Deleting hr sprites ?

[polytopamine]

So my computer doesn't have the specs for the high resolution sprites, so i figured why not just delete them for the game files and save disk space!
So i deleted any file starting with "hr-" from contents/data/base/graphics. (im on mac btw, idk if that changes anything)
When i tried to open the game again, i get an error for a missing file from the base mod (hr file for artillery). I'm not all that surprised, considering i, you know, deleted half the files in there, but why does that happen when just the normal sprites are used in-game?

Would there be a way to mod the requirement out? (i don't know the first thing about modding, would such a thing even be possible?)


(btw i got all the files back simply by verifying file integrity with steam, runs like nothing happened)