Guide · Skate 3

Install community maps with the Level Loader

Import any number of Skate 3 DLC map packs into the recomp and boot straight into the one you want.

The game can only manage a few DLC packs at once, and every community map fights over the same slots. The Skate 3 Level Loader solves this by owning map selection. You keep unlimited packs imported, and it stages exactly one per launch.

Install

  1. Download your platform’s archive from the Level Loader releases. It includes a patched engine.
  2. Unpack the engine archive into an engine/ folder beside the launcher. On macOS, put it beside the .app, not inside it.
  3. On first run, point it at your Skate 3 ISO and Title Update 3, or let it reuse an existing skate3recomp install.
  4. Run ./skate3loader doctor once to check everything.

Add maps

Drag a .big (or a folder of them) onto the window. Or use the CLI:

./skate3loader scan ~/Downloads/packs     # import every usable pack in a folder
./skate3loader import path/to/pack.big    # import one pack
./skate3loader                            # open the library and click a map

Two pack formats work:

Format Notes
STFS container (LIVE/CON/PIRS) Preferred. Installs itself.
.big + .header The header must be next to the .big.

Packs without a .header

Plenty of community packs ship only name_00000000.big. Generate the 328-byte header:

python3 scripts/makeheader.py "path/to/pack_00000000.big"
./skate3loader scan ~/Downloads/packs

When a map won’t load

./skate3loader manual <pack-id> --windowed

This stages the pack and gets out of the way: no automation, so you navigate the game’s own menus. That’s how the “14 broken maps” turned out not to be broken. See the maps catalog for which maps are known to boot and which stall.

PS3-only maps

Most Skate 3 custom maps were made for PS3. Convert them first, then import the .big here.

Updated 2026-10-01 · Improve this guide on GitHub