diff --git a/R/download_worldclim_future.R b/R/download_worldclim_future.R
index 35fa4bda..e068bb5d 100644
--- a/R/download_worldclim_future.R
+++ b/R/download_worldclim_future.R
@@ -16,9 +16,7 @@ download_worldclim_future <- function(dataset, bio_var, filename){
   # get resolution from the dataset name and convert it to the original
   res_conversion <- data.frame(our_res = c("10m","5m","2.5m", "0.5m"),
                                       wc_res = c("10m","5m", "2.5m", "30s"))
-  wc_res <- res_conversion$wc_res[res_conversion$our_res==substr(dataset,
-                                                                  start = regexpr("_\\d+\\.?\\d+m",dataset)+1,
-                                                                  stop=nchar(dataset))]
+  wc_res <- res_conversion$wc_res[res_conversion$our_res==tail(strsplit(dataset,"_")[[1]],1)]
   gcm <- c("ACCESS-CM2", "BCC-CSM2-MR", "CMCC-ESM2", "EC-Earth3-Veg", "FIO-ESM-2-0",
            "GFDL-ESM4", "GISS-E2-1-G", "HadGEM3-GC31-LL", "INM-CM5-0", "IPSL-CM6A-LR",
            "MIROC6", "MPI-ESM1-2-HR", "MRI-ESM2-0", "UKESM1-0-LL")
@@ -69,16 +67,22 @@ download_worldclim_future <- function(dataset, bio_var, filename){
   # and finally we save it as a netcdf file
   time_bp(wc_list[[i_step]]) <- rep(dates_df$time_bp[dates_df$orig == i_step],nlyr(wc_list[[i_step]]))
   }
-  message("assembling all the data into a netcdf file for use with pastclim; this operation will take a couple of minutes...\n")
+  message("assembling all the data into a netcdf file for use with pastclim; this operation will take a few minutes...\n")
   
   var_names <- names(wc_list[[1]])
   sds_list <- list()
-  for (i_var in var_names){
-    sds_list[[i_var]]<-terra::rast(lapply(wc_list, terra::subset,subset=i_var))
-    names(sds_list[[i_var]])<-rep(i_var,nlyr((sds_list[[i_var]])))
+  for (i in 1:length(var_names)){
+    i_var <- var_names[i]
+    if (!any(postfix %in% c("bioc","elev"))){
+      new_var_name <-paste0(var_prefix,sprintf("%02d",i))
+    } else {
+      new_var_name <- i_var
+    }
+    sds_list[[new_var_name]]<-terra::rast(lapply(wc_list, terra::subset,subset=i_var))
+    names(sds_list[[new_var_name]])<-rep(new_var_name,nlyr((sds_list[[new_var_name]])))
   }
   wc_sds <- terra::sds(sds_list)
-  
+
   terra::writeCDF(wc_sds,filename=filename, compression=9, 
                   overwrite=TRUE)
   # fix time axis (this is a workaround if we open the file with sf)
diff --git a/R/download_worldclim_present.R b/R/download_worldclim_present.R
index a894459e..a394dcd2 100644
--- a/R/download_worldclim_present.R
+++ b/R/download_worldclim_present.R
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ download_worldclim_present <- function(dataset, bio_var, filename){
   # unzip it to a temporary directory
   destpath <- file.path(tempdir(),"to_unzip")
   utils::unzip(destfile,exdir=destpath)
-  wc_rast <- terra::rast(dir(destpath, full.names = TRUE))
+  wc_rast <- terra::rast(dir(destpath, pattern=".tif", full.names = TRUE))
   # sort out variable names
   if (!(grepl("altitude",bio_var))){
     # digits at the end of the name are the key identifier of each variable
diff --git a/data-raw/helper_functions/verify_files_by_dataset.R b/data-raw/helper_functions/verify_files_by_dataset.R
index cbf753b1..b0091cda 100644
--- a/data-raw/helper_functions/verify_files_by_dataset.R
+++ b/data-raw/helper_functions/verify_files_by_dataset.R
@@ -1,13 +1,26 @@
 # verify that all the variables in the tables are actually found in the files
 # this requires all data to have been downloaded
-full_meta <- read.csv("./inst/rawdata_scripts/data_files/variable_table.csv")
+library(pastclim)
+full_meta <- pastclim:::dataset_list_included
 in_dir <- get_data_path()
-in_dir <- "~/project_temp/past_climate/new_meta"
+problem_rows <- vector()
 for (i in 1:nrow(full_meta)){
+  pastclim::download_dataset(dataset = as.character(full_meta$dataset[i]),
+                   bio_variables = full_meta$variable[i])
   nc_in <- ncdf4::nc_open(file.path(in_dir, full_meta$file_name[i]))
   if (!full_meta$ncvar[i] %in% names(nc_in$var)){
-    ncdf4::nc_close(nc_in)
-    stop("problem with ",full_meta$ncvar[i]," in ", full_meta$file_name[i])
+    message("problem with ",full_meta$ncvar[i]," in ", full_meta$file_name[i],"\n")
+    stop("we had a problem")
+    problem_rows[i]<-TRUE
+  } else {
+    problem_rows[i]<-FALSE
   }
   ncdf4::nc_close(nc_in)
 }
+
+if (any(problem_rows)){
+  which(problem_rows)
+} else {
+  cat("all files are fine")
+}
+
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_remote_files.R b/tests/testthat/test_remote_files.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b380fe28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_remote_files.R
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+## This is a resource intensive test. It downloads all files in the dataset_list
+## and then validates them. It is only run if the appropriate environment
+## variable is set, and thus skipped most of the time
+## To set the environment variable, use:
+## Sys.setenv(PASTCLIM_TEST = "download_full")
+## remember to unset it once you are done
+## Sys.unsetenv("PASTCLIM_TEST")
+
+
+# set up data path for this test
+data_path <- file.path(tempdir(),"pastclim_data")
+unlink(data_path, recursive = TRUE) # it should not exist, but remove it just in case
+# set data path
+set_data_path(path_to_nc = data_path,
+              ask = FALSE,
+              write_config = FALSE,
+              copy_example = TRUE)
+################################################################################
+test_that("download and validate all files", {
+  skip_if(Sys.getenv("PASTCLIM_TEST")!="download_full")
+  # download all files for each dataset
+  all_datasets <- get_available_datasets()
+  all_datasets <- all_datasets[!all_datasets %in% "Example"]
+  for (i_dataset in all_datasets){
+    expect_true(download_dataset(dataset = i_dataset))
+  }
+  # now check that the files we downloaded are valid
+  for (i_file in list.files(get_data_path())){
+    expect_true(validate_nc(i_file))
+  }
+  # check that the variables in the table are found in the respective files
+  meta_table <- getOption("pastclim.dataset_list")
+  for (i_row in 1:nrow(meta_table)){
+    nc_in <- ncdf4::nc_open(file.path(in_dir, meta_table$file_name[i]))
+    # check below if !! works to unquote the expression
+    expect_true(!!meta_table$ncvar[i] %in% names(nc_in$var))
+    ncdf4::nc_close(nc_in)
+  }
+  # for each dataset, check that all variables cover the same extent and have
+  # the same missing values
+}
+)
+
+################################################################################
+# clean up for the next test
+unlink(data_path, recursive = TRUE)