so I decided to import them directly into the .capx. I open the file with 7-zip file manager, dump the whole lot of images (tile-1.png to tile-256.png)
The texture filenames must match exactly the object name, and the - character is not allowed in object names, so the editor is probably removing the - character then getting confused when it can't find the file any more. If your object is called tile-256 the expression parser will look for a system expression 'tile' and try to subtract 256 from it!
As for comparisons to other products, I've kind of run out of things to say. As we said before, if you really prefer a competitor's product, you're welcome to use their product - you're not required to purchase Construct 2! I think these comparisons are really pointless though - all software has advantages and disadvantages both ways round, so no one program is entirely superior to another. Making comparisons is just firing back an endless series of anecdotes depending on what features are important to you. I'm sure, for example, a GM user could turn up and give a long, comprehensive post about why GM is better than everything else. That's their point of view, but it doesn't really help anything, and despite their point of view, other competitors still run a successful business, so even though they may think it, the market proves GM is not entirely superior to everything else (otherwise they'd put all competitors out of business).
So I don't want to lock this thread, because it's actually about the Construct 2 release 31, but I think the comparisons and debate over competitors should stop - it's not going to go anywhere, and it's entirely personal preference, and everyone has a personal preference.