Okay, I was wondering if it is really more efficient to store a list of directories with parent directories and a list of files with associated directories, or if it would be easier to just store the complete directory path and file name for each file. I think it would be a lot quicker in a hash_map to store the whole directory path and file name, instead of having to iterate down through every single directory to figure out if it''s even there or not. Am I wrong? If so, why? Thanks

The best way is to test.

But the single hashmap is probable the way to go.

Make sure you test it with a few thousand filenames, as thats about the max you can expect it to get hit by for almost any game these days.