diff --git a/common/cvars.h b/common/cvars.h
index 475835e..8bdb07d 100644
--- a/common/cvars.h
+++ b/common/cvars.h
@@ -54,5 +54,7 @@ extern cvar_t	*r_reportedgeout;
 extern cvar_t	*r_maxedges;
 extern cvar_t	*r_numedges;
 extern cvar_t	*developer;
+extern cvar_t	*fs_basepath;
+extern cvar_t	*fs_sharepath;
 
 #endif /* _CVARS_H */
diff --git a/common/quakefs.c b/common/quakefs.c
index b20349f..3489da9 100644
--- a/common/quakefs.c
+++ b/common/quakefs.c
@@ -52,9 +52,6 @@
 
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fnmatch.h>
-#ifndef _WIN32
-#include <pwd.h>
-#endif
 
 #ifdef WIN32
 #include <io.h>
@@ -277,6 +274,10 @@ void
 COM_CreatePath ( char *path )
 {
 	char	*ofs;
+	char	e_path[PATH_MAX];
+
+	Qexpand_squiggle (path, e_path);
+	path = e_path;
 
 	for (ofs = path+1 ; *ofs ; ofs++) {
 		if (*ofs == '/') {	// create the directory
@@ -826,42 +827,19 @@ COM_AddDirectory (char *dir)
 {
 	searchpath_t	*search;
 	char			*p;
+	char			e_dir[PATH_MAX];
 
-	if (strncmp (dir, "~/", 2) == 0) {
-		char *home;
-		char *tmp;
+	Qexpand_squiggle (dir, e_dir);
+	dir = e_dir;
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
-		struct passwd *pwd_ent;
-		if ((pwd_ent = getpwuid (getuid()))) {
-			home = pwd_ent->pw_dir;
-			printf("%p\n",pwd_ent);
-		} else
-#endif
-		
-		home = getenv("HOME");
-
-		if (home)
-		{
-#if !defined(_WIN32)
-			tmp = alloca(strlen(home)+strlen(dir));
-#else
-			tmp = malloc(strlen(home)+strlen(dir));
-#endif
-			strcpy (tmp, home);
-			strcat (tmp, dir+1); // skip leading ~
-			dir=tmp;
-		}
-		//if (pwd_ent)
-		//	free (pwd_ent);
+	if ((p = strrchr(dir, '/')) != NULL) {
+		strcpy (gamedirfile, ++p);
+		strcpy (com_gamedir, dir);
+	} else {
+		strcpy (gamedirfile, dir);
+		strcpy (com_gamedir, va("%s/%s", fs_basepath->string, dir));
 	}
 
-	if ((p = strrchr(dir, '/')) != NULL)
-		strcpy(gamedirfile, ++p);
-	else
-		strcpy(gamedirfile, dir);
-	strcpy (com_gamedir, dir);
-
 //
 // add the directory to the search path
 //
@@ -962,7 +940,7 @@ void COM_Gamedir_f (void)
 
 	if (Cmd_Argc() == 1)
 	{
-		Con_Printf ("Current gamedir: %s\n", com_gamedir);
+		Con_Printf ("Current gamedir: %s\n", gamedirfile);
 		return;
 	}
 
diff --git a/common/quakeio.c b/common/quakeio.c
index 4e89312..bd6f436 100644
--- a/common/quakeio.c
+++ b/common/quakeio.c
@@ -32,19 +32,66 @@
 #ifdef HAVE_MALLOC_H
 #include <malloc.h>
 #endif
+#include <limits.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <quakeio.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #ifdef WIN32
 #include <io.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#else
+#include <pwd.h>
 #endif
 
-QFile *Qopen(const char *path, const char *mode)
+void
+Qexpand_squiggle(const char *path, char *dest)
+{
+	char *home;
+#ifndef _WIN32
+	struct passwd *pwd_ent;
+#endif
+
+	if (strncmp (path, "~/",2) != 0) {
+		strcpy (dest,path);
+		return;
+	}
+
+#ifndef _WIN32
+	if ((pwd_ent = getpwuid (getuid()))) {
+		home = pwd_ent->pw_dir;
+	} else
+#endif
+		home = getenv("HOME");
+
+	if (home) {
+		strcpy (dest, home);
+		strcat (dest, path+1); // skip leading ~
+	} else
+		strcpy (dest,path);
+}
+
+int
+Qrename(const char *old, const char *new)
+{
+	char e_old[PATH_MAX];
+	char e_new[PATH_MAX];
+
+	Qexpand_squiggle (old, e_old);
+	Qexpand_squiggle (new, e_new);
+	return rename (e_old, e_new);
+}
+
+QFile *
+Qopen(const char *path, const char *mode)
 {
 	QFile *file;
 	char m[80],*p;
 	int zip=0;
+	char e_path[PATH_MAX];
+
+	Qexpand_squiggle (path, e_path);
+	path = e_path;
 
 	for (p=m; *mode && p-m<(sizeof(m)-1); mode++) {
 		if (*mode=='z') {
@@ -77,7 +124,8 @@ QFile *Qopen(const char *path, const char *mode)
 	return file;
 }
 
-QFile *Qdopen(int fd, const char *mode)
+QFile *
+Qdopen(int fd, const char *mode)
 {
 	QFile *file;
 	char m[80],*p;
@@ -118,7 +166,8 @@ QFile *Qdopen(int fd, const char *mode)
 	return file;
 }
 
-void Qclose(QFile *file)
+void
+Qclose(QFile *file)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		fclose(file->file);
@@ -129,7 +178,8 @@ void Qclose(QFile *file)
 	free(file);
 }
 
-int Qread(QFile *file, void *buf, int count)
+int
+Qread(QFile *file, void *buf, int count)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fread(buf, 1, count, file->file);
@@ -141,7 +191,8 @@ int Qread(QFile *file, void *buf, int count)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qwrite(QFile *file, void *buf, int count)
+int
+Qwrite(QFile *file, void *buf, int count)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fwrite(buf, 1, count, file->file);
@@ -153,7 +204,8 @@ int Qwrite(QFile *file, void *buf, int count)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qprintf(QFile *file, const char *fmt, ...)
+int
+Qprintf(QFile *file, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list args;
 	int ret=-1;
@@ -180,7 +232,8 @@ int Qprintf(QFile *file, const char *fmt, ...)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-char *Qgets(QFile *file, char *buf, int count)
+char *
+Qgets(QFile *file, char *buf, int count)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fgets(buf, count, file->file);
@@ -192,7 +245,8 @@ char *Qgets(QFile *file, char *buf, int count)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qgetc(QFile *file)
+int
+Qgetc(QFile *file)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fgetc(file->file);
@@ -204,7 +258,8 @@ int Qgetc(QFile *file)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qputc(QFile *file, int c)
+int
+Qputc(QFile *file, int c)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fputc(c, file->file);
@@ -216,7 +271,8 @@ int Qputc(QFile *file, int c)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qseek(QFile *file, long offset, int whence)
+int
+Qseek(QFile *file, long offset, int whence)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fseek(file->file, offset, whence);
@@ -228,7 +284,8 @@ int Qseek(QFile *file, long offset, int whence)
 #endif
 }
 
-long Qtell(QFile *file)
+long
+Qtell(QFile *file)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return ftell(file->file);
@@ -240,7 +297,8 @@ long Qtell(QFile *file)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qflush(QFile *file)
+int
+Qflush(QFile *file)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return fflush(file->file);
@@ -252,7 +310,8 @@ int Qflush(QFile *file)
 #endif
 }
 
-int Qeof(QFile *file)
+int
+Qeof(QFile *file)
 {
 	if (file->file)
 		return feof(file->file);
diff --git a/common/quakeio.h b/common/quakeio.h
index 0451a5a..5eeef65 100644
--- a/common/quakeio.h
+++ b/common/quakeio.h
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ typedef struct {
 #endif
 } QFile;
 
+void Qexpand_squiggle(const char *path, char *dest);
+int Qrename(const char *old, const char *new);
 QFile *Qopen(const char *path, const char *mode);
 QFile *Qdopen(int fd, const char *mode);
 void Qclose(QFile *file);
diff --git a/qw_client/cl_parse.c b/qw_client/cl_parse.c
index d2dd0fe..993f076 100644
--- a/qw_client/cl_parse.c
+++ b/qw_client/cl_parse.c
@@ -378,10 +378,9 @@ void CL_ParseDownload (void)
 		if (strncmp(cls.downloadtempname,"skins/",6))
 			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/%s", com_gamedir, cls.downloadtempname);
 		else
-			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "qw/%s", cls.downloadtempname);
+			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/qw/%s", fs_basepath->string, cls.downloadtempname);
 
 		COM_CreatePath (name);
-
 		cls.download = Qopen (name, "wb");
 		if (!cls.download)
 		{
@@ -429,10 +428,10 @@ void CL_ParseDownload (void)
 				snprintf(oldn, sizeof(oldn), "%s/%s", com_gamedir, cls.downloadtempname);
 				snprintf(newn, sizeof(newn), "%s/%s", com_gamedir, cls.downloadname);
 			} else {
-				snprintf(oldn, sizeof(oldn), "qw/%s", cls.downloadtempname);
-				snprintf(newn, sizeof(newn), "qw/%s", cls.downloadname);
+				snprintf(oldn, sizeof(oldn), "%s/qw/%s", fs_basepath->string, cls.downloadtempname);
+				snprintf(newn, sizeof(newn), "%s/qw/%s", fs_basepath->string, cls.downloadname);
 			}
-			r = rename (oldn, newn);
+			r = Qrename (oldn, newn);
 			if (r)
 				Con_Printf ("failed to rename.\n");
 		}