I did do that in the previous levels. But it was comparatively dull and did not add to the fun of playing the game. I couldn't realize that I don't like it too much before before there was a level where you didn't have to do that.

So that's why I say that level 5 opened my eyes in that regards.

If you didn't do that in the previous levels, how would you be holding up resource wise in lvl 5?

I am currently farming lvl 4 to prepare for 5.