extracting Cheapo graphics

[namida]

I suppose it's possible the bitmaps could be treated like the "special graphics" levels in Lemmings.

My plan exactly.

[mobius]

I suppose it's possible the bitmaps could be treated like the "special graphics" levels in Lemmings.

My plan exactly.

this is all that's necessary if I remake the few special levels for Revenge of the Lemmings like Lemmings of Persia.

I'm still interested but if no one can do anything soon, I'll be finishing that levelpack without these special levels.

[Essman]

OK it took me a while, but I found out about this new forum site. I usually just looked at the RSS feed rather than going to the old site.

Anyway... I am currently working on a little program that will extract all data from style files. It'll be an open source C# project when it's done. I'm working on it during my lunch hour a couple times a week though, so it'll take a little while to write.

Is there any chance you can provide a tool for extracting the data from level files, or at least describe the format of them? I'd like to create a tool to convert them to NeoLemmix / SuperLemmini formats.

Sure thing, once the style extraction program is complete (enough) then I can make an open source project that extracts data from level and set files. Then all the style and level formats will be out in the open and easy for people to figure out.

[namida]

On that note - is there much difference between that and the formats for your first game? Wouldn't hurt to be able to work with those too...

[Essman]

On that note - is there much difference between that and the formats for your first game? Wouldn't hurt to be able to work with those too...

I think the second game's level editor can open up the original level files and save them in the newer format.

[namida]

On that note - is there much difference between that and the formats for your first game? Wouldn't hurt to be able to work with those too...

I think the second game's level editor can open up the original level files and save them in the newer format.

Even the default levels? It'd be quite nice to get them on a newer engine, seeing how Copycat / Cheapo don't perform well on newer systems. (Also, aren't all the custom levels stored in a single file?)

[Essman]

Even the default levels? It'd be quite nice to get them on a newer engine, seeing how Copycat / Cheapo don't perform well on newer systems. (Also, aren't all the custom levels stored in a single file?)

In the past I converted all 120 of the default levels from the first copycat game. There are set files OldFun.set, ..., OldMayhem.set that contain them. Those should be included with the second game.

I remember working on all of those levels and having people contribute some levels. I felt like they were cool at the time, but I know people make much better custom levels nowadays for Lemmini and such.

[mobius]

I suppose it's possible the bitmaps could be treated like the "special graphics" levels in Lemmings.

My plan exactly.

this is all that's necessary if I remake the few special levels for Revenge of the Lemmings like Lemmings of Persia.

I'm still interested but if no one can do anything soon, I'll be finishing that levelpack without these special levels.

I didn't mean for this to sound inconsiderate, if it did.

Glad you've found time to work on it 
Can you give me any detail? I'm assuming you'll be able to convert "regular" tilesets into actual tiles? With the exception of the special levels like Lemmings of Persia. But what about the Mario levels will they be able to have individual tiles?  On the mario thing--I don't mind if the blue background is not converted; I actually don't really care for that a whole lot. On the other hand if that is somehow permanently  attached to that whole graphic style I won't be too upset either.

What type of images you'll be able to convert them to? I'd prefer gif or png if it's possible, but it's not a big deal. [I have photoshop and other programs myself]

[namida]

Even the default levels? It'd be quite nice to get them on a newer engine, seeing how Copycat / Cheapo don't perform well on newer systems. (Also, aren't all the custom levels stored in a single file?)

In the past I converted all 120 of the default levels from the first copycat game. There are set files OldFun.set, ..., OldMayhem.set that contain them. Those should be included with the second game.

I remember working on all of those levels and having people contribute some levels. I felt like they were cool at the time, but I know people make much better custom levels nowadays for Lemmini and such.

IIRC, I haven't seen these in either the version of Cheapo floating around the web, or a copy that you yourself sent me at one point (this was a very long time ago, it may have been before you converted those sets).

[mobius]

I guess it's worth noting/asking: Can you upload this default version somewhere?

The version I have is what geoo gave me here on the forum and it has a ton of levels but by random people over years. And I didn't understand why there are two separate Cheapo exe's. I have no idea how old/which version this is

[geoo]

I believe one of them is ccexplore's update that allow also tracker modules (mod/xm/it/s3m I presume) instead of just midis as background music. The physics and everything else between the two should still be the same iirc.

[Essman]

In the past I converted all 120 of the default levels from the first copycat game. There are set files OldFun.set, ..., OldMayhem.set that contain them. Those should be included with the second game.

I remember working on all of those levels and having people contribute some levels. I felt like they were cool at the time, but I know people make much better custom levels nowadays for Lemmini and such.

IIRC, I haven't seen these in either the version of Cheapo floating around the web, or a copy that you yourself sent me at one point (this was a very long time ago, it may have been before you converted those sets).

Those four set file should've been included. But anyway here they are as an attachment to this reply.
This zip file contains the 120 levels that I made long long ago for the DOS copycat clone (actually 8 of them were made by someone who went by BlurNM). Then I converted them for the newer clone.

[Essman]

Over the weekend I worked on the style extractor tool and got it to extract graphics from .sty files as .png files. Next I want to extract more data like sounds, music, and object info.

For people who can get by with only graphics extraction, the current version of the tool will help.
Here is a zip file that will always contain the latest version:
https://github.com/spadapet/cheapstyle/blob/master/Publish/CheapStyle.zip?raw=true

The .exe runs in Windows. The code is open source on Github if anybody cares about that:
https://github.com/spadapet/cheapstyle/

More to come. (like, for example, a level data extractor after the style extractor is complete)

[namida]

Alright! I'll have a look at the output from this later on today, and see what I can do about making a tool to convert the output to NeoLemmix / SuperLemmini styles. Of course, keep in mind that objects that don't exist in these versions can't be transferred (which is pretty much any Cheapo-exclusive object, with the exception (only in NeoLemmix) of the teleporters).

[Essman]

Alright! I'll have a look at the output from this later on today, and see what I can do about making a tool to convert the output to NeoLemmix / SuperLemmini styles. Of course, keep in mind that objects that don't exist in these versions can't be transferred (which is pretty much any Cheapo-exclusive object, with the exception (only in NeoLemmix) of the teleporters).

I just updated the zip file link so that it extracts music (.midi) and sound (.wav) files.
The only thing left is object info. Is that even useful to know? I'd have to make a list of objects, and write out the position of each sprite that it uses for each frame. Before I make up a format for extracted objects, I'll wait to see if anyone has any requirements. Otherwise I'll just make up an XML or JSON text format.