Maybe, I don't understand what you're talking is about,
but I guess in blender 2.5 there is Face Sort and Vertex Sort, instead.
The functions now sort relating the current view.
In Edit Mode -> Mesh -> Vertices... -> Vertex Sort and Faces... -> Face Sort

http://www.puppenheim.org/
http://www.wuerfels-welt.de
Old Game Tutorial: http://www.puppenheim.org/MITutorial.zip
Free Game Editor: http://puppenheim.org/AlienalsWeihnachtsmann.zip
http://www.puppenheim.org/blender_starting_main_settings.txt