MazuLems - Converted for new formats

[namida]

For those who aren't familiar with it, MazuLems is a very highly-regarded pack of 30 levels made by Martin Zurlinden, back in the very early days of Lemmings fan content. Much of MazuLems still holds up even by today's standards - if perhaps a bit easier than the average pack these days.

As well as the 30 main levels of MazuLems, this download also contains two levels that were originally in MazuLems but were later replaced.

Download: https://www.neolemmix.com/download.php?program=40

All levels are confirmed solvable in NL 12.4.0. Although, as with all NeoLemmix conversions, the original solution to "It's A Magical World" no longer works and you'll need to find a new one.

EDIT: Updated; requires NL V12.7.0 or higher.

[Swerdis]

Thanks for this pack. I finished it today and uploaded my solutions. There are some decent levels in it, though I think it's probably the only pack that gets easier towards the end :-) For me, the hardest levels were 9 ("Holy Cow!") and  16 ("It's a Magical World").

[namida]

Holy Cow is indeed a very hard level. At the time MazuLems was created, it was even more so, as the main trick - quite commonplace nowdays - was entirely unheard of back then.

It's A Magical World, the original intended solution actually doesn't work on NeoLemmix (and there's no way to make it work, as it relies on a glitch in DOS Lemmings - the "magic" the title is referring to) - and this level nearly got removed from the NeoLemmix version as a result, until I discovered that it's still possible to solve with an entirely different solution, and a very interesting challenge in the process.

[namida]

Updated to address the "some levels expect simple autosteel but don't have it" issue that also affected the official game conversions.

Affected levels are "Can You Dig It?", "It's A Magical World" and "Meet & Greet".

[Proxima]

I solved all the levels.

[Proxima]

Quoting this from DireKrow's review topic, since I'd like to leave that as a space for DireKrow to post his reviews.

MazuLems is turning out to be an awesome pack, looking at these reviews. I was put off it quite early by a massively difficult level: would anyone be up for doing a MazuLems Redux which re-orders the levels into general difficulty order? This might be a good idea for this pack...

I don't think we should make it a separate pack, but I think we should consider updating MazuLems with the levels arranged in difficulty order. (We wouldn't be able to agree on an exact order, but if a few of us put forth suggestions, we could combine them into a pretty reasonable order.) Despite the pack's age, it is still a good recommendation for new players, but the levels being unordered really hurts it.

[DireKrow]

I would be in support of re-ordering a bit it for the purposes of promoting it as a beginner pack. Though part of me generally doesn't like doing stuff to other people's work without their blessing, too.

[kaywhyn]

I've solved all the levels, so just attaching my replays and some feedback.

edit: Also, the link to the very short and complete LP of the pack: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbp2m4KlFpJs5o-BiAgDcgES_Z8VXqKyp Enjoy!

General Feedback

I decided to make this my 27th LP of a level pack not only because there were more votes for the pack than the holiday pack (these two were the only ones that even got voted on), but also in honor of and a throwback to the fact that Mazulems was the very first custom Lemmings level pack I ever played. Sure, I could had simply gone with something else that I didn't list as an option, but I ultimately decided to go with the community votes on the pack that got the most votes, as well as stay to a small pack for the time being. Indeed, it took me only 2 LP videos and about 2 hours total to finish the pack. Mostly due to how I already played the pack once upon a time, but also because I'm somewhat still mostly familiar with the solutions to these levels. Not to mention solutions are far easier to execute on NL than on Dos, where I remember some of these being quite frustrating to do due to no framestepping, directional select, and not being able to assign skills while paused.

Mazulems is the very first custom Lemmings level pack I have ever played, way before Dovelems, the first Lemmini pack I've played. I played this around 2003, 2004, or 2005. I don't exactly remember the year, but it was definitely back in the 2000s. I first played the Dos version of the pack. It was definitely a difficult pack for me back then, but after a lot of struggling I managed to solve all the levels. It's also a great pack, and certainly one that I enjoyed for the most part. There were some really true gems, and there are some levels that were very unique and unfortunately got ruined in the New Formats NL version due to the philosophy the engine uses. In particular, I say two levels, Mazulems 10 and Mazulems 15, are both greatly ruined from the original, given that they are quite unique in the Dos version. If you want to play these levels as they are originally, play the Dos version of them. The latter one was especially satisfying to figure out, and I was definitely blown away by the solution due to the unique gimmick.

This is also a very well-received pack by the community and one which everyone should play at some point, even if only for historical reasons. It holds up quite well even today, and hence Martin Zurlinden's pack and legacy deserves to be preserved and updated to the modern format. So, thank you namida for converting the pack to New Formats NL! Indeed, it was a joy revisiting these levels and solving them again after so long, but on the most recent NL version.

Mazulems Rank Feedback

Lots of great puzzles here, although I also agree with the members here who have played the pack that the difficulty is very wonky and out of place in many areas. In particular, when I first played the pack on Dos, many of the hard levels I remember being at the start. A lot of the easier levels are found later in the rank, with the occasional hard level here and there.

Mazulems 1 - A Giant Leap for Lemmingkind This is a great level to start off the pack but it's also harder than it looks. I remember struggling with the area near the exit when I first played the pack on Dos all those many years ago. I think I remember doing something very different in the solution than the one I used on this level for NL.

Levels I remember being difficult, and still can be on NL: Mazulems 3 - The Pool, Mazulems 6 - The China Syndrome, Mazulems 7 - Crystal Clear Lemmings (probably the biggest step up in difficulty this early in the pack), Mazulems 9 - Holy Cow! (though I used a far less frustrating solution than what I remembered, but even then the trick it uses was unheard of at the time of its Dos release and hence what makes the level infamous in its frustrating execution on Dos), Mazulems 14 - Mastermined, Mazulems 15 - The Leap from the Lion's Head (only when you're unaware of the unique gimmick here, although again as I mentioned the New Formats NL version kind of ruins the level by removing it), Mazulems 22 - Level Under Construction, Mazulems 24 - Guess What..., and Mazulems 29 - Meet and Greet. So, as can be seen, there are several difficult levels in the early parts of the pack, while there isn't as much later on, supporting how the difficulty is all over the place.

Favorite levels of mine in the rank: Mazulems 8 - Achtung Lemming, Mazulems 14 - Mastermined (super satisfying to see the solution in action and when successful in pulling it off), Mazulems 15 (I remember I was very amused and blown-away by the solution when I discovered what was really going on in the level, which I did by accident when I simply started playing around with the builders), and Mazulems 26 - Deep Deep Down.

As mentioned before, Mazulems 10 - Episode X - The Phantom Exit is the first level of the pack that is ruined in New Formats NL

Spoiler

As suggested by the title, the original is a "search for the exit" type of level, because the exit is actually invisible. Not hidden in terrain, just invisible. Fortunately, you have more than enough skills here to safely explore the level to search for it. Just like "Lost Something?" from OL, the exit's location is easily memorized once you do manage to find it.

The other level that's ruined in New Formats NL is Mazulems 15

Spoiler

The Dos version has some of the terrain completely invisible. The biggest clue to their presence is by the crosses and stars. They are connected in some way. However, in New Formats NL, it's still very difficult to see, but with a very careful eye you can actually see the black shadows against the complete black background. Therefore, with the invisible terrain revealed it ruins the original intent of the level, as that's exactly what makes this level very unique on Dos. Even if you don't pick up on this, perhaps the fact that builders are in short supply should be the biggest hint that something strange is going on in the level, as there's absolutely no way you can bridge the many huge gaps with just 6 builders.

Finally, Mazulems 16 - It's a Magical World the intended solution doesn't work on NL due to how it relies on a glitch. However, the level's still solvable without it. Therefore, no changes needed to be made to the level when it was converted to New Formats NL. Otherwise, there was the idea of the level possibly being removed, but it was decided for it to remain in the pack.

Spoiler

In Dos, the intended solution is to use one builder and place it on the right side in such a way so that there is a pixel gap. Then, send up a climber, and the glitch is this: Even though the builder staircase doesn't connect with the wall, the climber lands on the bridge due to falling further away from the wall. Thus, this is the magic that's referred to in the level title. However, as all glitches are eliminated in NL, the intended solution doesn't work here.

The Two Levels in the Extra Rank Feedback

These are levels that were originally in the pack but later got removed by Martin, for whatever reason. However, IMO Extra 1 - Up, Up and Away! is a decent level and hence didn't need to be removed, while Extra 2 - Lemming Come Back I agree on removing from the pack, as there is absolutely nothing interesting about the level. In Dos, the solution is far more frustrating to execute due to timed bombers. I remember eventually raging because of how you have to do it several times and they have to detonate in a certain position or the lemmings won't be able to walk out to the left. Much easier to do on NL due to untimed bombers, but even so still not an interesting level in any way.


Overall, I, like many others, would definitely recommend giving this pack a go. It's definitely a huge hit with many here, myself included. However, if you fancy some challenges, you could also play the Dos version of the pack.