REDswap
REDswap loads a changed .archive into the running game. Edit a mesh, a material or a texture, pack it, swap it in, and see it on V or in the world a moment later, with no restart. It is a small RED4ext plugin for game version 2.5. REDnode installs it and uses it for every archive swap; it also has its own Nexus page for tools and players who want it alone.
Status: released on 27 October 2026, in REDnode 0.41.0 and as REDswap 1.0.0 on its own. The latest is REDswap 1.0.3, in REDnode 0.49.5 and later and attached on its own to REDnode’s releases. Passed in game on 2.5 (swaps of about 50 ms, no crash; six restores in a row in 1.0.3’s stress test). REDnode 0.40.1 and earlier swapped through RED Hot Tools, which has no build for 2.5 yet.
Why you’d want it
| No restart | A full game restart to check a colour or a seam takes minutes. A swap takes about a twentieth of a second |
| It shows on V at once | With REDnode, what V wears shows the new version straight away, without taking it off, Equipment-EX’s slots included. The inventory’s preview of V updates too, open or closed |
| Safe on game updates | REDswap checks the game before it touches anything. After a patch it says it cannot swap, instead of crashing the game |
| Works with your tools | REDnode’s apps, AI assistants through REDnode, and any script or plugin can call it |
How it fits EDGE
You rarely use REDswap directly. You make the change in REDcode or EDGEmat, and the swap goes through REDnode:
| Where | How you swap |
|---|---|
| Claude Code or REDagent | Ask “swap my changed archive into the game”. The assistant calls REDnode’s archives_reload, and REDnode asks you in the game first. See Agents and MCP |
| REDnode apps | The Sound Tools pack’s Hot swap app, or any package with the archives permission. See The game API |
| Your own mod | archives.reload([...]) from the rednode package |
| A script or plugin without REDnode | REDswap’s own functions; examples in the REDswap docs |
What a swap does
- Your file is copied into the game: an archive the game already loaded is replaced where it is, and a new one is added to
archive\pc\mod. The file you built stays where it is. - The game’s own loader loads it, and what the old archive held is dropped from the game’s memory, so whatever loads it next gets your version.
- ArchiveXL, if installed, reloads its
.xland.yamlfiles. - With REDnode: what V wears, the inventory preview, REDnode’s own spawned objects and nearby objects that use the swapped files are refreshed.
Anything else already in the world keeps the old version until the game loads it again: walk away and back, or change the item.
Install
| You have | What to do |
|---|---|
| REDnode 0.41.0 or later | Nothing: REDswap is already in red4ext\plugins\REDswap\ |
| No REDnode | Install REDswap from its Nexus page with EDGEdeck or Vortex, or extract its zip into the game folder. It needs RED4ext 1.31 or later |
| Both | They carry the same files. If your mod manager shows a conflict, either copy works; let the newer one win |
| RED Hot Tools too | Fine. They can sit side by side; REDnode uses REDswap |
When a swap does not show
| What you see | Why, and what to do |
|---|---|
| “cannot swap archives in this game” | REDswap’s checks failed: usually a game patch REDswap does not know yet. Its log, red4ext\logs\redswap-*.log, says which check. Wait for an update |
| The swap worked but nothing changed | The object loaded the old version before the swap. Clothing V wears refreshes on its own with REDnode, and from 0.49.5 so does the inventory’s preview of V; for anything else, make the game load it again |
| Files your new archive left out still look like the old archive’s | Fixed in REDswap 1.0.3 (REDnode 0.49.5): files a new build leaves out load from the game, or another mod, again. So swapping a file out restores the game’s own look. Update REDnode |
| “Load a save first” | Swaps work in a loaded save, not at the main menu |
| The game closed at the swap | A broken archive, or a mod missing its other parts, crashes the game at the swap as it would at start. Check the mod loads after a normal restart |
| A sound mod | Archives with the game’s sound swap through REDnode, which pauses the game for a moment around it. Untested on 2.5 so far |
For mod makers
REDswap adds three functions the game’s scripts and other plugins can call: REDswap_Version(), REDswap_Check() (empty when it can swap) and REDswap_Swap(files) (absolute paths joined by |, answering what each file became). The REDswap docs have examples in REDnode’s JavaScript, redscript and C++, and the full answer.
REDswap’s swap is ported from RED Hot Tools by psiberx (MIT), with thanks.