[NeoLemmix 1.43] Lemmicks - Lemmings with gimmicks! ANOTHER UPDATE

[mantha16]

cool thanks both youre slowly but surely dragging me into learning what to do willlem before you know it I'll be designing levels (but not really)

[WillLem]

cool thanks both youre slowly but surely dragging me into learning what to do willlem before you know it I'll be designing levels (but not really)

Looking forward to seeing your first level!

[Strato Incendus]

Just be aware that, if you want to design gimmick levels like these ones right here, you're also going to need the old NeoLemmix editor for version 1.43. It should be accessible via the NeoLemmix homepage under "old versions", but I've attached the one I'm using again (well, I'm not actively using it at the moment, but I still have it, and since WillLem suggested a while ago to eventually make a Lemmicks 2 pack, who knows... ).

Creation of content for outdated versions is of course discouraged by the NeoLemmix community, but by now, New-Formats NeoLemmix has developed so far away from this ancient version that it's almost a different engine. There are three skills which NeoLemmix 1.43 doesn't have, compared to the newest version of New Formats (Fencer, Shimmier, and Jumper, in that order). But in exchange, it has all those gimmicks. And though it looks like wrap may return to New-Formats NeoLemmix eventually, it will most likely look different (infinite scrolling, rather than lemmings leaving the level at one edge and re-entering at the other). Karoshi won't come back, nor will SuperLemming (and those were the only gimmicks even brought up by people as requests for re-introduction).

So yeah, I think there's definitely still design space available for a Lemmicks 2...

[WillLem]

WillLem suggested a while ago to eventually make a Lemmicks 2 pack

I'm thinking Lemmicks 2 should be much easier than Lemmicks, so that the gimmicks, rather than the puzzles, are the main feature of the pack. That way, the player can simply concentrate on having fun with the unusual gameplay styles that the gimmicks themselves present, rather than having to tackle challenging level solutions as well. In all honesty, there are very few levels in Lemmicks that I've actually solved: most of them I've skipped past after a few tries, which is a shame because it has the potential to be a really fun pack.

Not that very difficult levels aren't fun, it's just that if you're playing a level and it's the first time you've ever seen a particular gimmick, really the level needs to be a gimme (as do the next few after it), otherwise I can imagine most players will lose interest quickly.

I'd also suggest only using orig and ohno tilesets, so that the player is learning the mechanics of each gimmick in a familiar setting, again at least for the first few levels in each rank.

The pack should ideally be a showcase of the best gimmicks: it's unfortunate that a lot of the really good ones got culled along with the ones that, frankly, are just annoying; I can see why a lot of these weren't very popular. However, we can bring some of the more wholesome ones back in a fun, enjoyable way which make a good case for the presence of gimmicks in a Lemmings game.

Here's what I'd suggest as a pack structure, starting with gimmicks that are easier to get used to after a few levels and then moving onto the more challenging ones later in the pack:

Rank 1: Wrap (8 levels)
Rank 2: Backwards Walkers (8 levels)
Rank 3: No Gravity (8 levels)
Rank 4: Rising Water (8 levels)
Rank 5: Frenzy (8 levels)
Rank 6: SuperLemming (with Frenzy) (8 levels)
Rank 7: Karoshi (with Mixed Gimmicks) (16 levels)
Rank 8: Bedlam (Mixed Gimmicks) (16 levels)

Note that I haven't included ranks for Turn-on-assign, Instant pickups, Countdown-other-skills, Non-fatal bombers - these are gimmicks which I think are best being featured occasionally throughout rather than having an entire rank devoted to them (instant pickups, for example, is one that loses its novelty very quickly); however, they're good enough ideas to appear occasionally.

I'd suggest leaving these out of the pack altogether, unless you feel strongly otherwise: Hardworkers, Permanent blockers, Non-permanent skills, Lazy Lemmings. These all have far more annoyance value than novelty value.

The main thing I'd emphasise for this pack is that it's straightforward in terms of its puzzle content, at least for the first 4 or 5 levels of each rank. Of course, the last few levels in each rank can present more of a challenge once the player is used to the gimmick.

Let me know if you're in agreement with this, and if so then it can be a fun ongoing side project for us to add levels to every now and then when we get good ideas.

Incidentally, is there a way to customise the skill panel for packs in 1.43?

[mantha16]

I have to be honest I gave up after 6 levels I just don't enjoy the older players that much anything above 10 is fine as that has most of the things I like.

I really wish I could design levels but I don't think I have the skill or patience.

[Strato Incendus]

Thanks for your suggestions, WillLem!

I'm happy that mantha16 posted in the meantime, though, because her post is a great example of the fact that, contrary to what you seem to assume, the main thing keeping people from diving deeper into Lemmicks, as far as I can tell, is indeed not the difficulty, but the fact that it relies on an older and "clunkier" version of the NeoLemmix player, without many of the modern conveniences people have grown accustomed to.

I know you come from a different design philosophy, so I can understand that the puzzle difficulty might be what makes the pack less enjoyable for you personally.

This also reflects in the gimmicks you suggest to choose for Lemmicks 2. If you have a look through this thread, you will notice that neither No Gravity, nor Frenzy, nor SuperLemming were particularly liked by the community at large. Some people outright refused to play the Cosmic rank because of the No Gravity gimmick - not because of the puzzle difficulty.

Puzzle difficulty was only explicitly mentioned by people in context of the Basic rank, i.e. the only one without any gimmicks. I guess that was because some expected it to be an auto-solve rank, rather than one that was designed to get them used to the changed physics, such as solid level sides, again. This caught some people off-guard, even though it was mentioned in the beginning and emphasized repeatedly on several levels of the Basic rank.

Rising water also introduces a timing-based challenge into levels that can be conceptualised more as execution difficulty. Only in the levels where the water is used as a "lift" for Swimmers can it be considered part of the puzzle; otherwise, it's just a time limit in object form.

In contrast, instant pickup skills, turn on assign, and countdown other skills are completely "fair" in the sense of predictable from the start of the level.

The majority of the NeoLemmix community, as far as I can tell, favours challenging puzzle-style levels. Using NeoLemmix 1.43 for a pack is already going to reduce the number of potentially interested people drastically. Straying from the core philosophy of NeoLemmix on top of that might just reduce that number to zero.

Especially Frenzy in combination with SuperLemming was removed from the Hasty rank for good reason (see the previous pages as well as the Lemmicks development thread) and definitely NOT what most people in the NeoLemmix community would consider "fun" .

There are still a couple of Frenzy-SuperLemming levels on the Bedlam rank, but I'm thinking about fixing those levels as well.

[mantha16]

Thanks for your suggestions, WillLem!

I'm happy that mantha16 posted in the meantime, though, because his post is a great example of the fact that, contrary to what you seem to assume, the main thing keeping people from diving deeper into Lemmicks, as far as I can tell, is indeed not the difficulty, but the fact that it relies on an older and "clunkier" version of the NeoLemmix player, without many of the modern conveniences people have grown accustomed to.

I know you come from a different design philosophy, so I can understand that the puzzle difficulty might be what makes the pack less enjoyable for you personally.

This also reflects in the gimmicks you suggest to choose for Lemmicks 2. If you have a look through this thread, you will notice that neither No Gravity, nor Frenzy, nor SuperLemming were particularly liked by the community at large. Some people outright refused to play the Cosmic rank because of the No Gravity gimmick - not because of the puzzle difficulty.

Puzzle difficulty was only explicitly mentioned by people in context of the Basic rank, i.e. the only one without any gimmicks. I guess that was because some expected it to be an auto-solve rank, rather than one that was designed to get them used to the changed physics, such as solid level sides, again. This caught some people off-guard, even though it was mentioned in the beginning and emphasized repeatedly on several levels of the Basic rank.

Rising water also introduces a timing-based challenge into levels that can be conceptualised more as execution difficulty. Only in the levels where the water is used as a "lift" for Swimmers can it be considered part of the puzzle; otherwise, it's just a time limit in object form.

In contrast, instant pickup skills, turn on assign, and countdown other skills are completely "fair" in the sense of predictable from the start of the level.

The majority of the NeoLemmix community, as far as I can tell, favours challenging puzzle-style levels. Using NeoLemmix 1.43 for a pack is already going to reduce the number of potentially interested people drastically. Straying from the core philosophy of NeoLemmix on top of that might just reduce that number to zero.

Especially Frenzy in combination with SuperLemming was removed from the Hasty rank for good reason (see the previous pages as well as the Lemmicks development thread) and definitely NOT what most people in the NeoLemmix community would consider "fun" .

There are still a couple of Frenzy-SuperLemming levels on the Bedlam rank, but I'm thinking about fixing those levels as well.

*I'm a her

I'm an average player at best and I rarely complete packs because they get too difficult for me.

I like the decorative tilesets but usually end up playing in clear physics mode as the decorative tilesets hurt my age weary eyes

I have always wanted to play lemmicks but it is the player that has put me off

I like levels that are challenging but not insane and I think for a lot of forum members that are active they are way more versed in the game so they want tough levels which is understandable.  I personally wish more people designed easier packs that can occupy my time but not be so difficult i give up. 

[mantha16]

also no more zombies I loathe zombie levels and the honeycomb tileset lol

[Strato Incendus]

*I'm a her

Oops, sorry, there was no info in your profile, and I instinctively thought of your nickname being based on the animal, a "manta", which is male in my native language (German, "der Manta") .

I personally wish more people designed easier packs that can occupy my time but not be so difficult i give up.

Yes, this is an issue I have repeatedly criticised myself. My earlier packs are a lot easier (Pit Lems and Paralems), however they use a lot of outdated features and are therefore not easily updated to New Formats. I'm working on a pack that joins levels fom Paralems, Pit Lems, and Lemmicks and converts them to New Formats, but this takes some time - checking whether all the solutions still work in New Formats, rearranging the levels by difficulty etc.

Since you day everything starting from version 10 is fine for you, you could give Old-Formats Pit Lems a shot. Paralems probably has too many Zombie levels for your taste, Pit Lems just has a select few.

Plus, there's a completed Let's Play on YouTube by nin10doadict, so you can easily look up the solutions in case you get stuck (well, unless nin10doadict backrouted the level and I fixed it in the meantime ).

For version 10, there are also a couple of other great, yet unconverted packs, like Colorful Arty's SubLems, which has an excellent difficulty curve.

A couple of older and easier packs have also been converted to New Formats; they just fly under the radar because they're older, I guess (GeoffLems and MazuLems, for example, come to mind).

[mantha16]

well I'm enjoying designing levels and my husband is really good at lemmings puns so he's going to help me name levels in future pack, for my first pack I'm staying small and designing levels I'd like playing.

Probably my favourite pack is Vamplemmings even though it doesn't add properly and you have to add levels individually to work properly.

I also liked reverselemmings, oh no more reverse lemmings,

There are some packs where I really like the first levels but they get tough for me very quickly like a master degree in lemmings, lemmings squared

I've started most of the packs and enjoyed them got quite far into geofflems and dovelems

pitlems I've played in the past and enjoyed but periodically I delete everything and start again (usually when I have so many packs it starts to take ages to load neolemmix) so I will have to try again.

I've completed lemmings, ohno more lemmings covox lemmings and the additional official packs apart from like 3 or 4 levels.

I enjoy a lot of Willlems packs but he designs some really toughys so I don't get too far into them I especially love the aesthetic of Leminas

as for my name its half of my actual name and is what my grandad used to call me as a child.  if I went for a german animal name I'd go Meerschweinchen cos I have two of them and I like how the word looks

[Strato Incendus]

Another fairly easy pack I forgot to tell you about is CasuaLemmings, also by nin10doadict, but arguably a lot easier than Lemmings Squared. It has only been updated to New Formats recently, which is why I wasn't completely aware of it when I wrote this morning.

[WillLem]

I enjoy a lot of Willlems packs but he designs some really toughys so I don't get too far into them I especially love the aesthetic of Leminas

It's one thing I learned quite quickly - it's easier to design harder levels, because you know the solution! The line between an easy level that's fun & engaging and an easy level that's boring & trivial is a very fine one!

Right now I'm concentrating on what makes a good "easy" level. I have plans to make an LP series playing through just the first ranks of a bunch of level packs by way of research (and entertainment, of course!).

Also, you can expect Lemminas II to be much easier than the first one: I'll be making sure that it never gets harder than about Taxing difficulty, maybe with a few Mayhem-style ones thrown in the last rank for good measure.

Incidentally, your levels are no pushovers! Like I said - it's easier to make harder levels.

[mantha16]

Incidentally, your levels are no pushovers! Like I said - it's easier to make harder levels.

but they all qualify as easy right?

[WillLem]

but they all qualify as easy right?

I'd put them in either Tricky or Crazy, maybe even Wild - so, easy-medium difficulty. They all take a little bit of figuring out, it's not always immediately obvious what needs to happen.

That said, figuring out a solution to these happens fairly quickly given the small size of the levels, and there are multiple possible solutions, so your levels are the good kind of easy.

[kaywhyn]

I just started playing this pack several days ago, and I got to say that I'm really enjoying this pack a lot. I absolutely agree with Flopsy, this is indeed a wonderful pack, as well as with the assessment that it's not a difficult pack, as so far I have managed to solve everything up through Hasty 10 with relative ease. For the most part, the levels do indeed get harder as you progress along in the ranks, but they're not too hard.  Surprisingly, Neolemmix v1.43 has not been all that annoying for me at all, but that's probably because I had just beaten Giga's Resident packs a month or two just before playing Lemmicks, so I guess the timing was just right so that I'm very used to the features compatible with v1.43 only, even when I have played packs on v10.13 in between the playing of Giga's packs and your Lemmicks pack. For example, I got used to the solid sides extremely quickly, although I still occasionally forgot to take advantage of it when containing the crowd or in the solution. Your pack lives on, Strato!

Anyway, I have just beaten 100 levels total, and I thought would be a good time to send my replays. The replays start at Circular 2 and go all the way through Hasty 10, in order. I don't have any Basic or Moist replays, but if you want the ones to Moist I could always replay them, which shouldn't take too long now that I know the solution to all the Moist levels. With what I've played so far, I'm enjoying these gimmicks a lot more than I thought I would. Circular with the wrap gimmick is probably my most favorite, while other gimmicks like turn on assign I would often forget that the lemmings turn, or how backwards walkers I would forget the lemmings would start walking backwards after finishing performing a skill so that timing placement of skills is crucial. Ephermal with the lazy lemmings gimmick was somewhat annoying, alleviated by the fact that the levels in which the lazy lemmings gimmick was active weren't massive spam fests with the constructive/destructive skills. Some remarks on Basic and Moist:

Spoiler

Basic

Wow, even for a rank called "Basic" these levels are no pushovers at all! I say the hardest of the rank would be level 11 - Mene Mene tekel u-parsan. For this level, it's not a difficult solution, but rather the hardest part would be the gliding and stoning near the right edge so that a lemming can climb the side and glide to the platform above. Once that is successful, the rest of the level is easy. Level 10 - Into Your Hands I Commit My Lem isn't a difficult level, but I thought it was strange how the lemmings survived even though part of the flamethrower trap went through the builder staircase as it nearly disappears. Level 15 - Skill Segregation managed to stump me for a good bit, but once I realized that the lemmings on the right that fall to the bottom platform where the exit is can be assigned walkers, the rest of the level was easy.

Moist

3 - Need a lift Is it supposed to take a really long time to solve this? From what I recall, the timer was at 20 minutes when I beat the level. This level also managed to stump me for a good while, when it dawned on me that the gimmick active for this rank is rising water, which means it is unnecessary to use the builders to build to the exit, which I kept doing. All I did, then, was contain the lemmings with a digger pit by having the ghost lemming dig, have a regular lemming build so that the stairs don't go past the pit, max RR, have the ghost climb out to the left, dig before the water pit, then time the release of the crowd so that the lemmings would be bunched up as the ghost was coming back to the left after bashing before the fire trap after the water had risen enough to allow the lemmings to swim to the exit. Then it's a matter of turning the 15 lemmings that survive into swimmers.

6 - Here Comes the Flood After I beat this level, I remember reading about this level in your Perservation topic a long time ago and I'm very surprised that people would actually attempt to climb the right side of the level. It never occurred to me to do such a thing, as surely that wouldn't lead to a solution at all. I always took the left side to get up the level, which is indeed what you're supposed to do. As a result, I thought this level wasn't difficult at all. I actually like this level. It has a really good solution.

9 - Bathroom Leak I agree with you that this is the hardest level in the rank, as I got stuck on this for a while. For a long time, I thought the ghost was useless when in actuality it was very integral to the solution. From what I remember, I had a builder left over. I platformed all the way to the other side above, and near the end I got really scared that some lemmings would drown from the rising water while walking on the lemming's platform bricks to the exit, but luckily they all managed to make it.

Now feedback for Circular through Hasty ranks:

Spoiler

Circular

2 - Endlessly Falling This one is really precise with the placement of the first stoner in order to clone a platforming glider to catch the crowd and to reach the platform to the right. Luckily, this one doesn't take too long to figure out due to the very limited skillset.

4 - Spider-Lem at OSCORP Pretty easy. The bottom lemming is a glider and done, and so the challenge is getting the top lemming home, but if you recall that the wrap gimmick is active, then the only way is for the lemming to climb up the top of the level so that he reappears at the bottom.

5 - Circular Logic This one was a bit tricky, even though it's a 3 of everything level. There's probably a more efficient way to solve this than what I did, though.

6 - An arrowr in the level design? Great and easy level.

7 - Lem It Snow Arty said he was stuck on this one, but honestly I thought this one was easy. It's easy to figure out what needs to be done, it's the execution that can be a bit fiddly. I had to rewind a few times to get the miner correct, but other than that it's pretty straightforward, especially if you keep in mind that wrap is active.

8 - Turn this Club Around Another excellent level. This was probably my favorite one of the rank. I'm surprised I got the digger in the correct position to allow the climbers to appear at the bottom and use the bottom exit. As you can see in the replay, I intended for both crowds to take the top exit due to the stoner step to break the fall.

9 - Drop the Bomb Backroute? I didn't need to have the zombies come disarm the traps.

Consequential

Due to the way the skill countdown gimmick works in this rank, in general it made it difficult to plan out the solution. For this reason, levels like 4 - The Path of Least Resistance was tricky, but it's still a great level that really made me think. Level 6 - Limited Resources was another tricky one, and there's probably more efficient ways than how I solved it due to making the top an all builder fest. Level 7 - The Privilege of Survival I'm not sure if there are other ways of solving this besides the massive builder fest I used in my solution. Level 8 - We Can't Afford to All Fall Down Well I guess I still did manage to make them all fall down digger style lol. 

Twisted

1 - Moonwalk Appropriate title (pretty much every level in this rank can be named moonwalk since they all walk backwards, but what fun would that be lol). Easy level to begin the rank. Easy once you realize that you need to assign a builder immediately at the start.

2 - Bend Backwards Ok, I managed to have a climber leftover. I later came back to this level and was surprised that the stacker can indeed climb over it even though he is facing the wrong direction. I think that's what makes this rank unintuitive when it comes to climbers since most of the time we're used to climbers climbing walls when they are facing the wall instead of facing away. Luckily in both cases, lemmings only climb the instant they touch the wall regardless if they're facing backwards or forwards, so maybe just unintuitive at first.

5 - Hell in a Handbasket Excellent and easy level. I just realized that it wasn't necessary for me to build after the basher was done, but this resulted in another thing that caught me by surprise in this rank: When lemmings ascend 3 pixels or higher they briefly turn around before facing the direction they were facing before. I guess this brief moment they're facing the other direction when ascending can be exploited when you want to build or bash, for example, but this only works if the backwards walking gimmick is enabled.

6 - Flipping the Script Another easy level, but I have a lot of skills leftover.

7 - Face the Danger I lost one of the cloned lemmings, but I later realized that it was not necessary for me to clone near the lava. Instead, I could had used what I did in level 5 and have the lemming build into the wall so that he turns around and then proceed as usual with the solution I used. Thus, the cloner can be removed.

8 - The La-y-rinth This one was somewhat tricky but it was still a great level. Somehow I get the feeling that this is a backroute, especially since I didn't need to platform across the water and bash the OWW.

9 - Hero and Sidekick By far my favorite level of the rank. Easy level and clever solution in a 1 of everything level.

10 - Rite of Passage This one was a tricky one, probably a bit more than level 8, so this was an appropriate rank finisher. Even then, this level is not overly hard, just tricky due to the backwards walkers gimmick.

Whimsical

4 - Screw It! This one wasn't too bad. The turn on assign gimmick makes it easier to catch the lemmings.

5 - All Along the Watchtower This was probably my favorite level of the rank. Really nice level with a great solution

7 - Tossing and Turning This one was a bit tricky, but it's still a favorite of mine. It's a really nice, clever puzzle where assigning the permanent skills to the pioneer are necessary so that the lemming is facing the right direction for digging and bashing long before the lemming gets the opportunity to use the permanents. Nice job!

8 - The Emperor's Palace By far the hardest level of the rank. The major drawback of the turn on assign gimmick is that you cannot get to higher platforms as easily with builders. However, like the previous level, the key is to assign another skill so that the builder turns before assigning the builder skill again. The most annoying thing was repeatedly building into the thin platform the instant the lemming turns around due to the ceiling check.

9 - The Pioneer This was another excellent 1 of everything level with a great solution.

10 - Winding Snakes Nice, two 1 of everything levels in a row. This one was easy for a rank finisher. The only tricky part was getting the stacker and miner right so that the climber that bashed through the OWW does not climb over and get killed later.

Eternal

2 - Snow Ploughing This one was a bit tricky, especially with trying to get past all the zombie stoners. Once I realized I could trap the lemmings with two bombers, that allowed me the necessary skills left over to beat the level.

3 - Having a Blast Together Ok, I cheated on this one. After a few minutes, I was completely stumped on how to get the lemmings down to the lower platform if you don't even have any destructive or constructive skills. The only reason I beat this level was due to reading Nepster's Neolemmix manual on the section on non-fatal bombers. It mentions that the nuke also applies. I then set out to use it, and sure enough that's how you'll supposed to beat the level. I seriously can't believe I never managed to come up with the nuke solution on my own when I was able to on other levels that use it.

4 - Permanently Permeable This one was probably the hardest in the rank, but that's probably because I'm not too good with using stackers to make a staircase. There's probably much easier ways to pull it off than the way I did it.

8 - Brothers in Arms I have plenty of skills leftover, so backroute? I'm not sure I'm supposed to build up that easily and then simply platform all the way across.

9 - And Now You're Screwed This is Whimsical 4, except with the hardworking gimmick instead of turn on assign. This one wasn't hard at all. The only tricky part was knowing where to assign the builder and blocker so that the builder touches the pillar to cancel the building. I probably could had made the blocker assignment easier by using floaters, but at the same time I would need to have some to assign to lemmings who fall off the really high staircase.

10 - Lock and Load This one is tricky, but it's not difficult thanks to the blockers and walkers.

Ephemeral

2 - Ignorance is Bliss The only tricky part is timing the climbers so that you can cancel a miner going to the left with a miner going to the right. Otherwise, nice level.

3 - Part-time Athletes Nice level, especially when you have to keep in mind that you must assign climbers when the lemmings are facing the right due to the non-permanent skills gimmick. For this reason, holding down the right arrow key is an absolute must in this level!

4 - Catch Me if You Can Another good level, where you must make the climber mine once he bridges the gap and turns around, otherwise you cannot win. In this level, it's a good thing that the climber skill is lost, as then he would climb the edge of the level and splat if it remained.

5 - Why Settle for Just One? Yet another good level that managed to stump me for a good 20 minutes or so, only because I kept thinking the lemmings needed to swim in the second water obstacle. Once I realized that the climbers can simply glide to the exit, the solution came to me easily.

6 - Take the Ocean Route An easy level to start off the introduction of the lazy lemmings gimmick. I especially loved how you have to realize that you must climb over the can because you don't have enough bashers to bash through it.

8 - I'm no Superlem! This one wasn't hard per se, just really annoying due to how the drawback the lazy lemmings gimmick really shows in this level and makes it hard to tell how many builders/platformers are needed to bridge the gaps. The ones in the middle that only need 1 are obvious, but the one after that is really hard to tell. After trying it, you will come to the conclusion that you can definitely make it with 4 builders, but what's less certain is whether it's possible with 3, which is only possible by building at the extreme edge and stretching every bridge. Fortunately, the gaps are small enough that it's not a platformer/builder spam fest. Also, the climbing at the very beginning is really difficult to tell if a climber will make it to the top before the lemming gives up due to the gimmick. Luckily, due to the way the gimmick works, climbers give up just before it becomes splat height. This does make me wonder one thing though: Is the splat height higher in 1.43? Honestly it really looks like it should be splat height. Thus, I probably would lower the second platform a bit to make it more certain that a climber will make it over.

9 - The Average Joe Bit tricky but an excellent level nonetheless with a clever solution. The main challenge is figuring out how to get over each wall at the bottom when the climbers will give up when almost reaching the top. Luckily, only one digger is needed to shorten the walls so that climbers will make it over and not give up due to the gimmick.

10 - In the Blink of an Eye By far my most favorite level of the rank that combines both the non-permanent skills and lazy lemmings gimmicks in a very clever way. My only suggestions for this level is just like level 8, to shorten the height of the wall so that it's certain climbers will get over it, because it looks very uncertain. Also, both the stacker and builder have to be placed at the very extreme edge, but luckily it's easy to figure that out and it occurs at the very beginning of the level, so that's not too bad.

Hasty

1 - Instant Gratification Massive backroute? I'm not sure if you intended for players to be able to simply build to the exit this easily and miss all those other pickups.

2 - Frenz with Benefits My favorite level of the rank so far that stumped me for a good 20 minutes or so. It's clear that the digger pickup in front of the exit must be picked up while falling in midair, and also once I remembered that lemmings cannot be a glider and floater at the same time to circumvent a lemming using the glider pick-up that gets collected right away, the solution came to me very easily.

3 - The third lab of the race I think this is also a backroute.

4 - Losing Ground Ok, I totally didn't expect the disarmer skill to be applied to the lemming that is digging at the right edge of the platform. It's not a bad thing, I simply thought that I had to assign it later after it got picked up. Then again, I guess a disarmer is permanent, so I guess it would make sense that the lemming that picks it up would be a disarmer permanently. At the same time, the disarmer skill is not in the skill panel, so you would think that the disarmer skill would be lost if picked up. IIRC this runs counter to the 12.8.2 Neolemmix player where if the disarmer pick-up is collected it gets added to the skill panel so that you can assign the disarmer to a different lemming later, so this definitely took me by surprise. Still, great level nonetheless.

5 - Ghost busters The last level of the pack that I managed to solve. Besides the next level that I'm currently stuck on, I say this is the hardest level in the rank so far, largely because of the ghosts. This one was very tricky and took me a while to figure out. It's clear that the first and last ghost both need to be a bomber and stoner. The main challenge is getting rid of the other ghosts while being efficient in skill usage, especially builders. In my solution, I didn't have to go after the walker pickup, so I wonder if that's a red herring. For a long time, I kept thinking a miner needs to go to the left, which ended up giving me a lot of trouble because I would have to waste a builder to build over the pit but by doing so I would use up all of them. Once I realized that I could mine to the right, then the solution came to me easily.

6 - Circumvent Their Stupidity By far the hardest level of the rank. I was stuck on this level for almost 2 days. Saving the lemmings by swimmers and gliders were the easy ones. The floaters were the hardest, as they take longer to open their parachutes compared to the much faster gliders. I kept trying and trying to see if I could save up two builders for the end so that the floaters can exit, but alas nothing I tried work. I also tried seeing if backrouting the level was possible, but it seems that you made the level completely backroute proof in every way. If so, you did a great job creating a really hard level, as I did mention I was stuck on this level for almost 2 days.

Then while I was showering earlier tonight, it dawned on me to use the stacker pick-ups to try and get the lemmings higher so that the floaters can exit. I first tried a stacker on the ground, followed by another lemming stacking on top of the first stack after he had laid 6 bricks. Then I used a builder to get to the top of the second stack, but to my disappointment this didn't work. It only raised the height by 1 or 2 pixels higher than the maximum height of one builder. Darn! Then, after more experimenting, I found that a builder and stacker can pass through one another and both can still continue. See, I didn't even know this was possible in Neolemmix since I have never encountered levels that have me do this. Since I started stacking at the time the builder had one brick left, this barely raised it enough so that the floaters can now successfully exit, and that's level done.

Nevertheless, I do have a stacker leftover, and I'm not sure if the platformer pick-ups are red herrings, especially since only the right-most platformer pick-up can be collected, so my solution is probably still a backroute.

The remaining levels of the rank weren't hard, because the solutions were obvious, they were just extremely annoying since I had to rewind so much due to pause disabled via the frenzy gimmick and made harder by the fact that it is combined with the superlemming gimmick. I say level 8 - Optimal Utilization was the worst of the bunch with the no pause and superlemming gimmicks. I first tried switching back and forth with the Z and X keys without the rewind feature. The best I could do was 5 climbers and 5 gliders each before I would lose the rhythm of switching between the skills and mouse clicks. Then I started using the rewind feature which alleviated the annoyance somewhat, but it was still annoying since I eventually gave up on even looking at the screen where the lemmings were and my eyes were on the 2 skills so I could check to see how many of each skill I had assigned so that I knew when to rewind and interrupt the replay as necessary. Finally, even with 40 lemmings on the final level of the rank, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as level 8, as the release rate is 1.

70 more levels to go. I can do this! Once again, excellent pack Strato! I'm definitely looking forward to the collaboration pack between you and WillLem for the second Lemmicks pack. Also, I doubt I'm the one who has made the most progress on this level pack.