Posts by shawnolson

I think there may be a couple here who may enjoy the newest toy I've added to Wall Worm: a [url='']VMF Importer for 3ds Max[/url]. I'd started it last year and included an early/broken version in WW for a long time since I was too lazy to keep it in a separate project... but in today's update the importer now finally works.

It will import your:

* world geometry

* entities

* outputs

* materials

* displacements

* visgroups

I expect to add cameras and cordons soon too.

There are a few loose ends so read the doc linked above before using... but it's pretty cool. The main limitation in this version is that brush face UVW translation is off (though I did manage to get rotation and scale correct... hopefully I'll fix translation/offset soon).

People have been asking for it for a couple years and I finally decided to oblige... and have successfully imported several maps I'd made for CS 1.6 and CS:S with it.

Have fun!

Quote from kikette

Awesome tools. I really can't imagine to work without ! Thanks for that great job mate !

Thanks! At some point I'd like to start getting a collection of snippets from users on how WW has helped them... which I will add to the site at some point. As always, feel free to share input and ideas on how to improve the tools. My personal goal is 99% complete in that Max now supplants Hammer (for me);I don't feel overwhelmed about making assets like I did when I first started in Source.

Quote from e-freak

This toolset just gets better and better, doesn't it? Awesome job!

Thank you... I certainly hope others agree!

I wanted to let you guys know about one of the most recent additions to Wall Worm: Entities. Until now, you had to use Convexity to add/edit entities in 3ds Max. I've been using that for a few years... but when development on it died down and I wanted to have native Inputs/Outputs, I decided to build entities into Wall Worm.

[/media]Here are some reference graphics/charts:

[Blocked Image: http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/png/original/48_pointentitiesui.png]

[Blocked Image: http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/png/original/49_entityoutputs.png]

[Blocked Image: http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/png/original/50_entitymanager.png]

Enjoy!

PS, I've also recently overhauled the displacement tools in WW... and hope to have a video on those new features soon.

Quote from kikette

Thanks a lot for your tools dude. It really helped me for my work !

You're welcome

So here is a new video on exporting animated props with Wall Worm. This video demonstrates making a prop from linked objects and includes the method of getting the concave hull to animate with the object.

I also added new ways to use bodygroups more robustly in a recent update but couldn't fit it into this video. I'll try to demonstrate those tools in the near future.

Enjoy.

Another new WW video. This details the latest methods for exporting materials and maps as VMT and VTFs.

I may be wrong about this but it seems to me that as I've been testing a level I've been working on... the LODs seem to be transitioning very subtly. So instead of just swapping out, the fade from one level to the next. So it is harder to notice. Again, I may be wrong but I think that is what is going on now. I'll have to actually scrutinize to see if that is really the case.

Here's a new video giving a general overview of the Wall Worm toolset as it exists today. I hope you enjoy.

[EDIT] The video I loaded yesterday was garbled in the middle... so I've reloaded it.

A couple weeks ago a released a new video on using some of the lesser-known features in Wall Worm. I also released some fixes to the VMF Exporter this morning (the preset manager was broken and there was a bug in the UI created in the last couple of weeks. See the changelog for more info on the updates.)

The video goes over:

• Render 2D Sky textures
• Use the Quick Skybox functions to easily, non-destructively build skyboxes in your scene
• Export Blend Materials to Source's WorldVertexTransition materials
• Export Scrolling textures
• Export Animated textures

I also included a download file (in 3ds Max 2013 format) that is directly from the video that you can use to go along with the items above. You can also use the file to explore some of the other features in WW:

• Making Refract Materials
• Settings for prop_physics models in Wall Worm
• Using Daylight system and lights
• Using Decals
• How Vertex Colors can be used on a mesh for rendering (the mountains in the sky scene layer)

As always, enjoy.

Updates to WW today including the Preset manager. I've tested it and it seems to be working fine but if you have problems just report it in the WW forums. Other updates/fixes too... just see changelog.

Quote from zerooneinfinity

Great stuff man. Have you thought about posting a link on the Valve wiki?

I've added some content on the wiki along with links. I haven't added anything about the VMF Exporter yet.

Speaking of, I've got several updates lined up in a new version. It has some significant changes to WW overall (including the promised multi-mod preset manager). I've got a few people testing it. I'd meant to release it last week but work snagged me and I really didn't get to do anything on WW. Maybe this week.

I updated Wall Worm this evening. The main new feature is a Cordon Manager. You can have multiple cordons in your scene and simple choose which is the one to export.

EDIT. Still no engine/mod manager for settings as promised... but I will get around to that soon.

The VMF Exporter now gives you the option of packing assets after compile. It also has a bunch of lighting controls.

See the changelog for full details.

James, I didn't get the WW presets added to this version but I'll add it soon.

I got your donation today James. Thank you very much. Also, I realized I mispelled your name in an earlier post. Sorry about that. Almost as bad as a cover story I did for a newspaper where the principle subject's name was misspelled. My editor didn't even tell me about the error... I found out when I saw the same essential story redone by another reporter a couple weeks later... :\ Needless to say, I always double checked after that. But I'm still sloppy in forums sometimes.

Regarding the dynamic mapping, it did confuse some players. But overall, people seemed to get it after a couple rounds. I will probably continue to use that method in most projects I do... but I think that I will make it more obvious to the players with more obvious visual cues. In tension, some of the signs changed... but I think the cues need to be stronger. Possibly adding some audio cues might also help.

I am going to release a small CS map in the next month and after it is out for a couple weeks I will probably release the original Max file so that users of Wall Worm can use it to learn some of the methods I employ with Wall Worm and Max. It will include the entity work for the dynamic switches. Other things I want people to learn is the 3D Skybox function ... which is a huge time saver. I will probably not include the 2D sky files, though, since it is done in Vue and I'm sure that most users don't have that or the version of it that works inside Max.

In terms of the settings presets for multiple games, it actually has been on my list since I am working on CS, Hidden and Firearms at the moment... and going back and forth is a little tedious. So you can probably expect that soon. I'm also building an automatic asset packing with bspzip in the VMF exporter. That function is done but I am still testing it. I'll look into the global presets next week.

Quote from Mr. Happy

I also like talking/corresponding with people that share my interests I can understand the desire not to program anymore after getting burnt out, hopefully the inherent reward of working on wallworms will refresh your programming spirit: alot of people use it, alot of people want to see it continue to improve, and obviously your programming is expanding what you can map and model. I'm curious what projects you are developing this for? Do you have a wip map thread I'm not seeing somewhere?

James, thanks for the comment. Yes, in the last year WW has repeatedly helped me keep interested in programming. The real problem is that I'm inherently a creative person... and I've been building the tools to be more creative... but sometimes I feel like I'm becoming a slave to building the tools rather than keeping my eye on the goal I started from--designing things Another problem is that as soon as I start working on something, I always stop and build some little tool because I always say "this should be easier"... and while it does make it easier... in the end I keep stalling!

As for WIPs... well I have a few levels I've been working on. The main one was a remake of an old CS 1.6 map I did years ago (long before I ever knew about modeling, optimization, etc). It was a popular map in the circles I haunt... so it's been important to me to really do something cool for it. There are a couple really old screen shots (in Max) of what I was building in a newsletter talking about using Convexity and Max.

In fact, I had just finished the world geometry and level design (at that point) but suddenly stopped on it when I started building the models. The tedium of exporting/compiling models at that point is why I threw my arms in the air and started on Wall Worm.

But really, I've learned so much about Source since I started that redesign, I think I may simply scrap it and start from scratch.

Also, here is a brief article on the making of the only Source map I've finished. The level has a ton of problems from many points of view... and is certainly nothing to write home about. I built that (another remake of an older map of mine) as a learning process for getting used to Source. I learned a lot but it was before I knew much about displacements, good modeling techniques, etc. But that article does talk a little on what I learned and some of the things that eventually led me to start building Wall Worm.

Quote from Mr. Happy

I wonder if there are no 3DsMax exporters because Wunderboy's and CannonFodders do the trick? The idea that someone got snubbed personally... I hope that's not the case, seems sort of passive aggressive since its the audience, not Autodesk, that is affected by the decision. The Source XSI exporter though, is really really awful. According to the Source code it was made by Softimage and Valve never maintained it. It's also closed source, everything relevant is locked in a DLL :-/ I haven't tried the Maya one, but the Sketchup exporter isn't that great either. It doesn't work with 8, only works with solids, cloned solids instance edits to the clone source on export, empty vmf's if you start in plan view, other issues that might have been my fault. It also only works with Portal 2 Hammer, but that's ok. People have been aching for a better pipeline for a long time. People will be using WallWorms for a long time.

That is possible that they did nothing because there have been options in place. I still think it's a little odd since Max has such a large user base. Also, as of right now, there are no Max exporters for some of the newer formats (such as DMX). Luckily the compilers still all work with SMD... but what if they suddenly stop supporting that format? Also... what if some new feature is added to the DMX format like vertex color / vertex alpha, etc. Then no current exporters will work for it in Max and it will be up to people like Wunderboy, Cannonfodder and myself to take the time to implement. I personally think that Valve should simply provide some of this. But that's just my opinion.

Quote from Mr. Happy

It would be neat if you had a vmf importer as well, then you could make your csg in hammer or microbrush, and bring that into max on a seperate layer for meshing. I think it would be nice to have Max recognize and go back and forth. Maybe even keep the csg and the meshes in seperate, instanced, vmfs. But I'm not quite good enough with Max yet to really try and build a map and all assets from scratch with it so I dunno.

It's been a common request. It's also one I will probably not do anytime soon. The thing is I have very little incentive for that. I can probably redesign anything I've done in Hammer inside Max with a fraction of time... and I don't have enough old maps I'd want to do that with.

If enough people donate and ask for that, I'd be more apt to do it. But that is unlikely.

If I do implement it, I already see a lot of problems. First, getting the UVW info from brush geometry will be really difficult. Going from Max to Source was beyond my math skills and took a lot of help from some of my smarter friends. I'd expect it to be just as challenging to do the reverse. And I can only feed my friends with so much beer before they start feeling used!

I didn't say I won't... but it's certainly not on the immediate TODO list.

PS. Incidentally, I just loaded a new update to WW today.

I have not really documented the Proxy tools in Wall Worm deeply. But there are some docs online as well as this new video that shows you how to "paint" a landscape of models.

I personally use the material editor (slate) and viewport canvas in 3ds Max as much as possible to texture. If there is something that needs extra care... I prefer using Mudbox. I feel like using Photoshop/PHOTO-PAINT/Gimp for texturing 3d objects is unintuitive... (but I haven't tried any plugin for these to actually paint in 3D inside them).

What I like about using viewport canvas is that you are in your final environment and have immediate access to tools that are otherwise not likely available--for example... making a mask layer based on selected faces; if you want to do that once you are in another app... you'll probably need to go back into Max and make it... then bring it into your app. I like reducing the number of apps I'm in at one time.

Quote from cincinnati

were there some conflicts between older versions of max and/or source that prevented something like this before now?there certainly seemed to be a peak in demand like 5 or 6 years ago.

No, there is no reason that this wasn't done a long time ago. The VMF aspect has already been a part of Convexity for several years as it is. (Even though I overlapped some of Convexity's functionality by adding a VMF exporter into Wall Worm, I use Convexity and always want to promote it as an indispensible asset!)

I do not have any insider information, but this is my personal understanding about Source and Max. I know that Valve originally used 3ds Max. At some point Valve switched to XSI. I seem to remember some grumbling amongst Valve modelers at that time... but that may be a false memory. I was certainly grumbling as I have always felt that XSI is unintuitive (but, of course, I am always biased towards Max). I do remember reading some article years ago where Valve was touting all the reasons they were switching from 3ds Max to XSI... but the article came across as a little too poltical ... kind of like propaganda; my interpretation at the time was that this must have been done beause of some licensing issue--that Valve found a cheaper deal with XSI.

Given that XSI has apparantly been abandoned by Valve, my interpretation is reinforced--as I doubt Valve would have switched so quickly to yet another software (Maya) had XSI actually been a better solution. Exactly why Valve went with Maya than back to Max is a mystery to me... except that (as I understand it) Valve hired some people from the Hollywood arena who happened to prefer Maya.

Again, this is not official information... just my own interpretation of the 3D history of Valve.

All along, Valve could have been releasing plugins to develop in Max. That they have chosen to release exporters for XSI, Sketchup and Maya but not Max is a mystery to me given the number of people who use Max could potentially match all three other packages combined. I get the feeling someone must have gotten snubbed personally in some meeting... or maybe there are people at Valve who are against Max because it doesn't run natively on Mac... either of which are poor reasons to ignore the very large segment of 3D users who use and prefer 3ds Max.

Quote from e-freak

Can you publicly speak about how much contact you had with valve over this? I could imagine a game like dota 2 benefitting alot from a tool like this over the classical everything in hammer...

Interesting question. I've never had any official contact from Valve. I've sent a few emails to them over the last couple of years asking questions in regards to their technology and my tools... but I've never gotten any kind of response.

Quote from Mr. Happy

Fantastic as alwaysYou say you aren't finishing projects, but dude, wall worm's IS a project

Thanks for the kind words James!

Yes, it is a project... and it does offer its own kind of satisfaction... but after a while I get a little burnt out on programming (it's what I do for a living [though not 3d programming] and honestly I have long ago lost the eagerness to be a codemonkey). But at least with Wall Worm, I am programming something that I want and use... so it offers an inherent reward missing from the normal things I do (you know... the awesome world of web form validation and obnoxious blinking banners, etc). Plus WW has given me the opportunity to meet and correspond with many creative and talented people... which is something I enjoy a lot.