Lix LemForum, feedback by Forestidia86

[Forestidia86]

Thanks for the feedback.
Solved another 5 Vicious levels.

Some remarks

"Dances with Lixes": Not that tough, but a bit finicky in the end.
"Endeavor": This one is about managing the different sections.
"Lixster Quadrille": This was just puzzling the different hatches and skills together.
"Low Profile": I have the impression I backrouted that level to a certain extent. Was a bit finicky with the blockers.
"Wait Why is There a Tree": This one was relatively tough for me.

[Forestidia86]

I've solved two further Vicious levels ("Chasm", "Dream the Impossible Dream") and the Hopeless level "Don't Catch Me if You Can". Replays attached.

Some remarks to the Vicious levels

"Chasm" was an interesting level.
"Dream the Impossible Dream" felt actually not that hard.

Don't Catch Me if You Can

This was a small interesting level, if intended based on one complex trick. But it was hairtearingly finicky as well.

[Forestidia86]

I just attached another solution to "Don't Catch Me if You Can":

Spoiler

I used 2-builder-cancelling. To get the second lix at the right time to the builder lix I abused the shrugging animation of the builder lix for readjustment. The shrugging animation gives you a few frames to work with and to manipulate in which state the builder lix is when the second lix arrives.

[Forestidia86]

Solved three further Vicious levels.

Some remarks

Alien Invasion: This relies on a couple tricky assignments and feels fittinng to this rank. Although many approaches show themselves as non-working quite quickly.
Finale: This is about puzzling the right approach together and I needed quite some time for it.
Trapeze of Weird Blue Blocks: Not sure if it is fully intended but it doesn't feel backrouty. The terrain gives you a bit of a hint what you can do.

[Forestidia86]

Have solved two further Hopeless levels. I'm not sure if I backrouted them or not.

Concerning Crown Jewel Heist

If that is intended it seems to be quite fiddly concerning the distances between the lix. The beginning part of the replay is therefore lenghthy waiting; sorry for that. It helped to have solved Laser Deathroom before.

Concerning Bipolar Maniac

I solved this one quite fast. The trick somehow fits the name but I by far didn't use all terrain and it generally seemed too simple solutionwise for this rank.

Edit: Found a much less fiddly solution to Crown Jewel Heist. I just did it too overcomplicated.

[Simon]

Bipolar Maniac is a backroute. I have no good idea how to fix yet.

Re: Crown Jewel Heist

The zig-zagging staircase constructed by floaters from the high basher tunnel is intended.

The setup with climber-imploders is too fiddly. It looks like a variant of the intended route, which I don't have in my mind completely anymore, but I remember it didn't have such long waits. You have some skills left over, maybe you can find a faster, more stable setup with those. But I don't see how to prevent your precise timing solution either.

-- Simon

[Forestidia86]

But I don't see how to prevent your precise timing solution either. [Concerning Crown Jewel Heist]

If my new solution is acceptable (attached in my original post to the level), then I have an idea:

Re: Crown Jewel Heist

My precise timing solution relies on miners but my new solution doesn't use miners at all. So maybe the miners could be removed?

[Simon]

Re: Crown Jewel Heist

My precise timing solution relies on miners but my new solution doesn't use miners at all. So maybe the miners could be removed?

The proof route uses miners, but only bashers/diggers should work, too. Can increase bashers/diggers slightly to ease execution.

Proxima or geoo should decide this.

-- Simon

[Forestidia86]

I've solved two further Hopeless levels:

Concerning "Empty Space is Hardly a Waste

It basically relies on one particular trick if intended.

Concerning "Close to the Edge"

That was really out of the box and tight if intended. I saved one more than needed though.

[Forestidia86]

I've another solution to "This Lix is Your Lix".

Spoiler

This time there is a better interaction between the lix.

[Forestidia86]

Have another solution to "Bipolar Maniac" and a solution "Stuff in the Way".

"Bipolar Maniac" feels more intended now.

Concerning "Stuff in the Way"

This is about managing the destructive as well as constructive skills and is in the end a timing issue. Saw the main problem rather fast, finding a solution for it lasted some time.

[geoo]

Went through pretty much all the replays in this thread, some comments:

Spoiler

Backslash: is a backroute
Little Miner Puzzle 3: btw after watching Flopsy's recent Cunning videos, I feel like reducing the number of lix in Little Miner Puzzle 3 makes execution potentially a bit harder
Tower of Babel: still has the chalk pieces messed up
Don't Look Back: I remember in Flopsy's video the lack of time limit means you don't have to cancel builders/platformers, making the level easier
Land of Rainbows and Unicorns: There's a hackjob solution where you mine right away at the top, get a walkable slope, and assign a basher in the crowd in such a way that exactly one lix walks up the slope. I very much don't like it. Hard to do something about the hackjob solutions without compromising the aesthetics. Making one of the 2 pit 4 px deeper should work, which breaks the symmetry but could at least be done in style
Skulls, Sludge and Steel: The physics change making the builder start further to the right allows you to easily bypass the two spikes hanging from the ceiling, this should be fixed
Tick Toxic: used to have a tight time limit, so that might explain why it's a bit overranked now
Well OK Then: Used to have more lix, so you have to cube a path for them. Now you have enough walkers/jumpers to get around that, not sure i'd consider it an issue though
Alien Invasion: These hackjobs still work Can I just get rid of the steel? This has been plagued by backroutes, but I'll have to have another look at it.
Alternative methods required: Is open-ended and meant to have many solutions.
Bipolar Maniac: This backroute is again a result of cutting down the number of lix without giving backroutes too much thought. There's no harm in giving e.g. 20 here. Haven't checked the actual fix if any was posted yet.
Cornerstone: I think it's a minor variation, but I like it.
Crown Jewel Heist: That first solution is quite impressive. Cutting miners is certainly a way to get rid of it, tough using diggers at the top makes placement a little more precise (or requires an extra iteration
through the map) due to the dicrepancy between the x-position of landing for the digger and any subsequent lix falling through the gap.
Don't Catch Me: The timing is a bit tricky, I agree. But I always have to be wary of backroutes which might come up. I don't see a solid way of making the timing easier without making everything bigger (i.e. more builders and thus even slower). The double builder cancelling route is nasty and hope gets eliminated via physics.
Empty Space: Is not quite intended, but Proxima didn't like my backroute fix that eliminated this. Still not quite happy with this variant being possible.
Eye of the Needle: A lot of interesting backroutes. I guess converting from bashers to miners (long time ago) had some drawbacks in the end.
Halfway Down the Stairs: cool trick there!
Low Profile: Wow, that's completely different from the intended solution, but very crafty!
Theresa: The steel piece in the top-right is upside down.
To Destroy: I think the way the crowd is sent home is slightly different from what I remember.
Triangle Ineq: It's meant to be impossible to release the two parts of the crowd separately, should be fixed.
The Mon0lith: you made your life a lot harder in the Mon0lith than necessary. There is a pretty consistent setup that doesn't require luck with how your climbers align.
Segmentation Fault: I think 30/50 is a good fix, unless you want to be strict.
This is a Stickup: I think it's an open-ended level, not sure. It's not easy, and all solutions that I know of feel a bit hackish one way or another.
A Towering Proposition: This is an exact port from Insane Steve's Cheapo set. That one had 4 ranks, the last one also called Hopeless, and this level was in the last rank. A decade of people getting better at solving levels now has this level in the first half of the level pack now.

[Proxima]

Alternative methods required: Is open-ended and meant to have many solutions.

Do we know that for certain?

Bipolar Maniac: This backroute is again a result of cutting down the number of lix without giving backroutes too much thought. There's no harm in giving e.g. 20 here.

Not true; the lix count was reduced specifically in order to cut out another backroute. With the spawn interval at its current value of 20, this backroute is possible if the lix count is 15 or above.

[geoo]

Do we know that for certain?

Pretty much. Alternative methods recommended came first, then people figured out there are one-of-each solutions and Steve felt that'd make a great new level.

Not true; the lix count was reduced specifically in order to cut out another backroute. With the spawn interval at its current value of 20, this backroute is possible if the lix count is 15 or above.

Interesting, I don't know that backroute. Forestidia's backroute seems to rely on having at most a certain number of lix. So would something like 13 or so work?

[Forestidia86]

Thanks for the feedback.
I've solved "Thomas the Climber" and "Feel the Pressure".

 Concerning "Thomas the Climber"

Was a nice level where I stepped in every mistake I could make. It's in general more about getting things together.

 Concerning "Feel the Pressure"

This level seemed quite easy for this rank, very well possible that I backrouted.