Removing 'Unnecessary' Files and Running on Bare Minimums

[Ulec]

Greetings,

To keep it brief, I am currently working on a project where an abundance of the assets for 4.3.4 Cataclysm are not needed for it. I aim at removing especially the larger sized ones, yet eventually all of them that will not be used; all the models, textures, maps, etc...

I was wondering whether there was a way to remove the file check from the game rather than removing each dependency on those files manually one by one wherever they may be used so that the game will not crash upon launch while searching for the said files. If the question is not elaborate enough, please do let me know and I will try to expand on it then.

Regards,

[HardcoreBadger]

I'd like to read some answers to this !

[stoneharry]

The DBC's just map the files to records of data that can be used by the maps and client. If you delete the files from the MPQ that the DBC specifies, then I think it will still work in most situations unless that piece of data is requested to be used (a creature display may specify a model you deleted). The best way is to clear out the DBC's of all unneeded data. You can do this by converting the DBC into a CSV format and then converting it back once done, or by editing the DBC with a tool or your own code. The DBC is actually quite an easy format, this was my very bad spell DBC editing class: https://github.com/stoneharry/Spell-...IEditor/DBC.vb

With all the maps and such, you will have to go through and delete/remove all the stuff you don't want. This can be done via hexadecimal editing (templates exist in 3.3.5a for it, you can modify them for higher patches). Or you can do it through tools such as Noggit.

That's the general theory. If you get stuck with a specific part, then you can ask for more specific help. My main recommendation would be to make regular backups in case you delete something vital by mistake and can't figure out how to fix it.

[Ulec]

Oh I will only be using custom maps with the objects that I choose to use, eventually. For the time being though, just restricting myself to two specific zones which will be used for testing purposes given their resemblance to what will be the area for final product.

I suppose the rule of thumb is to keep backing up separately each time just in case; will be quite tedious, but worth the effort I guess.

[stoneharry]

Oh I will only be using custom maps with the objects that I choose to use, eventually. For the time being though, just restricting myself to two specific zones which will be used for testing purposes given their resemblance to what will be the area for final product.

I suppose the rule of thumb is to keep backing up separately each time just in case; will be quite tedious, but worth the effort I guess.

If you use something like Git then it will be quite easy.

git status
git add -A
git commit -m "Removed map 13 and all rows of the CreatureDisplayInfo.dbc"
git status

Can see log in GUI with:

gitk

Can revert back to older commits if something breaks. Everything and all file versions is stored locally.

Code School - Try Git

[Ulec]

removed .