

Spoiler

The level "Don't leave me hanging" seemed out of place difficultywise, if how I solved it is intended. It felt very precise and rough. But maybe that's only because digger cancelling gives me the shivers. I have attached the replay.

Is there supposed to be a difficulty curve in the order of the levels? If yes, I think "Let's Block and Blow?" is a bit early. Although the title somehow tells you what to do you have to get the idea what's the level is about. It felt difficultywise close to the level "Minimalism", which relies simiarly on one specific idea.

"Solar Eclipse" was a really nice introduction into a couple of the skills.

To solve "Lix Potion Number Nine" you literally don't have to assign any skills, which is quite funny. I attached the replay.

I understand that the sense of "Charge of the Lix Brigade" is the effect that is created by a ton of Lix but 600 seemed a bit much. I attached this replay for demonstration as well.

[Proxima]

Thanks for the replays and feedback! A couple of responses:

Spoiler

I don't love your hacky solutions to Lix Cannon, but I don't think they can be fixed. You're not meant to bash the horizontal bar at the top of the "window", but I can't make it steel because bashers turn on steel, which would trivialise the level. Since it's in early Cunning, I'm okay with leaving it as multiple solutions possible. It's quite likely -- though I haven't checked -- that a similar solution is possible on the Cheapo original as well.

Beautiful solution to Labyrinth of Persia! This is an anything-goes level, but I haven't seen exactly this solution before.

Seven Pillars of Lixdom was recently moved down from Daunting (the fourth rank). I believe that late Cunning is the right place for it.

Compression Method 2 does indeed require waiting for all lix to be out before resuming work. I'll speed this up by dropping the spawn interval from 20 to 8.

Don't Leave Me Hanging is not as precise as you think. Consider the same solution but with the climber-miner starting earlier.

The lix count of 600 in Charge of the Lix Brigade is a reference to the Charge of the Light Brigade (either the event or the poem).

[geoo]

I'm a bit late to the party, but a few comments as well.
Btw, if you have solutions to the other ratings, or even the complete set for Lovely, feel free to upload so we can check for backroutes.
I remember seeing someone on stream (Flopsy or Arty?) solving Land of Rainbows and Unicorns with somewhat precise basher timing which is completely unnecessary but somehow easier to see and most people go for it. It's a bit sad, but hard to fix without sacrificing the aesthetics of the level. So for example I'm curious which solution you found there.

Spoiler

It takes time to build: is a bit different than intended, but the intended solution is a bit hard to enforce.

Skulls, Sludge and Steel: There's one main trick that you manage to avoid with builder placement which is possible due to the builder building one pixel further ahead now.

Well OK Then: The number of Lix was cut down from 100 to 20, enabling that you don't need to set up a static solution but use walkers instead. Main idea is featured though.

A Soulful Bounding Leap!: I think I initially placed it in Vicious, but it got moved down two whole ranks for some reason. Considering my initial placement I'm not too surprised this was the one giving you the most trouble.

Mice in the Pipeline: You can use a blocker to pin one of the "mice" to the wall (with the other one) so it doesn't walk back and forth. That makes the batter placement easier.

Let's Block and Blow and Minimalism: I found it important to have a few genuine puzzles very early in the game, with just 2-3 skills where the player knows what they are doing and it's about piecing things together. I find it important to have this to interrupt the slog of lots-of-everything levels which get boring after a while, even if Proxima disagrees with me. It's hard to place such levels as the challenge is of a different kind compared to the levels around them, but my impression is that people find Block and Blow easier than Minimalism. There's really not much you can try.
I personally would have like to have a few more of these puzzles very early on instead of mostly lots-of-everything levels, to ensure the player doesn't get bored.

[Forestidia86]

Since there seems to be interest in it I have attached the whole set of Lovely (0.9.1) and Quirky (0.9.1 + 0.6.x) replays.
Some levels have more than one replay. The 0.6.x ones attached should work in 0.9.x. Quirky still contains "The Runaround" there.

Some remarks to the Quirky levels:

Spoiler

Could it be that "6 Gaps, 5 Builders" got easier due to the builder physics change? I remember fiddling around in 0.6.x but in the 0.9.1 there seemed to be no problem.

"Logging Your Progress" felt a bit finicky.
In "The Runaround" I save one digger but have a very precisely timed solution (especially timing the runner).
For "Impetus" I saved some skills as well but had a rather precise assignment of the second climber.
"Lix Lata" was very centered around coordination of the different actions/hatches.

I liked the "Box Set" concept and the level "Slaughterhouse" felt exactly fitting to the Quirky rank.

For me "Cubic Interpolation" felt rather easy but that's probably because I am through many variants of the cuber mechanic.

The levels that felt rather hard to me were:

"Snowball Battle" - I saved the climber but did some precision work there. This level haunted me since spring this year and I still think I don't have the intended solution.

"All Around the World" - This level uses a very clever trick.

"Another Lix in the Wall " - This level felt like it has a hard solution. I saved some skills so I don't know how close I got to the intended solution.

"Forest of Fears" - This one was rather I needed longer to figure out the solution than necessary.

"Waste Not, Want Not"

[Proxima]

Snowball Battle is intended, well done.

Another Lix in the Wall is not intended but very ingenious! Since it's in Quirky I don't mind it having multiple solutions.

[Forestidia86]

Thanks for the feedback.

In course of the mobius levels I looked at some of the lemforum equivalents and I think I backrouted them:

Vicious 2: Conundrum

I blocked the crowd with stairs, which seems too trivial for this difficulty and doesn't use all skills.

Hopeless 33: Eye of the Needle

I even missed to assign one climber and nevertheless got through. This was actually quite funny. I somehow don't think my solution is intended.

Both solutions attached.

[Proxima]

Haven't looked at the Conundrum replay, but the description matches the intended solution. Most of us found it very difficult to spot this solution when the level was first released.

Eye of the Needle, I've uploaded a fix in the main "Levels for 0.9.x" topic.

[Forestidia86]

Haven't looked at the Conundrum replay, but the description matches the intended solution. Most of us found it very difficult to spot this solution when the level was first released.

Spoiler

I needed a long time as well but if that's what I did is the intended solution it's going close to bruteforcing (just try if it works out timingwise) and quite trolly considering the skills available.

But maybe that's the quirk of the level.

[Forestidia86]

I have solved the version of Nov 24, 2017 of "Eye of the Needle".

I'm not sure if it's intended but if it is then:

Spoiler

It was a lot of waiting until the lix in the last part align properly.

Edit: Was backroute; level got fixed against this in the meantime.

[Forestidia86]

Sorry, but I have a solution to the v0.9.4 "Eye of the Needle". I think I will leave it at that no matter if it's backroute or not (since the beginning part is starting to drive me crazy). (There are indications that this is not fully intended but I have the impression I'm somehow closer to the intended solution than my other attempts. I'm at least more content with this one.)

[Proxima]

Yes, that's along the same lines as the intended solution, though unnecessarily messy in parts. I'd call it a variation and don't think it needs to be prevented.

[Proxima]

Forestidia: Was there any one of the Cunning levels that you felt a bit easier than the rest, possibly deserving of being moved down? I am considering swapping some levels around.

[Forestidia86]

First to my mind comes 6 - Tapestry. It was an amazing level but felt for me a bit easy for the rank.

When looking through the Cunning rank, the easier levels for me (apart from Tapestry) were I think:
8 - Leap of Faith
12 - Cry for Me
maybe 31 - Tick Toxic

[mobius]

Connundrum:

Spoiler

the extra skills are red herrings

I can take a look at these other backroutes and attempt fixes if you'd like. I seem to be getting better at that lately

Spoiler

Lix Cannon is a great level; I'd hate that one to be spoiled for example.

IMO: levels don't need to follow a super-strict difficult curve and I find nothing wrong with a breather or hard one once in a while.