Lemmings Cranium Preview - Challenge rank [Difficulty: Easy-Very Hard]

[Crane]

Hi everyone!

I got an early Christmas present for everyone... a showcase of the Challenge rating, which will be a bit of a break from the normal flow of things in Lemmings Cranium.  This rank consists purely of subset levels, ranging from relatively straightforward to fiendishly difficult.  See just how well you can use the original 8 skills.







For those who plan to play the pack on YouTube, note that the music for level 15 is from Streets of Rage 2 and also reappears in Streets of Rage 4... just in case anyone is worried about getting into trouble (it's a separate attachment... expander.mp3).  The rest of the music is from the Sega MegaDrive version of Lemmings and stock tracks used in custom levels.

SEE THIS POST FOR DOWNLOADS

[Apjjm]

I had a play through of these this evening and enjoyed solving the first 15 so far - I ended up getting stuck on 13 for longer than I should have because I mistakenly thought the save requirement was higher than it was !

I have got all the talismans with the exception of 14 which I might re-attempt to optimise for time later.

[Armani]

my solutions attached below

comments on several levels:

Spoiler

I think first 10 levels are quite easy. I breezed though them quite quickly.
Level11 Hex is where things are starting to get tough. You really can't waste any builders and containing and delaying the crowd is also not easy.
Level14 Now use miners and climber has very interesting talisman. Two miner-canceling each other trick twice in a low was the key to the solution.
Talisman of the Level16 The Sting was really challenging. I was tempted to invest a blocker at the beginning to contain the crowd, but in that way I wasn't able to save enough for the talisman. Using 2 builders wall(not 3 ) was the answer and with some good timings I managed to get the talisman.
Level21 The Expanse has one of the most relentless talismans in this pack. If you don't care about the talisman, the level is quite straightforward but ...
At some point I doubt the talisman of Level22 Senseless sacrifice is possible. I kept losing one more lemming than the talisman requirement. After I figure out that I can delay the troublesome lemming for several frames by assigning him a climber at the basher tunnel, the solution came to me naturally.
The talisman of Level27 Hell's Kitchen took me the longest for me to figure out. There're no incredible tricks in my solution, but I had to fiddle around really hard to save some skills.
I already show you my solution to Level29 Christmas Rush on discord, and this level was another level which was very satisfying to figure out. When I play the original lemmings/ONML for the first time as a little kid(a little less than 15 years ago...), this level was a big stumper.

Overall, I really had fun playing this challenges and also I'm looking forward to the full pack!

[Crane]

I plan for some updates/fixes eventually, but I'll probably wait for the full pack to be released.  In the meantime, I've updated the music ZIP download as I forgot a couple of tracks.

[Crane]

Had to update the music ZIP file again, sorry.

[Apjjm]

I solved up to level 23 on my latest play session. I only managed the talisman to level 17 this time, I at least have some ideas for other talisman solutions (which may or may not be correct) with the exception of 21 where I have no idea, so that one seems like a really hard one to solve.

[Crane]

And after all that trouble, I forgot to include the music for level 15 - it's the "expander.mp3" download in the first post.  I'm so glad I'm doing a preview first to iron out my errors!

[Apjjm]

I have attached the replays to the last 6 levels - Level 29 is a very tricky one!

Spoiler

I'm not super happy with my solution to 27 - Hell's kitchen as it users the basher cancelling on a blocker while simultaneously free-ing it trick, which Is something I don't really like doing on levels where it isn't the intended solution as it feels a bit too powerful for lack of better wording. I will probably have a go at finding another solution to this one at some point!

A bit of a random and unrelated observation, I was at one point going to call a level Hell's kitchen in my pack which I thought was a funny coincidence.

[Crane]

Made some updates since it was playtested.  Enjoy!

Main changes:

Spoiler

- "Conscientious objector" has a new bronze talisman
- "Hypothermia" no longer has Bombers or Blockers
- "Tail-end Charlie" is now called "Abandon Ship!", with "Tail-end Charlie" now being the name for its new silver talisman
- The talisman on "The Expanse" is now gold instead of silver
- Fixes to incorrect music tracks

[WillLem]

The Crystal remake of Mary Poppins' Land looked so gorgeous I just had to play it immediately

Great level! I'll get some replays for the rest of these over soon.

[WillLem]

Played through the first 15 levels today. Managed to solve 9 of them, but the others were a bit out of reach for a quick session.

A nice mix of limited-skillsets and open-endeds. Some of these might be backroutes or perhaps just tasty alternatives, you decide!

[WillLem]

Played through the rest of the Challenge rank. Some real tough cookies in here, I was only able to solve a handful of them. I have an idea of how to solve Hell's Kitchen, so this is one for me to come back to at some point.

Some real gems in amongst this lot, and the re-styled levels are all very nicely done. Perhaps a few too many "limited skillset" levels in here for my taste, but then I'm always complaining about that so don't take it too personally

Great work so far Crane, looking forward to the finished pack

[Crane]

All the solutions are pretty good.  The one for Abandon Ship is quite creative, and I did worry that you had found a backroute that would reward you the talisman, but thankfully it looks like the spacing in the level is just right that you can't save a blocker, so thankfully the talisman solution is still unbroken!

[kaywhyn]

Hi Crane,

I have solved all of the demo. Here are my replays. Also, the link to my LP of it, although you already know and have seen all of it

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbp2m4KlFpJtkOPSJSaJrlaKatn16ihtx

General Feedback

This is a preview/demo of Crane's upcoming level pack. It consists of 30 levels which are subsets of the original levels from OL, ONML, or a Genesis exclusive level. Because I have played all of them, all the levels are familiar, although I don't know the Genesis exclusive levels too well, as I haven't spent too much time with them as I have with the levels that are found in both the Genesis port and Dos, the latter which I grew up with. It was really nice to revisit the levels from the official games and see what solutions Crane managed to come up with them that are different from solutions that you might find in the original versions of the levels. Some of the levels are remakes, where they're made in a different tileset than the one they're originally created in. A good example is Challenge 1 - Lemming Pattern Baldness. The original is in the Marble tileset, but for this demo it's been remade in the Fire tileset.

Challenge Rank Feedback

The first 10 levels were fairly easy, although Challenge 9 - Une houleuse aventure took longer than it needed to, since I was a dummy especially in regards to the building section. Challenge 11 - Hex is essentially the first very hard level of the demo, and it certainly shows in the LP. However, from what I've read, it sounds like it will be a problem for people in general. After that one, the next hard one for me was Challenge 18 - Ring of Fire, followed by Challenge 20 - A Simple Plan. I also consider Challenge 23 - Somebody call the exterminator! a hard one. Finally, Challenge 27 through Challenge 29 are all considered to be quite difficult. Challenge 30 - Tribute to the master isn't anywhere near the hardest level of the demo, but it can still be challenging. It is quite a nice level to finish off the demo, and as Crane mentioned on Discord a great "full circle," especially since it uses the exact same layout as Challenge 1 and is tributed to Richard Diaz, one of the best solvers of the official Lemmings games when it came to challenge solutions.

More detailed feedback on some levels

Challenge 11 - The hardest part was making sure to not run out of skills and to make a turnaround point for the climbers so they don't go out the left and die. The starting platform was certainly challenging too. I failed to realize to use the OWAs to stop the basher so that I don't have to spend other skills to do so This was a really nice challenging level that I kind of enjoyed despite this one taking a while!

Challenge 12 - Natural Reclamation Now that I think about it, I think I vaguely remember trying to do Mayhem 1 with just floaters/builders once upon a time. It's difficult but it's certainly doable, as shown in the LP, and you have verified that's exactly the talisman solution.

Challenge 13 - Inward reflection The only hard part here is timing a climber to turn the miner and at such a place so that the miner also releases the crowd. Otherwise, it's not too hard of a level.

Challenge 14 - Now use miners and climbers Nice reuse of a level title from Fun 4. I love how Tricky 30 can be solved with just two skill types. The only hard part here is making a turnaround point for the climbers so they don't go out the left and die, which necessitates a miner cancelling another miner trick.

Challenge 15 - Get out, NOW! Somewhat hard, although here my main gripe is that it's not clear that the lemmings will drop and land on solid ground after building over the lava pit. It might be that one in the original Genesis level as well, and if so it's fine, since you're not allowed to alter the terrain! Nice level and challenge!

Challenge 18 - Ring of Fire Much harder than the original "Triple Trouble." When I first saw the 9 builders, I immediately thought, "How is this possible?" I learned something new here, and that is being able to release a passthrough blocker on a builder staircase with a miner. I didn't know that was possible. For the talisman solution, I'm thinking use the same thing on the left side, except maybe use a digger to release the blocker? I might have a proper go at getting the talismans later on, especially since they're levels of the official games, which I'm fine with going for despite how I generally don't bother with them

Challenge 19 - Abandon Ship! Good level, I like this one. I like how the blocker is used to prevent the second climber from arriving too early where the worker is, since he wouldn't be done with the building on time. Again, for the talisman I'll think about it later on.

Challenge 20 - A Simple Plan Another favorite despite this one taking longer than it should had. Even then, this was deceivingly difficult. My main gripe here is the super precise bomber placement to release the crowd, but this seems to be the only solution possible. The hardest part was making a turnaround point for the worker lemming to mine from the other side of the OWW. Took a while to see to bomb a faller just before he touches the ground and splats, which is enough to make a small indent to build to turn around.

Challenge 21 - The Expanse Certainly much harder than the original "Stepping Stones." In particular, getting up to the ceiling is very hard, as you cannot waste any builders for anything else. I used miners to chip off some terrain to help builders keep going so that they don't stop sooner than needed to achieve this. Also, making a turnaround point for everyone on the starting platform is hard, especially since it seems you need to be able to start building at a particular spot in order to even reach the ceiling.

Challenge 22 - Senseless Sacrifice I couldn't remember whether a lose 1 or lose 2 is the best you can do on "From the Boundary Line," although you have confirmed that the talisman is getting the lose 1 solution, i.e, you can only lose the miner. It's a shame that it's not possible to save everyone

Challenge 23 - Somebody call the exterminator!! Nice level, although one bomber placement is super precise so that lemmings can get up but at the same time it doesn't break through the floor. The hardest part was seeing to use the center of the left web to get up the level and then block to redirect everyone to the right to get out of the web. Another precise bomber is on the right to get to the bottom of the level.

Challenge 25 - Misdirection I like the puzzle here too. It's interesting that you must climber bomb first and then bash instead of build and then bash, as the latter would cause you to be a builder short since you need another one to stop the basher. The hardest part is thus saving the right entrance.

Challenge 26 - Where angels fear to tread I thought this was going to take some time, especially since I had a hard time getting the setup correctly on one level of Turrican's Mike's Lemmings which is absolutely required since you have nothing but a floater and builders. However, I guess it's considered harder since you can only allow one to go on ahead to make the path due to just having 1 floater. Your level is easier due to having 3 floaters, but at the same time it might not be possible to finish on time if it had just 1 floater as well. Also, I think there's less room before you reach the deadly ceiling here, so it's probably not viable anyway.

Challenge 27 - Hell's Kitchen Really nice twist on "The Fast Food Kitchen"! Definitely one of my favorites. I love how you can't just naturally build your way up to the exit on either side. Instead, you must rely on digging/mining to make the platforms low enough to be able to get up to it too. Finally, since you need a save all, the right entrance is certainly harder than the left entrance.

Challenge 28 - How low can you go? The hardest level for me, only because it took me 3 videos to get the level solved. This would be the first level in the longest time where I needed to solve the level off-camera. Luckily, it didn't take too long, but it took me a while to see the solution here. The main problem is that by the time the 5th lemming arrives the fall is still fatal by a pixel. The digger's too slow by about a second, and so you need to find a way around it. The answer is to build inside the digger pit in such a way so that the crowd lands on the one that goes to the left and then similarly the one going to the right, but in such a way so that there's a gap to get down into the digger pit later. This delay in hitting the wall to the right to turn around is enough to drop down safely later. Really nice level, and I am now aware of a no bomber solution to "It's lemmingentry watson" Who knew that the absence of the bomber increases the difficulty significantly?

Challenge 29 - Christmas Rush Argued to be the hardest in the entire demo, I say this is close in difficulty to the level before it, maybe a tad bit more. However, this I would consider my absolute favorite of the whole preview. I really love how the timing and solution all comes together. I like how you need to temporarily max out the RR at the start and then later on and drop it back to default for the final two lemmings, since they're be non-floaters and need to be delayed as much as possible, but not so much that you will run out of time, so that the splatforms for them are done on time before they arrive. I had a moment where a second lemming arrived at the final gap too soon but would had been a solve otherwise, as it does finish with a few seconds to spare. I love the sense of urgency from the tight time limit here! Nicely done here, Crane!

Fun fact: I had the increased splat height from the CD version, and so I've always taken the lower route with everyone. From this, the second to last pillar is actually safe.

Challenge 30 - Tribute to the master Not as hard as the two levels before it, but still challenging. Certainly isolating a worker lemming isn't easy, and making everyone be able to exit and not block it off later can be hard too. The latter I've seen quite a lot now, so that wasn't the hard part for me, although with how there's very little room to make the builder wall it makes it a tad bit harder. Nice level to finish off the demo!     

Despite just being levels from the official games, I still enjoyed this preview very much. I am very much now looking to the release of the full pack when it's done and ready! LPing this preview got me very hyped up for your eventual pack! Thanks a lot for this, as well as for watching my LP and the comments!

[kaywhyn]

Even though I don't care for talismans in general, I decided to go for them for this demo just because they're original levels from the official games and hence I thought they would be very doable. I was able to get them all, so here are just the replays where I didn't get them on my first pass in my LP. I think I will have to agree with both Armani and Apjjm here with the gold talisman on Challenge 21, that one was a very hard one to get. My solution for it is quite messy too. As a matter of fact, the time limit ones I barely got, with just a second to spare for the requirement I love the time limit ones, though. I also found the gold talisman for "Misdirection" to be hard, but I really love the solution for it. It has a very clean solution, although there's a couple of very pixel precise assignments, especially for the top entrance. It just simply took me a while. I also attach two talisman solutions for it, one of which uses a very fiddly trick and thus saves 1 over the requirement, while the other one is the clean solution that avoids using it.

Finally, the one for Challenge 27 was a bit difficult as well. It required a lot of thought to figure out how to get it. It's a nice one, though!