Folder structure (Quake 4)

The information on this page is specific to Quake 4 .


This is the folder structure of Quake 4. It should be noted that these folders are not present in the base folder itself. Instead, these folders and the assets contained therein are stored in PK4 archives .

/q4base

This is the default Quake 4 mod directory. The contents of this directory include all the game assets used in the game. Mods for Quake 4 should be created in their own directory in the main Quake 4 installation folder as a brother folder to /q4base. In the engine code your mods’ base name is always called "base" no matter the actual physical name. You set the game to use a different folder as base with the fs_game cvar.

You can also set the fs_game_base cvar to let you base a mod off base game and your own content as usual as well as an additional mod.

Note: While you probably want to work on your mod with the assets decompressed and available in the Quake 4 folder structure, when you release your mod you should put them into . PK4 files.

/q4base/af

This folder contains .AF files which setup the articulated figure declarations .

/q4base/cfg

/q4base/def

This folder contains .DEF files which contain declarations for entities, models and modelexport.

/q4base/demos

This folder contains . DEMO files which are gameplay recordings.

/q4base/effects

This folder contains . FX files which in turn contain effect declarations .

/q4base/efxs

This folder contains . EFX files which containt reverb information for maps.

/q4base/fonts

/q4base/gfx

/q4base/gfx/2d

/q4base/gfx/decals

/q4base/gfx/effects

This folder contains . TGA files used in effects.

/q4base/gfx/env

This folder contains images for environment maps which are textures applied to the inside faces of a skybox to give the appearance of large spaces.

/q4base/gfx/guis

This folder contains . TGA files used in the user interface.

/q4base/gfx/lights

This folder contains . TGA files which become available for use in light materials to create ‘light styles’ that modulate what light projects onto the surfaces of the world.

/q4base/gfx/mp

/q4base/gfx/objectives

/q4base/glprogs

This folder contains . VFP and . VP files which become available for use in materials for visual special effects .

/q4base/guides

This folder contains .GUIDE files which contain material guide declarations .

/q4base/guis

This folder contains .GUI files which setup the graphical user interfaces .

/q4base/lipsync

This folder contains .LIPSYNC files which contain lipsync declarations .

/q4base/maps

This folder contains the . MAP , . CM , . PROC , and . AAS files for each map. Should there be any .BAK files there they should be removed prior to distribution as these are just backup versions created by the map editor .

/q4base/materials

This folder contains .MTR files which setup the material declarations .

/q4base/models

This folder contains numerous sub-directories where the following file formats can be found:

Model formats
. ASE , . LWO , . MD5 .
Image formats
. TGA , . DDS , . JPG .
Other formats
. CM .

/q4base/playbacks

/q4base/progimg

/q4base/scripts

/q4base/skins

This folder contains .SKIN files which setup the skin declarations .

/q4base/sound

/q4base/strings

This folder contains . LANG files which are used for localization. The engine loads all of the files from this folder and parses the numbered strings within these files to make them available to the code, GUIs and maps .

/q4base/textures

This folder contains . TGA or . JPG files which become available for use as assets in material declarations .

/q4base/video

This folder contains . ROQ files which are movies.