To manage compressed files Phillip uses and recommends a free application called 7zip. In September 2009 the site changed the format it uses to save even more space and bandwidth. Just to complicate things there is a variety of compression (sometimes called 'archive') formats. For small files that's not very important but for larger files that are downloaded thousands of times, it's very important. Firstly, it puts all the files or folders into one easy-to-download file and secondly because it significantly reduces the file size, which means it downloads faster. Lastly, there is a difference in installation steps depending on which engine the game uses.Īll the files you download from either or have been compressed. There is also a difference how a mod or map is launched, but this is discussed in the appropriate section. A map has 1 or more files that need to be copied to different folders. However, some mods, don't have any new content.Ī Mod will be supplied as a folder, which just needs to be copied to the correct location to work.Ī map is simply a level that contains all the same elements as the game and just gives you the opportunity to play in a new area.

But the basic idea is that the game is changed somehow. It could contain new content (textures, models, sounds, weapons etc), it could be the way it plays (weapons have more or less power, new moves are available etc).

Essentially this means that the game is modified in some way. The word 'mod' is short for modification. The Replay Experience Experiment aka TREEīefore we starting installing and playing, let's have a quick look at the difference between a map and a mod.

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