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What does zzz mean at the beginning of a pk3 file name?


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The game loads PK3 files in alphabetical order, which means the asset0-3.pk3 files are loaded first, and anything that comes after that alphabetically are loaded after, and overwrite anything that is the same in the previous files. So if you have a mod that changes the skin of Tavion in a pk3 called aSkinOfTavion.pk3, it wouldn't overwrite anything because the assets are being loaded after it, thus overwriting the pk3.

 

So, many people put the letter Z in their file name so it is loaded either last or as far down the list as possible, ensuring there are no conflicts with other mods that may change something theirs does.

 

In my opinion, its a bad habit to get into. You should only put Z's in your file name if you know its going to cause issues with other common PK3s. Otherwise you should just name it something normal, and let the user put Z's on it if they need to. I like to keep my base folder as organized as possible, and I make sure only the pk3s with Z's are the ones that need it. Otherwise it just makes it harder to find things.

Lancelot, MagSul, Xanemus and 1 other like this
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The game loads PK3 files in alphabetical order, which means the asset0-3.pk3 files are loaded first, and anything that comes after that alphabetically are loaded after, and overwrite anything that is the same in the previous files. So if you have a mod that changes the skin of Tavion in a pk3 called aSkinOfTavion.pk3, it wouldn't overwrite anything because the assets are being loaded after it, thus overwriting the pk3.

 

So, many people put the letter Z in their file name so it is loaded either last or as far down the list as possible, ensuring there are no conflicts with other mods that may change something theirs does.

 

In my opinion, its a bad habit to get into. You should only put Z's in your file name if you know its going to cause issues with other common PK3s. Otherwise you should just name it something normal, and let the user put Z's on it if they need to. I like to keep my base folder as organized as possible, and I make sure only the pk3s with Z's are the ones that need it. Otherwise it just makes it harder to find things.

That makes sense, thank you very much.

Circa likes this
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The game loads PK3 files in alphabetical order, which means the asset0-3.pk3 files are loaded first, and anything that comes after that alphabetically are loaded after, and overwrite anything that is the same in the previous files. So if you have a mod that changes the skin of Tavion in a pk3 called aSkinOfTavion.pk3, it wouldn't overwrite anything because the assets are being loaded after it, thus overwriting the pk3.

 

So, many people put the letter Z in their file name so it is loaded either last or as far down the list as possible, ensuring there are no conflicts with other mods that may change something theirs does.

 

In my opinion, its a bad habit to get into. You should only put Z's in your file name if you know its going to cause issues with other common PK3s. Otherwise you should just name it something normal, and let the user put Z's on it if they need to. I like to keep my base folder as organized as possible, and I make sure only the pk3s with Z's are the ones that need it. Otherwise it just makes it harder to find things.

Not entirely. If I decided to name the PK3 file of my Asteroid Base maps (AB and AB2), then they would've been loaded before the main assetsX.pk3 files, which will cause inconsistencies with my maps itself. Soundsets that aren't found and at certain points even shaders and textures that have gone 'missing'. A single 'z' won't matter much, a dozen is overreacting (which does occur in the Elite Force/RPG-X scene) . . .

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Actually the game loads in reverse alphabetical order. Hence why assets3 or zzz overrides assets0.

Wouldn't that mean it loads in normal order? If it overrides, then its loading those after the ones before it. Or does it load in reverse and it just skips things that are already loaded?

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To be fair, you can just rename the .pk3 files yourself if you want them to load differently or switch them around. I've done that with other mods before.

It would help for local issues but not when online. The game doesn't see if you have the assets in any way, it just looks for a PK3 file that is identical to the one the server is running. If the game doesn't find it, it will try to download it from the server and then it can happen that you have the same map twice (filename.pk3, zfilename.pk3). In that respect has it been another oversight from Raven/Lucasarts, though the root of this 'problem' sits with id Software . . .

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