Lemmings Open Air [120/120 levels completed - now released!]

[Strato Incendus]

That being said, I be happy to offer to backroute test the final rank of Lemmings Open Air whenever it's ready!

Thanks for the offer! I will definitely get back to it very soon!

Of course, that would mean you might end up playing Lemmings Open Air before any of my remaining other packs, after all... ^^ And even if you "only" test the final rank, while the levels on the previous ranks should be a lot easier for you after that, one never knows... sometimes people get stumped by stuff the level designer thought to be totally obvious.

IIRC, I pointed them out as some of the best levels in the Nostalgia rank of Lemmicks.

Oh, really? Thanks, maybe I've overread that. Especially because I didn't put too much effort into those particular levels ("Nuclear waste disposal" and "Reach for the stars"). Maybe the solutions you found to them were much better than the intended ones?

Now you've made me even more curious to check out your Lemmicks replays. Probably something I will have lots of time for once Lemmings Open Air is in its testing phase. (Unless testers keep reporting backroutes for it non-stop, then I will probably be busier than ever, trying to fix them all. But I'm somewhat confident Armani's solutions already did a good amount of work in helping me to eliminate the most glaring shortcuts.)


EDIT: I forgot to report something: My replay for the Hardcore level "Forlorn skies" broke as a result of the Glider-Faller physics change. It might not mean that the level is unsolvable, though, because the height from which the Glider starts is dependent on the assignment of another skill. I'll try to manually solve the level again, hopefully everything is fine as it is. Just FYI.

[Armani]

This is one of the very first custom pack I played.(although there were only 4 or 5 levels in the final rank at the time.)
I would also be happy to playtest the pack when it's ready.
I had a lot of fun and it helped me get used to various shimmier tricks and now I'm now looking forward to play your fancy jumper levels

[Strato Incendus]

Thanks a lot, Armani! I wasn't sure whether your schedule would allow continued pre-release testing of this pack.

So you and kaywhyn are definitely going to be the first ones to receive the complete first draft of 120 levels once they are ready! Let's see how far I can get this weekend...

[kaywhyn]

Oh, really? Thanks, maybe I've overread that. Especially because I didn't put too much effort into those particular levels ("Nuclear waste disposal" and "Reach for the stars"). Maybe the solutions you found to them were much better than the intended ones?

Just really good, easy puzzles with really nice solutions! Although, the former has a very precise stacker assignment, and the area around the exit can be quite fiddly as well.

So you and kaywhyn are definitely going to be the first ones to receive the complete first draft of 120 levels once they are ready! Let's see how far I can get this weekend...

Sounds good!

[Strato Incendus]

Always nice when a band member leaves the band hanging a few hours before the gig. In this case, the band member that spontaneously threw in the towel was my old laptop. But thanks to me having backed-up everything in Dropbox, as well as having my previous ZIP file from this thread to save a couple of what seemed like somehow "corrupted" level files, the show can continue as planned! Only three more levels to go!

The reason why I've still added another update to the starting post now (aside from wanting to be on the safe side again with regards to any possible data loss ) is that a couple of levels needed fixing due to not one, but two different physics changes:

Glider-Faller physics change:
- Fire escape (Soft rank)
- Hunting high and low (Soft rank)
- Touch the hand of a Lem (Loud rank)
- Valkea joulu (Heavy rank)
- Forlorn skies (Hardcore rank)

"Fire escape" now gives the solution away a little more because a crucial piece of terrain is now shaped in a more salient way. But eh, it's a first-rank level, so why not.
"Hunting high and low" needed some additional updrafts to still catch a Glider who would otherwise have fallen through them.
"Touch the hand of a Lem" somehow had the fire trap in the middle reaching slightly too far up, so that it killed a lemming before a crucial skill assignment.
"Valkea joulu" didn't actually require any level fixing, only my replay needed to be adjusted. You just might want to check yours if you've already played this level. In my case, I didn't even have to replay manually from the point on where the replay broke - just some small replay editing was sufficient. (In case you're new and don't know how this works: Press the key E to select from a list and delete any missplaced skill assignments; press W to turn the replay icon blue so that you can add in further skills without stopping the currently running replay).
"Forlorn skies", as I said earlier, was affected with regards to the starting altitude of a Glider. However, this is in the player's hands, so here also only your replay file might have to be fixed. There was nothing broken about the level itself.


Ohnoers-drown physics change
- I believe I can fly (Loud rank)

It took me a while to understand how the Swimmers in this level could actually drown. Especially because this solution doesn't use Swimmers in their standard application: Swimmers usually don't oh-no. However, Climbers do oh-no. Oh-noers, according to the new physics change and internal game logic, need their hands to oh-no, and therefore always drown, even if they are Swimmers.
Thus, the interaction of Climber, Swimmer, and Bomber was what was causing trouble in this level. I sadly had to fix it in a way now that takes something pretty unique away from the level (the water-on-terrain is now one pixel narrower, so that the Climbers just climb up regular terrain in which they can comfortably oh-no). But at least the solution didn't have to change on a conceptual level.

There is also a music.nxmi file included now! It will simply establish the standard rotation for my custom recordings of the original Lemmings music. If you don't have the mp3s yet, simply download them from the Lemmings World Tour thread, the tracks are identical.



Finally, apparently I completely forgot about one of my own statements from a previous post:

the download hasn't been upgraded yet, because there's only one more level missing until the Heavy rank will also be completed.

As you can see, the next post after that was already entirely about the Hardcore rank. I hadn't actually finished the Heavy rank yet! The last level was still missing. The reason I never noticed was that my Heavy folder contained 32 files (30 levels + levels.nxmi + rank sign), as expected. However, one of them was only reserved as a title, the file was empty. I should have noticed in-game in the level selection menu, but I didn't, at least for a long time.

So unless your level selection menu (Armani? kaywhyn? ) already has 30 levels on the Heavy rank and I've missed something / lost a level in the crash, this one should be the missing level from the Heavy rank (meaning I just created it today):


Burning the witches

And here are five more for Hardcore, bringing the total level count up to 117 out of 120.

This is the one I was working on when my old laptop crashed, and that I re-created from a spontaneous hand-drawing and memory this morning, having just enough time to save it in my Dropbox before my laptop crashed a second time, this time for good:


Nemesis - sounds like an apt title given the context, but the name was actually already selected prior to that

A slightly more daring case of original-Lemmings tileset mixing:

Crystal mountain

The Hardcore rank features predominantly Death-Metal songs. But I had to add a few more famous Black-Metal bands, as well, like Gorgoroth. Of course, we all know what those types like to sing about:

Open the gates

Another song by Venom. And what a fitting title for a level on the last rank of a Lemmings pack!

Mayhem with mercy

And another one with a wonderfully whacky and weird solution. Somewhat pixel-precise, but very cool when it works out!

Fall from grace

[kaywhyn]

Just writing to let you know that this is the very first time I have ever downloaded this pack, and so I can't confirm if the Burning the Witches level was missing before from the Heavy rank. It's there now, though. Love the level previews in your most recent post, I'm definitely hyped up and excited to try out this pack when I get to it AND when it's done

[Strato Incendus]

Thanks for your quick reply, kaywhyn!

I think it is mainly Armani who might be able to provide some insight into whether the Heavy rank ever had 30 levels in his version, or whether the latest was always stuck at 29 levels.

nin10doadict did some early testing for me, which I very much appreciate as well, of course - he helped to identify some of the most glaring backroutes on the early ranks. But beyond that, he stated the pack got too difficult for him... which is completely fine and actually encouring, because of course I want this pack to be more difficult than my previous ones. I have created enough beginner-to-intermediate content already, maybe even too much of it for some people's taste.

Anyways, this just means that nin10doadict most likely never played a version of this pack that included a complete or nigh-complete Heavy rank.

[Armani]

I think it is mainly Armani who might be able to provide some insight into whether the Heavy rank ever had 30 levels in his version, or whether the latest was always stuck at 29 levels.

I can't remember when exactly I downloaded the pack, but my level folder says there are :
30 levels in Soft rank, 30 levels in Loud rank 16 levels in Heavy rank and 7 levels in Hardcore rank.
(So total 83 levels)

[Strato Incendus]

Thanks for your input as well, Armani! Indeed, the 83-level version was one that remained the latest one for a very long time. That leaves me quite certain that I haven't forgotten about any level, and that the 30th level from the Heavy rank (not the one in 30th position, though) simply didn't exist until yesterday.

So let's see how quickly I can complete the first draft of this pack now! I won't rush it, but I do still have some rough ideas... maybe three levels won't be enough for them all, and some of them will have to wait for the later releases (i.e. Lemmings: Hall of Fame and Lemmings, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll).

[Strato Incendus]

And... done! Level creation is completed! (And of course, everything is backed up on Dropbox, too ).

Here are the last three levels that have been added to the pack:


The pursuit of vikings


Circle of the Tyrants


Chopped in half

I am now going to take a look at the entire pack again - I already examined the Hardcore rank tonight, but I want to re-check the rest again whether everything is to my liking.

This includes minor things, such as removing any fixed music tracks from the levels, so that the music rotation nxmi file can do its work. At the same time, there are a couple select levels using ONML tilesets that should consequently also play ONML music, at least in most cases. I'm going to handpick those, since the ONML tracks (or rather: my rock versions of them) aren't part of my default music rotation in this pack. But don't worry, they still appear somewhat frequently.

After that, I'll send the test versions out to kaywhyn and Armani!

For that reason, the download has now been removed from the starting post. I guaranteed the two volunteers early access before anyone else, so these last three levels you see above will remain a secret to the "public" until kaywhyn and Armani send in their first batch of replays.


We'll see how long the testing phase takes. This is partly going to be dependent on the testers' abilities, how quickly they are able to solve them. But with the two volunteers I have the privilege to have as my support here, I think their level solving abilities are the last thing I need to worry about.

Most likely, any further delay until this pack is released is going to arise from me having to fix a massive load of backroutes. But the more my testers spot and the more I can fix prior to release, the more it will be worth the wait!

Hopefully, I can still release the pack before the end of the year. Sort of as a Christmas present.
If this works (which seems like quite an ambitious goal), Lemmings Open Air will have been two years in the making (December 2018 - December 2020).
Granted, with several longer creative breaks in between, but still. That's twice as long as Lemmings World Tour for a little more than a third of the levels (120 compared to 320).

And I didn't even have to record any new music for it! Lemmings: Hall of Fame and Lemmings, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll are thus already shaping up to take even longer. Though of course, recording the music tracks is also something I could do while those packs are already in the testing phase. Then the testers would have to make due with the default L2 / L3D tracks. We'll see.

[kaywhyn]

And... done! Level creation is completed! (And of course, everything is backed up on Dropbox, too ).

Here are the last three levels that have been added to the pack:


The pursuit of vikings


Circle of the Tyrants


Chopped in half

Wow, congrats Strato! Also, these final 3 levels you made look great

After that, I'll send the test versions out to kaywhyn and Armani!

For that reason, the download has now been removed from the starting post. I guaranteed the two volunteers early access before anyone else, so these last three levels you see above will remain a secret to the "public" until kaywhyn and Armani send in their first batch of replays.


We'll see how long the testing phase takes. This is partly going to be dependent on the testers' abilities, how quickly they are able to solve them. But with the two volunteers I have the privilege to have as my support here, I think their level solving abilities are the last thing I need to worry about.

Most likely, any further delay until this pack is released is going to arise from me having to fix a massive load of backroutes. But the more my testers spot and the more I can fix prior to release, the more it will be worth the wait!

Hopefully, I can still release the pack before the end of the year. Sort of as a Christmas present.
If this works (which seems like quite an ambitious goal), Lemmings Open Air will have been two years in the making (December 2018 - December 2020).

Sounds good, Strato. Just let me know what needs to be done when you send the pack for testing via PM. This is the very first time I will be pre-testing a level pack, and I'm not too familiar with the general process just yet other than PMing replay solutions. I've done some contest pre-testing, but that's not the same thing. From what I understand, it's mostly the final 2 ranks that are untested and so the focus should be on them when pre-testing?

[Strato Incendus]

I've done some contest pre-testing, but that's not the same thing. From what I understand, it's mostly the final 2 ranks that are untested and so the focus should be on them when pre-testing?

Yes, roughly speaking - but not quite that simple: Armani playtested a couple of levels from ranks 3 and 4 when those few levels were all those ranks had. The first two ranks were already completed by then, but I've swapped out one level from the Loud rank, "Breakfast at Tiffany's", for a different one, "We didn't start the fire". As I said, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is not gone, it has just been moved to a different pack (Lemmings, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll).

This means that "We didn't start the fire" from the Loud rank has also not been tested for backroutes yet.

In general, of course it would be best for testers to test the entire pack - because one player doesn't necessarily discover all the backroutes. You might still find some on levels where Armani used the intended solution. So if I just went by his replays, I'd consider these levels backroute-proof, when in fact some of them might not be.

Of course, you can jump straight into rank 3 if that is what you prefer. But playing the levels in order would also be helpful to get some feedback on the difficulty curve - something that can only be assessed by seeing the levels in relation to each other. Maybe I've placed something super hard on one of the earlier ranks that should go further up, and maybe something from the later ranks is too easy.

For example, I'm already quite sure that the level "Forlorn skies" (Hardcore 09) is comparatively easy for its rank. But because the level title is a metal song that goes along very nicely with the solution, I think this one can serve as a justified "breather" level in between the more challenging ones. It's not like the solution is completely obvious either - it's just something the player might be used to at that point, from playing the lower ranks. Thus, if I placed this one on the lower ranks, too, the solution might seem like a repetition.

This is the very first time I will be pre-testing a level pack, and I'm not too familiar with the general process just yet other than PMing replay solutions.

Don't worry, I've also only playtested one pack before (Lemmings United), and given its by now well-known difficulty, I could only manage to solve the first rank (maybe not even everything from the first rank). But yes, that's pretty much what I did: Mailing IchoTolot my solutions as well as providing feedback on the individual levels. Not necessarily on every single one (like your 6-hour-feedback commitment for Paralems ), just those that seem worth mentioning to you.

Coincidentally, this is also the first pack I'm actually having tested prior to release.

Lemmings World Tour was tested "in the field", i.e. released to the public and then fixed "on the road" (probably a better metaphor considering the premise ). I definitely took some criticism for that by some players... on the other hand, Arty for example seems to enjoy discovering backroutes, and it certainly made his Let's Play very entertaining. There are some hilarious episodes where he beats 5 levels in 20 minutes. There's even one where he thinks he backrouted every level... well, almost, I think there was one non-backroute among them.

[kaywhyn]

Ok, sounds good. Looking forward to helping out with the pre-testing and scouting for backroutes.

Not necessarily on every single one (like your 6-hour-feedback commitment for Paralems ), just those that seem worth mentioning to you.

Haha yea, I brought that on myself when I decided to give feedback on almost every single level that time. Again, as has already been said by me many times and is quite well-known by now, I'm also a very super detailed person. That being said, I'm definitely looking at how I can drastically reduce the amount of time writing and sending feedback, as I certainly don't want to waste 6 hours of my day doing that again. Besides not giving feedback on every single level, another thing that can help is sending one rank at a time instead of waiting until I have finished pack, which is exactly what I did with Paralems. Yea, I think after that, I don't think I'll wait until I finish an entire pack before sending replays/feedback ever again.

[Strato Incendus]

Good idea - that will also be much easier for me to process, then, because of course I assume I'll have to implement copious amounts of changes after each batch of replays.

[kaywhyn]

Yea, unless I'm feeling sadistic and want to really make you work Joking aside, you don't have to, but it does mean more things to keep track of. It's just like you did with LWT. I think you recently only updated the Legend and Rockstar ranks, and now you still need to do the Encore and the Groupie ranks. You can do the same with LOA. Your choice of course, since it is your pack