Importing Custom Assets to RF1

This page will detail the different types of custom assets that can be imported into RF1, specific requirements when importing, and what they can be used for after importing.

Note that this page includes some details that only apply when using the Dash Faction patch. As this is the de facto standard version of the game, as a developer it's generally safe to rely upon features introduced by this patch. That said, this page indicates whenever a feature is Dash-specific.

General Info
Custom assets are useful in the creation of custom maps, custom conversion mods, and custom clientside mods, however there are some specifics to be aware of in each case.

Textures
Textures in Red Faction are used for everything from level geometry, to model skins, to HUD/menu elements. The game supports textures in three formats: TARGA (.tga), Volition Bitmap (.vbm), and DirectDraw Surface (.dds - Dash Faction only).


 * Custom maps: RED loads custom textures from the GAMEFOLDER\user_maps\textures\ directory (on application start), and lists those textures in the "Custom" texture category in texture mode.
 * Custom conversion mods: