Questions About .res Files Created 17 years ago2007-08-29 22:58:35 UTC by StoneFrog

Well, I heard that you can make .res files so that users can download all the custom content (models, etc) of a map easily. I have some questions:

1) If I host the map and I have all the models and whatnot in my valvemodels folder, when players join the server do they download the map and the models automatically, or do I need to use a .res file for their clients to know to download these things?

2) I looked at a .res file in which people included WAD files. Instead of using -wadinclude or -nowadtextures when compiling, will including the WAD files in the .res file work well enough?

3) So I take it .res files are needed to download the content from a server - if I upload my map on a site, I should exclude the .res file and instead simply include all the custom content in the .zip/.rar file?

1. Half-Life is not smart. You usually have to tell it to do the obvious, so you will need to have a .res file in the maps folder with the same name as your map. Half-Life (without a res file) only downloads the bsp file and so it will crash as soon as it trys to run it saying cant find "model.mdl"

2. Yes, the res file is telling Half-Life it needs to download that wad (or wads) from the server to run the map. Although, not so good when you use a few textures from multiple wad files.

3. You don't need to exclude the res file but it really isn't needed. You will have to include the custom content if you upload onto a site no matter what.

I see. How would I go about making a .res file?

I opened other maps' .res files in notepad, and a header at the top of some of them say that they are made using a program, ResGen. However, aside from that, the file just looks like a list of all the custom files and their directories.

You don't need any program. Just edit one already made is easiest.