Red Error where I should see skins

[HiGh oN CAtniP]

Help! I can't stand the big red error message that replaced the games skins. how can I set my counter-strike source game to download these automatically? I don't have a problem playing the game, it's the big ass red error message.

[Jill]

Try Verifying your game cache and see if that fixes the problem.

[AllTracTurbo]

Does anyone know if there is a way to remove the error text if I don't want to download the custom skins for a server? I only allow map downloads because I don't want extra skins and sounds, but then I get the error floating over the person.

I know you can create your own custom skins to override the default ones, so maybe it's possible to create a custom skin for that error image and just make it a single pixel. I don't know what file it is or if it is possible to replace it though.

[lightwo]

Originally posted by AllTracTurbo:

Does anyone know if there is a way to remove the error text if I don't want to download the custom skins for a server?

Override models/error.mdl. I don't have experience making model files, but I would imagine converting an empty model of any format to mdl would do the trick. Pretty sure just creating a 0 kb file would crash the game however

[Hydrozilla]

cl_minmodels 1

[AllTracTurbo]

Originally posted by BorbingoBoy:

Override models/error.mdl. I don't have experience making model files, but I would imagine converting an empty model of any format to mdl would do the trick. Pretty sure just creating a 0 kb file would crash the game however

Am I supposed to have error.mdl somewhere? I searched the entire counter strike folder and it doesn't show up.

And then do you think I should overwrite that file or save a new one and put it in the "My_Custom_Stuff" folder where custom skins are saved? I don't know if overwriting the original file will be reverted the next time I launch the game or if it could be flagged as hacking. I definitely wouldn't want to get VAC banned.

I have modified skins in the past, but those were vtf files.

Originally posted by Hydromudafukinfiberzilla:

cl_minmodels 1

Sorry, I misspoke when I said skins. I already have minmodels enabled. I am getting errors not from skins, but from extra custom objects that the server is using. Things like a bird flying over a persons head or stuff like that. It's all custom objects that I don't have downloaded, so I get an error when it tries to display it. Instead of enabling all the extra stuff that I don't want, I just want to remove the error from being displayed or turn it into a single pixel so I don't notice it.

It's really annoying as well because the error image is so big and above the player that it lets me know where players are before I should because it shows up over walls or shows around a corner before the player does. I don't want to aim for a player because I saw the big error image and then get blamed for walling because they won't see the error image in the demo playback.

[Femboy Sarah]

Please don't replace error.mdl. That is the entirely wrong way to deal with this kind of thing.

Originally posted by Wormwood:

how can I set my counter-strike source game to download these automatically?

I think what you're looking for is

cl_downloadfilter all

Assuming, of course, that the problem is a lack of custom assets. If you still see errors on a vanilla server, you need to verify the game's integrity.

Originally posted by AllTracTurbo:

Instead of enabling all the extra stuff that I don't want, I just want to remove the error from being displayed or turn it into a single pixel so I don't notice it.

As for you, you might want to create a mod that replaces the server's custom assets with a blank model instead of all missing models.

edit: I just realized this is a bump from 2015. What the ♥♥♥♥ AllTraceTurbo?

[AllTracTurbo]

Yeah, I guess I should have started a new thread since the OP wanted to get rid of the error by downloading the skins and I am just trying to get rid of the error model completely. Not really the same issue.

I don't know how I would create a mod to replace all the custom assets with a blank model. Would I need to know exactly what assets it is trying to load and replace them all individually or would the mod do it automatically?

I also have no idea how to create a mod like that. I would want it to work across all servers that use random assets, so I figured the easiest thing would be to just replace the error model with a blank one since I don't need to see the error model. If I am missing an asset, I will simply not see it and that is fine with me. I figured I might be able to create a custom error model and put it in the "My_Custom_Stuff" folder like you can with other files to overwrite the default ones. I just don't know where the original file is stored or if it can be replaced in that way.

[Femboy Sarah]

No idea if it can be replaced in that way, but you shouldn't need the original. Just create a blank model with Blender and Blender Source Tools.
As for making a server-specific mod, the easiest way that doesn't require downloading the assets would be to find the server's FastDL location and copy a blank model for all of the models that appear there. The FastDL URL will get printed to console if there is an error, or you can try guessing it. Common locations include fastdl.example.com and example.com/fastdl.

[AllTracTurbo]

I've made some progress. I don't know how to create models from scratch or even modify one, so I just tried to replace the error model with a different one and it works. I'm using GFCScape to extract the files.

I originally tried just clearing the error.mdl file and saving it as a blank file. I placed that into cstrike\custom\My_Custom_Stuff\Models, but it crashes the game and gives and error when it tries to load the blank model.

Then I tried tried just renaming buggy.mdl to error.mdl to test if I could get the game to replace the error model with another. This actually broke the ability to load the error model and showed nothing, which is exactly what I wanted, but it caused a massive non stop flood of checksum errors in the console and I don't want that.

Then I took all the files for the buggy model and renamed them to error with the proper extensions and that works. Now when I am missing a model, instead of seeing the error model, I see a big buggy on top of the player :)

So, I guess the easy solution for me without finding and learning to use new software to create or modify a model is to just find the smallest model I can and replace the error model with that one. I'm sure I can find something that is only a few pixels and now I won't be bothered by the massive error text ever again.

[AllTracTurbo]

If someone knows how to create a model or modify the existing error model to make it completely transparent so you can't see it, that would probably be a better solution, but for now I have decided to use w_bullet.mdl.

- Get a simple free program like GCFScape
- Use it to open "hl2_misc_dir.vpk" from the folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Source\hl2
- Click edit, find, and search for "w_bullet" (in the search, set "match" to "substring")
- Highlight all 5 files, right click, export. Save them someone.
- Rename all the files to error while keeping their extensions (make sure to keep the sw in .sw.vtx)
- Move these files into the following folder (create the folders if you don't have them): C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Source\cstrike\custom\My_Custom_Stuff\Models

Now the big red error model will be replaced with a small bullet model. I didn't notice the bullet model while playing.

[ВИКА.]

Bruh, u're my lifesaver. I've been struggling with the similar issue and have wasted whole day. I'm making a css movie and the problem is that the bomb is overlapping whole screen after terrorist's death. Just swapped w_c4 with w_bullet, works like a charm! <3

Originally posted by AllTracTurbo:

If someone knows how to create a model or modify the existing error model to make it completely transparent so you can't see it, that would probably be a better solution, but for now I have decided to use w_bullet.mdl.

- Get a simple free program like GCFScape
- Use it to open "hl2_misc_dir.vpk" from the folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Source\hl2
- Click edit, find, and search for "w_bullet" (in the search, set "match" to "substring")
- Highlight all 5 files, right click, export. Save them someone.
- Rename all the files to error while keeping their extensions (make sure to keep the sw in .sw.vtx)
- Move these files into the following folder (create the folders if you don't have them): C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Source\cstrike\custom\My_Custom_Stuff\Models

Now the big red error model will be replaced with a small bullet model. I didn't notice the bullet model while playing.

[ВИКА.]

And yeah, shell.mdl is much smaller :D