Why does darkmod need to be restarted when I want to load a new map?

[c0mputer-fr0d]

I read something somewhere about maps being loaded when the game is first booted to the menu screen, is this why we have to restart on every map download?

[rich_is_bored]

Missions are packaged as mods with the capacity to override content. Mission authors can put whatever they like in their packages. Not just maps but models, sounds, textures, etc. This makes it necessary to restore everything back to it's original state when the mission is uninstalled or you could be left with residual content. For example, maybe a mission exists where the blackjack is replaced with a magic wand that fires lightning bolts. If you don't restore everything when the mission is uninstalled, then all missions loaded thereafter will feature a lightning wielding thief.

 

Restarting the engine ensures every mission is loaded from the same state. If you wanted to avoid restarting you'd need to maintain a historical log for every asset in memory so you could safely unload things that are unique and restore things that have been changed.

[c0mputer-fr0d]

what about storing the default state in a snapshot and loading that from file on disk instead of ram?

[OrbWeaver]

If there was a trivial one-line solution it would have been implemented already. In theory anything is possible because we have full source code to the Doom 3 engine (unlike when the mod was first released), but it's a lot of work for very little benefit. Unless a programmer appears with a particular desire to work on this issue I don't expect it to get fixed any time soon.