For those who don't want to read this whole post: The gist of it is, do not keep graphic sets in the two-file (groundXo.dat+vgagrX.dat, or g_XXXX.dat+v_XXXX.dat formats). Replace them with their single-DAT-file format versions. In the case of Cheapo-origin styles that you've converted yourself, be sure to reconvert from the source Cheapo style, rather than converting the existing g_XXXX/v_XXXX files to a single-DAT-file graphic set.It seems I'm getting several people asking about (or reporting issues caused by) old-format graphic sets, particularly those that are converted from Cheapo.
So, I'd like to point out:
If you have any NeoLemmix graphic sets that are in a two-file format - whether that's groundXo.dat + vgagrX.dat, or g_<name>.dat + v_<name>.dat,
delete them (obviously, if they're custom-made ones, use the Graphic Set Tool to convert them to the new format first). For a while now, copies of NeoLemmix (and its editor) have only included new-format graphic sets, the Cheapo conversion tool only works with (and creates) new-format graphic sets, and so on.
For graphic sets that were made for NeoLemmix, but predate the existance of this format (such as the official Lemmings ones, or the Lemmings Plus graphic sets), this is a minor issue. While it's preferable to upgrade, it isn't 100% essential. The new Flexi Toolkit only works with new-format graphic sets, but since it includes a copy of all of them (addable via the "Add Defaults" button on the graphic sets tab), it isn't too critical whether your editor copies are in the new format, however do keep in mind that the old format probably won't be supported forever. Chances are support will remain in the NeoLemmix V1.xx branch, but I plan to not support it in NeoLemmix V2.00n. The editor has been changed to no longer support the old format graphic sets as of V1.35n-B, in an effort to cut down on issues relating to them.
Where this is particularly important is with graphic sets converted from Cheapo. The Cheapo format and the NeoLemmix format have in common that there's no restriction on the size of pieces, whereas the old two-file format does have two major limitations - a single terrain piece (or object) cannot exceed 248x255 in size, and the width must be divisble by 8. The latter in particular causes a lot of problems when someone who has them in the correct format tries to play the levels - any horizontally-flipped pieces will be out-of-place. The effects of this can range from simply looking weird (objects with no effect), to minor disparities in the level (most other objects), to potentially having a serious impact on the level (terrain).
If the graphic sets in question are the default NeoLemmix ones, or the Cheapo equivalents of the Orig / OhNo graphic sets, simply delete your existing copies of them; the new versions of the editor include these in the correct format. If they're from the addon style packs, redownload those; they've long since been updated to have the new formats. If they're ones you've converted yourself, use the Graphic Set Tool to convert them to the correct format,
starting from the original Cheapo file (NOT the g_xxxx/v_xxxx files).
Once you have the graphic sets in the new format, be sure to check all levels you've made that use these graphic sets, because it's very possible that some pieces will now be out of place due to the difference in widths of some pieces. In the event that some of your levels do have the out-of-place issue, you do not need to manually fix every occurance of it; here are the steps to automatically fix these levels:
1. First, make sure you do not still have old-format copies of the graphic sets. Check your "styles/Cheapo" folder, and delete any files with names that begin with "g_" or "v_".
2. Start the editor and open the Mass Convert feature (under "Tools" menu).
3. Click "Clear List", then press F5, then Shift+F4, then F5 again. If you're doing this right, a "1" will appear in the bottom-right corner after the first F5, which then changes to 2 after Shift+F4 and 3 after the second F5.
4. Enable the "Cheapo Horizontal Flip Patch". (If you can't see this option, refer to Step 3.)
5. Add any levels that need fixing (by clicking "Add" then selecting them). Be sure to select "Cheapo Styles" when prompted for the levels' style.
6. Choose "Cheapo Styles" as the output format.
7. Click "Convert".
Do
not run those steps on any levels that are not affected by these issues.
(It is possible that the issue may also arise with Lemmini styles that were converted into the old format, though this is probably rare as the new format already existed before any capability to convert Lemmini styles to NeoLemmix did. On the offchance that anyone does have Lemmini-origin-graphic-set levels that exhibit the same problem, they can be fixed in the same way.)
