Ski Sloping Lemmings (80 Levels)

[grams88]

Hi everyone

Your tutorials have been very helpful Flopsy.

(Ski Sloping lemmings) which probably has not much to do with skiing. This is a pack that uses the original skills and the original and Oh no tilesets, the nine tilesets. I think I made some decent puzzle type levels. The first eight or nine levels are tutorials but not like your normal tutorial levels, these ones are a bit harder than your standard tutorial levels. The first level is just to do with using the release rate tool, I think it is set to 50 but I could be wrong.

I'm hoping to maybe do some backroute changes but I might do that at a later date, see how it goes as it is at the moment. The first rank which is the (Blue slope) that's your hard tutorial levels and few more straight forward type of levels. The next rank up is the (Red slope)which are slightly harder still these levels might have multiple solutions. The rank after this one the the (Black Slope) these levels get harder as I've hopefully implemented some puzzles within some of the levels. The last rank is the hardest (Orange Slope) where you can't make many mistakes at all as you can lose the level.

I'm hoping that the 80 levels are okay and hopefully some levels might trip up even the masters of the lemmings. There are a few levels that might not go down well but lets hope that there aren't too many of those type of levels. 

I hope I have added the right file.

I'm hoping this also encourages others to make a big level pack. It was actually quite fun making the levels but sometimes you do run dry for ideas and sometimes it can be a bit more difficult to come up with a level.

Thanks Namida and IchoTolot, Thanks for helping me out with the last post. hopefully I've added the right one this time.


Should work now the download.

[IchoTolot]

Hi! Downloaded it and it seems to work.

But I found 1 bug currently:

For me the "Black Slope" rank is the first rank in the level selector. I also found the reason:

Your "levels.nxmi" file is named "Ski Sloping levels.nxmi". This way the file gets ignored and the levels are just displayed by folder order in the level select screen.

I fixed it for myself now and the "Blue Slope" rank is now the first rank as intended. Did you manually edit the file's name? If yes, don't simply rename those generated files!

Anyway rename the "Ski Sloping levels.nxmi" file to "levels.nxmi" and reattach the pack with the fixed name. Then everything will function correctly.

I will try to take a look at the pack over the next week.

[Proxima]

Replays for the Blue Slope rank attached. Comments:

Comments

1. Release Rate Practice: Odd title. Sure, it's convenient to raise the RR to 99 to speed things up, but it's not necessary, and that leaves most of what you can do with the release rate unexplored.
2-4: Okay skill tutorials but the 100% requirement is a bit harsh. I suppose that underlines the fact that this is a NeoLemmix pack and you expect the player to make use of features such as undo, splat ruler and skill shadows.
6-7: Much trickier than expected for tutorials, with some precise placement needed in 6, and timing / crowd control tricks in 7.
9. Building Test: The first of several levels in this rank with a lot of building. I know it's much easier in NL with the ten-second skip, but it's still one of the more tedious ways of getting from point A to point B. I used an advanced trick for containing the crowd; not sure what was intended here.
10. Treat Earth Well: For the first non-tutorial level, this would be tough for new players, with the trick of working with the last lemming, not much leeway with skills, and the first trap.
11. Cold Night: Much easier.
12. Extremely Tough Level: ...it really wasn't all that bad but again, the trick would be hard for new players, making me wonder whether the level really belongs this early.
13. Four Temples: I like the concept, but would have preferred more variety among the sub-levels instead of mostly building.
15. Old Palace: Dense and chaotic. No idea if there was a different intended route, but I'm sure there are lots of ways to do it. However, this is fairly demanding for an early level, especially with the 100% requirement.
17. Strange Place: Yay, a break from building and a nice puzzle with a small number of skills. I saved 100% when (for once) the level is lose-5, so I'm not sure if what I did was unintended or you just built in some leeway. Could add a talisman.
19. Very Dangerous Trail: This was horrible. There are so many falls that are only just above splat height, and the limited skills meant I couldn't take the precautions I wanted, to make them safe by a comfortable margin, so I had to do a lot of testing and rewinding. (The splat ruler doesn't help much when a fall is borderline, unless you're very good at reading it.)
20. Search in Snow: NL reveals the hidden exit easily, so this is just a large "get through a varied terrain" level. At least it's a pretty fun one, with decent leeway and lots of room to choose your own route.

[grams88]

Thanks guys trying the pack out, look forward to checking those replays you guys have.

[IchoTolot]

Thanks guys trying the pack out, look forward to checking those replays you guys have.

The issue is still not fixed yet.

The "levels.nxmi" file is still named "Ski Sloping levels.nxmi" in your attachment.

Rename and reattach it so unsuspecting users still get the right order of difficulty ranks, it's just 1 file that needs a quick renaming.

Otherwise most people will start with Black Slope.

I attached the fixed pack. It's quick so I simply did it.

[grams88]

At least we got in working in the end.

Thanks for playing and commenting on the levels proxima. I'm looking forward to watching the replays, is there a shortcut key for playing replays? I forgot which key it was. I'll will post a more detailed reply once a few try the blue slope levels out. The (Very Dangerous Trail) level will be an interesting one to watch as I feel that might be a bit hard for the blue slope rank but I'll keep there at the moment.

[IchoTolot]

is there a shortcut key for playing replays? I forgot which key it was.

Standard hotkey for loading replays in a level is "L".

All hotkeys can be looked at by going into the configuration menu by pressing "F3" in the main menu.

Also the answer to most things in that regard is: The Manual

At least we got in working in the end.

Your attachement in the main post still contains the wrong file name for "levels.nxmi".

[grams88]

Looking forward to checking out the replays. My thinking in relation to making the tutorial levels was to make them a bit harder than your traditional tutorial levels. Hoping it is not off putting for newer players, I was hoping a lot of us may have some mayhem or havoc experience.

Spoiler

Thanks for posting the replays Proxima

I got the idea for the first level from a colorful Arty level where you don't need to do anything but I thought I would use that as practice to use the release rate.

The next few levels might be more linear as you have a certain route that you must take. I see where you are coming from there Proxima with some of the early tutorial levels being a bit harsh, my main idea was to actually make the tutorial levels a bit tougher than usual. This might sound strange and a bit off putting for newer players but my main idea was that a lot of us might of finished or got very far in the original and oh no so by the time someone gets to the custom packs they maybe some lemmings experience with that also.

This can be a very mean level (the building test) and very tedious, maybe the hardest of the tutorial levels. I'll check your replay for that one. proxima

[Nepster]

Attached are lots of replays.

Spoiler

In my opinion, there are many very similar levels, that all boil down to: Getting safely down using lots of small islands. Similarly there are quite a few levels that consist of placing builders correctly to get up. Having a few of them is fine with me, but in the current pack, there are too many of them.
Secondly, some levels could be more polished optically. They somehow feel like you placed some pieces randomly and tried to form a level out of it afterwards. 
Blue Slope 17: Good level, but far harder than its current place. Should be moved later.
Red Slope 3: Nice level.
Red Slope 9: Saving all lemmings on this level is a very nice challenge.
Red Slope 14: Are you sure this level is solvable?
Black Slope 1: Excellent level!
Black Slope 19: The bottom half was very nice. But building up between the topmost two layers was unnecessary in my opinion. I would have preferred if the exit was slightly lower and less builders are given.
Orange Slope 1: Nice level, but it really doesn't need to be quite so tall.
Orange Slope 5: Very good idea: Hinting at 13 separate mini-levels, but two of them have to cooperate.
Orange Slope 12: Excellent level!
Orange Slope 19: I have two "solutions" that fail due to a fall that is just one single pixel too high. Could you please first check that the level is still solvable with the latest NL version (as I know solutions that would work in vanilla Lemmix) and perhaps make it clearer which falls are deadly?

[grams88]

Thanks Nepster

Spoiler

Red slope level 14 is possible, I double checked just there, it's a tricky puzzle

Just to double check something, can you actually change the height when making levels in Neolemmix? I kept mine to the default height for all levels.

[grams88]

Hi guys

Spoiler

(Nepster) I will probably focus on some of the black slope levels. I watched your black slope and orange slope replays, still to watch the others. The long building ones must of been a nightmare. My folders all messy at moment, it is in the wrong order for the levels

A journey level was completed nicely, you let one die. Your solution to big world was the intended solution, you done well building from the trap area. 

The bubbles, bubbles everywhere was the intended one, I tried to make this level's solution not so obvious.

The dirt puzzle level was similar to the intended one.

The falling down the mountain was an interesting solution you had there, I like how you used the builders to get up the hill.

Great lemming caper was the intended solution.

The man with moustache level was a different solution but it was accepted I would say, not a back route as such. 

The maze blocks level was an interesting solution, you done quite well using the bomber skill to alter the terrain to your advantage. North pole puzzle was almost the intended solution, I think with that level you can have quite a few different approaches, maybe except for the end part.

Will you rescue me, I kind of liked your solution, I'm hoping others don't do it that way, it's a good solution but can probably get tedius with the building.

The welcome to the red world, I'm maybe thinking about changing that one but I will see how others solve that one.     

[grams88]

Actually you guys are helping me find some backroutes, Nepster might of found a few, thank you. I might as well focus on finding backroutes at this time being. If I do make a backroute changes, I will let you know what levels it is and post the updated pack at the top of this thread. I might make a few changes to the later levels rather than the earlier ones.



Actually I might as well do an update just now,

Thanks to Nepster for finding them.

Only across less builders, Nepster solution okay

Maze blocks less builders, Nepster solution okay

Welcome to venus placed traps so can't go a certain way.

Welcome to the red world, changed some blocks to make the height higher.

I will add the updated one at the top of this post, Many thanks.

[Nepster]

Thanks for the reply.

A journey level was completed nicely, you let one die.

Which NeoLemmix version do you use? When I load my replay, it saves all lemmings.

[grams88]

You are right, you saved them all on that one Nepster, I just noticed what you used the last builder for.

[IchoTolot]

I've had some time for the first rank and the last level today. I've attached the replays.

For the written comments here I will focus on what could be improved.

In general:

My favorite level so far was 1 17!

As Nepster also stated: For my taste there were too many huge levels with 15+ builders. I would try turning down the builder count drastically and aim for a balance between small, medium and large levels in future content.
In quite a lot of levels I just had to build very long bridges where I just assigned a builder, pressed the skip 10secs button, assigned the next builder, pressed the skip 10secs button, assigned the next builder,......this makes some levels seem very monoton.

Level specific:

Spoiler

- 1 02 + 1 03: I think 5-10 lemmings would have done the trick here.
- 1 05: The empty space where you just walk could have been trimmed here. You have long walking periods where nothing needs to be assigned.  You could have achieved the same with a much smaller level.
- 1 09: This is too hard and too long for a simple builder tutorial. I would have put the exit on the lower right side here.
- 1 12: This is quite a step in difficulty from the last level. Mining from below through a ceiling could easily be a road block for less experienced players.
- 1 13: I think I stated many times that I really don't like the disjoint union kind of levels.    Each section could have been a level on it's own.
- 1 17: A really good puzzle!
- 1 20: Exits should always be visible! Even more when they can't hide from true physics mode.

- 4 20: I see the main problem here should be "how to turn with just builders". But you could really cut the level height in half here and still make the level work with waaaaay less builders.

- 4 19: I quickly checked the level as Nepster stated that it may be impossible: I quicky saw a solution that failed to a terrain piece being 1 pixel off. Could you check if this level is indeed possible.