PAK files are typically named pak0.pak, pak1.pak, pak2.pak, and so on. The PAKs are treated exactly the same as if their contents were extracted into separate files, rather than being packed together in one PAK archive. Quake engines usually load the pak0.pak file in the ID1 subfolder, plus whatever other PAK archives they find in the game directory (subfolder) they're told to use. For example a file foo.bsp in a directory maps would technically have the name maps/foo.bsp which has a length of 12 characters. Sub-directories inside the PAK file are part of this. The data may include graphics, objects, textures, sounds, and other game data.įilenames inside PAK files are restricted to a maximum length of 56 characters.
PAK files are commonly used to store data to be loaded by a Quake game engine.
