&#A0;Cool! I've just downloaded it and tried the altered levels.<snip>
I guess I should mention that I was the one who "playtest" Essman's levels for compatibility issues. I originally helped him get started by automating the more boring aspects of conversions (opening each level file and resave them, assign correct music to them, etc.) I didn't plan to playtest the levels, but I enjoy them enough that I ended up going through them all.
I specifically only looked for compatability (conversion) issues, meaning solutions which either only works in the new version or only in the old version. And actually, I really only did half the job, since the old version of Cheapo kept crashing when I exit, so I mostly avoided running that program unless absolutely necessary.
So what I ended up doing is to look for levels where after the conversion, I can see routes which I know couldn't be possible in the old version. Mostly this just means there are routes that goes up into the "ceiling", which isn't possible because in the old version a level's maximum height is 20% lower than the new version. This covered 2 of the levels here (you figure out which ones and how). And of course I discovered about the fake exit problem on one of the levels where it is obvious, so that covered Taxing 23.
Mayhem 4 was contraversial. I complained about it because I felt that only solution viable in the converted version would be too hard to execute on the old version of Cheapo, which keep in mind does not have features like singling out individual lemmings, right clicking, arrow clicking, etc. As such, I argued that I don't believe the only viable solution in the new version was the intended solution in the old version, since it would lead to a level early in the Mayhem set whose difficulty would be quite out of place. I pointed out a solution which is possible in the old version but impossible in the new version (before this update). It's not exactly the solution you would expect to be an "intended solution", but it is interesting enough. plus it requires less precision, that I suggested that it could be either be intended or unintended, leaving Essman to answer (I have a feeling he doesn't even remember what the intended solution is).
He ended up making the old-version only solution also possible in the new version. However, to make it possible in the new version, as a side effect the solution will also become a bit more obvious unfortunately. That was his decision though.
So in summary, I hate to disappoint you but you'll probably find Mayhem 4 easier rather than harder now. But understand that the change makes some sense from a compatibility point of view. (And the solution that used to work before the update should still work by the way, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.)
If you believe my arguments above resulted from yet another solution which I have overlooked and am willing to divulge in e-mail, feel free to do so and I'll consider its compatibility and update Essman accordingly.
Finally, I never even bothered to check for fake exits in Mayhem 13 apparently. I never raised any issues on that level to Essman and so he changed that level on his own. I have to say I'm not entirely sure whether removing those fake exits is the greatest idea, since it also eliminates two areas where you would otherwise try your digging/bashing on. But I guess ultimately there is no good way to convert this level with 100% compatability if fake exits can't be done in the current Cheapo.
I'm aware of the fact that there's a way to easily access any of the 3 exits without bothering too much with the real and fake steel pieces. But since this works with both the old and new version I decided that from compatibility's standpoint it wasn't an issue for my concern.
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And so in summary that's why the changes were made. Again I stress that I specifically only deal with compatibility, to make the converted levels as similar to the original levels as possible. Backroutes which work in both old and new are outside my scope. (And on the flip side, some of the "incompatible routes" which I suggested Essman to eliminate are often trickier than the intended solution, but I focused on compatibility, and apparently Essman consented since I clearly pointed out to him the relative difficulties and he still chose to eliminate them.) You may of course take backroute issues to Essman yourself if you want.
