Warboy

it would seem you are correct, the problem culta/desert files aren't even IN your archive (well, apart from 18 obviously), i must have been applying it to the set of data in my GAME folder which i guess was already messed up by xcomutil, and was comparing it to the files in my WORK folder. i'm relatively sure the files in my work folder are original, they came off a physical CD, but the game folder must have come from the internets. (sometimes CDs are harder to find than torrents) as for sending the game data out to our testers... that's not possible, legally or feasably. at best we can make recommendations as to what they should avoid doing. making sure everyone is on the same page is why we desperately need a "master" patch for all the quirks in the map data, and hence why we're looking to you for help in this matter, as you've already done all the legwork on it.

while i make no apology for my assertion that our TESTERS who are scouring for bugs should avoid using a bugged data set, because it will cause bugs (note that this was posted in a development thread), i feel i must beg your pardon on the apparent harsh tone of my earlier message, i can be quite the bugbear without at least 3 cups of coffee pounding through my system. going over the patch notes... it seems like you may have had a modified set of CULTA/DESERT data from the outset, because i can't see any mention of replacing any existing tilesets. this makes me suspect XcomUtil as the source of our woes, as i'm fairly certain that had some replacement tilesets for those 2 specific map sets. i may have mistaken you as the culprit, as that one garbled tileset lead me to believe all the other problems i have with the data to be your fault, <sarc>because obviously, if one thing is wrong, the whole thing is wrong.</sarc> please allow me to revise my earlier statement: i have no problem with bug fixes, but starting with modded data and calling it a "patch" is a misnomer, you haven't crossed a line into mod territory, you began there, most likely through no fault of your own, other than oversight. i'd suggest that if you're intending on fixing the original data, it might help to start with the original data. the project hasn't strayed far from it's intended path, it's on the right path, always was, it just had a false start. as for compatibility with OpenXCom, if it causes a problem with OXC, it will cause the exact same problem in the original, at least as far as map generation is concerned, but don't rely on us as a testbed, because a lot of the bugs that will show up in the original won't show up in OXC. anyway, all this aside, keep up the good work!