New video on parametric level design principles that can help optimize workflow. The video is more of a discussion of what and why and less on how.
I've now added a few new features in CorVex v1.4:
1) New settings for controlling the pivot point of UV transforms for tops/bottoms when using the global UV on tops/bottoms. Your choices are World, CorVex and Spline. With World the pivot is always at world origin. You can set the UV Origin visually in CorVex and Spline mode by moving the CorVex pivot or the respective spline pivots, depending on your setting, respectively.
2) New rollout called Stack Selection. This gives a bunch of checkboxes to preset the face selection in the modifiy stack so you can fine-tune specific sections of the objects. For example, if you check the Open Ends of walls, only the faces for open ends are selected in Face Selection which you can then use by adding a Poly Select mod, then go to Polygon sub-object mode and add a Unwrap UVW mod--only those end faces will be in the Unwrap Mod.
3) Controls for the vector of the Height based on either world Z, Corvex Z or spline Z.
4) Various fixes and tweaks to the UVW output.
Also, I am going to increase the price of CorVex from $4 to $10 after February 15. I've put a lot of work and effort into this tool and think that the price is very fair. I know it is a massive time saver and well worth the cost.
If you already bought CorVex but do not have version 1.4, you can reuse the last download link if sent in the last couple of days or email me and I will send you the newest version.
I've updated CorVex to version 1.3 that includes a new Wall Mode. Also there are new enhanced UV controls as well as new productivity utilities and a few bug fixes.
Enjoy! 
I've updated CorVex to include independent controls for the Top/Bottom UVs, fixed some quirks in the top/bottom UVs and added a new option to lock the map height/width ratios.
I've just released my second commercial plugin for 3ds Max. It's aimed at simplifying level design and basic layout, especially if you want to get quick and consistent U/V scales across multiple objects.
Learn More about CorVex here.
[Blocked Image: http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/png/page/111_corvex2.png]
Here is the first (introductory) video on the plugin. More videos on usage are coming soon.
Now there is a video sharing start-to-finish demonstration of setting up and using the objects in Detailer to create a detailtype > groups > models, scattering on scene and exporting as VBSP file. It is long, yes, but is meant to be an exhaustive example of usage.
Note that there are more features and tools than in the video. One cool feature not addressed is that you can paint the props from a detailtype or a group by using the Paint button in a Detail Type or Detail Group modify tab options. This will prefill the Object Paint tool in Max with all objects in a detailtype (if that's the button you press) or all the objects in a particular group (if that's the button you press). This lets you scatter those objects in more targeted fashions.
(Note that Object Paint in pre-Max 2014 has negative scale on objects, which may or may not affect the results of your VMF export, presuming you are exporting with the Wall Worm VMF Exporter. Max 2014 fixed this bug at release or some service pack but may still affect older Max.)
I was recently hired by our esteemed friend Robert Briscoe to add some functionality to the Wall Worm tools to import detail props into 3ds Max. After finishing that project, it revived my interest in creating sprite tools in Wall Worm (which I started last year but never truly finished). As such, I've now tackled that with a new plugin called Detailer, which contains a new geometry primitive called Prop Detail (and a couple other helper functions). This tool is commercial and enhances the VBSP importer I built for Robert. It also adds a VBSP exporter. Moreover, the VMF exporter in Wall Worm now places your prop details as prop_detail_sprite entities (so that you can control exactly how the details look). I have not yet made the videos demonstrating this tool yet, but do have cursory documentation for Detailer. I also loaded a new video tutorial on easily creating sprite cards in 3ds Max to be used with the Detailer plugin.
Quote from DejavoAlso, if I resize things in max with the general resize tool, hammer doesnt recognize the change. But if I scale all the verts instead, hammer recognize it. Wat. Plz help.
This is because you should not really use the scale tool in Max until you've really got a grasp of the effect. Unfortunately, the scaling tool does not do what you think it is doing at the object level--it is changing the underlying transformation matrix of an object instead of just scaling its vertices as a new user might expect.
You should always scale at the sub-object level, reset xform before exporting, or see more options here on Oh No, My Scale is Wrong (written by the embarassed dragon).
Quote from tr0nicDisplay MoreHey, I'm looking for a MaxScript that automatically move my objects to the scene origin (0,0,0) and export them as .FBX (MAX to UDK)
I found a script that does exactly that but If I select my collision and my mesh, it creates 2 separate .FBX instead of combining them into a single one.
(UCX_SM_Cage.fbx) + (SM_Cage.fbx) instead of SM_Cage.fbx(which contains the collision info of UCX_SM_Cage)
Also, maybe it would be great to have a place to share useful scripts. Like Unwrapping, exporting, etc?
Here is the code you want. Unfortunately, the forum is formatting it poorly, so you will have to make due.
Please be aware that this kind of scenario assumes that all objects have pivot points at the same location before you export. To handle exporting props at location in Wall Worm, I had to build into my exporters an option to MOVE THE WORLD, so to speak, at export time instead of this scenario. But since we have no control over options in FBX, this is probably as close as it gets.
(
--First see if there is a selection
if selection.count > 0 then (
--Prompt the artist to choose the file name to save this as
local filename = getSaveFileName caption:"Save as FBX at Origin" types:"Autidesk FBX (*.fbx)|*.fbx" historyCategory:"Saved FBX"
--Only run the export if the user actually chose a file
if filename != undefined then (
--Run all transform calculations in World space
in coordsys world (
--Store the original position
local oldTransform = for obj in selection collect obj.pos
--Move all the objects to the origin
selection.pos = [0,0,0]
--Run the export
exportFile filename #noPrompt selectedOnly:true using:FBXExP
--Now put all the toys back where you found them
for index = 1 to selection.count do (
obj = selection[index]
obj.pos = oldTransform[index]
)
)
) else (
messagebox "File was not saved."
)
) else (
messagebox "Nothing was selected"
)
)
Edit: it formatted fair without being in a CODE tag.
Updated the VMF and MAP importer again. Fixed a lot of errors and sped it up. Enjoy.
Did some updates today for the tools to import props in a way to make it easier for re-exporting level into Source. See updated VMF Importer docs.
Also... I added a MAP importer. Yeah... I'm old. Now I can get my old CS 1.6 levels into Max in all their glory. And now, so can you too!
Quote from PampersI think you would benefit from making some shorter videos that quickly summarize what your tools are about and main features, cba to watch 30 mins of video when I just want to get a quick overview on what your tools do
Fair enough... but I figure that if you are curious about that you can just go to the website. I generally try to do the videos as if I were giving a class to students. For some people, just experimenting with the tools can be all it takes to figure them out. For others, having someone walk you through it is better. I can't really make videos on all the tools in a way that is best for all people due to time and other priorities.
In the case of this video, I made it to embed into the documents page on displacements... but happened to share it here as this thread is fresh (along with the video). Hopefully the docs are all someone needs... but the video is the classroom on that specific topic for those who may want/need it
I do appreciate the feedback.
One of my friends recently asked me if he should jump right into Wall Worm or start learning Hammer first. I didn't know what to answer him.
Well... Hammer excels at making crates...
I started by learning Hammer. If you are totally new to 3D it is a fine introduction. My personal journey was that Worldcraft/Hammer was/is frustratingly restrictive. The workflow for generating any asset for Source with standard Source tools is a giant pain in the ass in my opinion. I almost gave up on Source when I finally learned the process of making my own models and materials for Source. But I love some of the Source games so much, I decided to create my own workflow.
Anyway, here is a screen shot of a level I'm working on right now (currently for CS:GO). It has been a dummy level for a few years, serving as a testing ground for new features in Wall Worm. The screen shots are in-game. The entire level and all assets were generated 100% inside a single Max scene. That means, world geometry, displacements, models, multiple skins, materials, textures and everything right inside 3ds Max. No Photoshop. No text editor. No opening QCs, making batch files. Etc etc etc. (Actually, there is a statue in the scene my friend Gulliver Thoday created, and he may have used Photoshop or Mudbox for it... but that is irrelevant to my point... all of my props and textures are entirely Max).
[Blocked Image: http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/…_beta450001.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/…beta450001a.jpg]
Anyway, I'm not sure that my answer is the best resource because I'm obviously very biased. But to put it into perspective, when I opened some of the scenes in Dear Esther for testing the VMF Importer that is mentioned in the OP, Hammer almost died. It took 10+ minutes just to open some of those scenes (and I originally thought it had frozen completely until Robert explained that it just takes forever in Hammer). In 3ds Max, the scenes open in a few seconds.
My opinion is that Max is simply the best tool for the job.
PS. Here is a new video I loaded this morning on some of the recent tools for working with displacements in Wall Worm:
As it turns out, there was a critical bug in the entity parser that I didn't notice because my entities were cached. That bug is fixed.
Quote from FMPONEJK great work Shawn, that sounds pretty epic.
Thanks.
Quote from SquadGreat work! Only recently started using and learning WW, but it's really helpful!
Keep up the awesome work!
Well you know my work will finally be done when I have programmed 3ds Max to turn on my coffee maker.
This week I've released a giant splash-ton of updates to Wall Worm. They were kindly commissioned by Robert Briscoe... so if you happen to live in his neck of the woods and use Wall Worm, share some thanks with a cold round of beer and a cheer!
The main gist of this update deals with the VMF, QC and SMD importers. You can now import a complete VMF into Max, including all brushes, displacements, materials, entities, props and Cuban Cigars. The brush/displacements now get the correct UVW from the VMF.
During the development of these updates, I had access to some of Robert's VMFs. Maybe he will share some screen shots of the import soon, or maybe he'll let me post some. (I'm pretty amazed with his work... and cannot fathom how many times I would have murdered myself building some of those levels in Hammer!)
There are some other updates too. I've made displacements default to Quads for easier editing. They all now have buttons in the modify tab to switch back and forth between being quad/triangulated. Use quad for easier modeling; use triangulated for accurate Display Walkable function. Also some bug fixes, other new tools, etc.
If you really like reading random things, here is the complete WW changelog.
Enjoy.
PS. For those of you actively using WW, I'd love to get some comments that I can use in some shameless self-promoting stuff. I'm trying to get involved with more commercial projects than constant charity work, and what better way then shaming people into proclaiming awesomeness. I'm generally looking for comment like, "Shawn makes awesome crates" and "Without Wall Worm, I'd never be able to make that perfect crate." Better yet... how about some WW references in some levels? Maybe a worm doll in a pile or trash or a ripped wanted poster hidden in the dark alley.... you know!
My maxstart.max file has a green box at the origin that is 24x24x72 units that approximates the size of a player (and reminds me of the old Worldcraft days when the player entities were displayed as a green box in Hammer). That helps me as a scale reference.
If you can master 3ds Max... I'm not so certain you'll find anything extra valuable in Sketchup. Going back and forth seems like a hassle. It would be like dual booting your computer in Windows and Linux... where you play games and make really neat things in Windows... then take the time to shut it all down and reboot in Linux so you can check your email. Just seems like it's not worth it. (Sorry if offending any Linux users... I have a Linux box here for development but honestly avoid it like the plague...)
Also, to answer your question, there is a Google Sketchup (SKP) importer built into newer versions of Max. So you do have access to the models in the 3D warehouse for Max. Not sure when it was added... maybe Max 2013? It's in 2014 for sure.
I have a couple new documents for the Wall Worm users here. One includes a quote from our RickD that I extorted from him.
First, a blog post with a bunch of random news on various updates to Wall Worm in the last several months. Of note are some screen-shots of a L4D2 player model recreated by a WW user and some in-game shots of a level for CS:GO that I've been using as the test-bed for developing level design features and tools for WW: http://dev.wallworm.com/document/128/w…ets_tanked.html
(In that Article, Rick may or may not reveal his deep love for old Hawaii 5-O episodes...)
Also, I'm not so sure how many users here are into Garry's Mod. But it is a popular mod that sends a lot of random emails my way, usually asking me to import models for them for free and then make them destroy NYC in a cool cinematic (again, for free). Nonetheless, I finally made an updated video on setting up WW for Gmod after Steampipe.
Although the beginning part on setting up WW for Gmod is specific to Gmod, the following shows some simple techniques that may give some food for thought for those of you interested in using Max as your level editor for Source instead of Hammer.
And remember... everyone loves teapots.
I resurrect this ancient thread from the dead to announce that I have finally added CAT/Biped Support to Wall Worm.
Enjoy.
(In case you didn't know, worms are good on a cracker...)
