When you join a server with a custom map, the game downloads that map to the cache. So on subsequent joins you don't have to redownload it. But if another server uses a custom map with the same file name, the cached map gets overwritten. That causes unnecessary redownloads for your players.
The solution is simple: change the map's file name so it doesn't get overwritten by other maps with the same file name.
For example if you want to do it with a map file named "
scn_mp_custom_map_1.sco":
- Rename the file to something unique. For example to "scn_mp_custom_map_1_minisiege.sco".
- Edit "scenes.txt" to reflect the changed file name. In this example:
scn_mp_custom_map_1 mp_custom_map_1 256 none none 0.000000 0.000000 100.000000 100.000000 -100.000000 0x000000023002a1ba0004210900003ca000006a8900007a7b
0
0
outer_terrain_plain
to
scn_mp_custom_map_1_minisiege mp_custom_map_1 256 none none 0.000000 0.000000 100.000000 100.000000 -100.000000 0x000000023002a1ba0004210900003ca000006a8900007a7b
0
0
outer_terrain_plain
Note that even though the file name has changed, the map ID hasn't. So you still use "mp_custom_map_1" in server settings.
That's it. Your players will now cache the map properly. This method has been used by Minisiege for a long time and it works great.