There is also an edict limit (very important to understand!). This means that you can only have so many entities in the Source Engine, such as dynamic props, brush entities, particles, spawns, triggers, point entities etc... basically everything that can receive and input/output. Few entities are not counted towards the limit because they are removed once the compile is done (basically 'baked' into the level).
To delve deeper into this, you should understand that there are a maximum allowed total of 4096 entities split in 2 groups:
2048 allowed entities that either exist ONLY on the client or ONLY on the server (logic entities such as logic_auto and logic_relay are always on the server, including ragdolls which are always client-side unless forced to be server-sided).
2048 allowed edict that can cross between SERVER AND CLIENT.
To go even deeper, of the edict limit, each player on the server itself, fully loaded with max amount of grenades and weaponry and defuse kit or bomb contain a max. of 15/16 edicts. So if you make a map for a Zombie Escape server that usually host 64 player slots, that means 960 edicts right off the bat, leaving you with 1088 edicts to play around with.
Considering the average size of a zombie escape map and the amount of entities to make levels work and such, or for minigames, 1088 might sound like a lot but it really isn't.
So in overview, this is another limit of Source. This is NOT a limit in hammer. I don't know the entity limit inside a vmf itself for Hammer to load up but it is far higher than what the engine allows. So you could have over 8000 entities in your hammer file and it wouldn't tell you anything. Only on compile it will tell you that you exceeded the maximum amount, and it will instantly crash. If at any point in time the map itself spawns more edicts than 2048 (it means the 2049th edict), it will crash the game to desktop with an error message.
There are few exceptions that are mentioned on the wiki page, but such occasions are rare, and in any event try to avoid this limit as much as possible (many servers also have tons of plugins that add even more entities, such as custom trails, particles, sounds etc...).
I'm not super qualified to answer specifically about the hard limitations of the Source Engine.
That being said: generally speaking you can use 2k textures as long as they're a power of 2
(512x512 -> 2048 x 1024 etc)
(this is super useful for avoiding tiling with the stock textures)
although this can lead to a massive increase in file size (512kb ->4mb+)
You should understand how visibility culling works as prop density is often more important than prop count although going crazy on the proverbial breadsticks is inadvisable due to performance reasons.
Basic lighting isn't a problem unless you have too many lights pointing at a specific area(you really have to try to mess this one up tbh)
Max numbers are mostly relative in source, except with areaportals and other expensive materials such as water; you're free to do anything as long as areas are properly partitioned with good, well thought out design and clean on grid brush work.
Really consider reading up on Will2K's documentation on optimization and good luck on your mapping process!!!!11
I noticed a lot of issue with this version as well. Trying to fix them in the first art pass. I hope it won't change the flow of the map that much :).
Sorry guys I actually forgot to answer your feedback. We have a lot of references for urban architecture like this. I'm tryinng to get unique with it but sometimes geting super realistic is not the best way to go here. You are right about the height variety and I will keep that in mind. Thanks guys for the feedback !
For now heavy WiP of A short.
Greetings Earthlings! @fmpone suggested I do an A-Z intro on Wall Worm for MapCore, and I thought it was an excellent idea. I never shy away from an opportunity to spread the joys of 3ds Max and Wall Worm.
Introduction
For those who do not know, Wall Worm has been a Source Engine pipeline toolset that I started back in 2010. I started it because I had just built my first level for Source with some custom models, and I had concluded that the process for getting props into Source was essentially a nightmare, especially for simple static props. Having more interest in level design than the technical aspects of models, I was frustrated with how much time went into getting models into Source. So I dove head first into MAXScript, and the Wall Worm Model Tools were soon born.
Fast-forward to 2016. Wall Worm has morphed from a model exporter into an entire pipeline for almost every aspect of building levels and games in Source. In the right hands, you can create entire worlds for Source directly inside 3ds Max without opening text editors and other applications. Using Wall Worm and Max, you can create materials, models and levels all in one place.
The driving principle behind Wall Worm is to make the process of creating assets for Source easier and more fun--I've always felt that my time should be focused on being creative rather than doing repetitive and mind-numbing tasks. Now that Source is getting older and newer engines are coming out with more user-friendly pipelines, it's going to be more and more of a shock for new designers who get sucked into Source because they want to make something for the great games still maintained on Source--and Wall Worm is your best friend when it comes to taking away the pain of making assets for Source.
Some quotes of people you probably know:
Getting Started
Before you do anything else, you should set Max up to use the correct system scale, units and grid spacing.
Click Customize > Units Setup
Set the Display Unit Scale to Generic Units
Click the System Unit Setup and make sure that 1 Unit = 1 Inch
Click OK
Click OK
Right-Click the Snap Icon in the main toolbar
In the Home Grid tab, change the grid spacing to a multiple of 2 (like 32, 64, 128 units, etc)
Now Max is setup to the same scale as Source.
Models
For the majority of people using Wall Worm, the goal is to export a prop into Source. This one function is the reason 99% of people download Wall Worm. So this is the topic I'll cover first.
The main important thing to understand is that the more you know about 3ds Max itself, the better. Lacking familiarity with Max can lead to frustration. So I always suggest that you start from scratch and with a simple project before diving into complex projects. If you have never compiled a model for Source, then you should start with your first custom crate rather than a fully animated character. This is important even if you are just porting assets, because it will help you understand what is going on.
For models, Wall Worm stores information in an object called a WWMT Helper. Technically this is just a Text shape object that has extra data attached to it. You can think of the WWMT Helper as a UI for storing information about the model that you'd traditionally always write into a text file called a QC. In fact, when WW exports the model, it generates a QC file for you based on the settings in the WWMT Helper, which WW then sends to the model compiler.
Your First Model
To export your first model, you need an object in the scene. You can start with a Teapot Primitive. If you do not know how to create a teapot inside 3ds Max, then you should stop what you are doing and go here: Make a Teapot.
Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Model Tools > Wall Worm Model Tools
Click the Pick Model button in the WWMT UI
Pick the new teapot model in the scene
Immediately, Wall Worm creates a WWMT Helper. That helper will have some default settings (some of which can be controlled in global settings, including the default output paths, staticprop, etc). Take note of a field labeled Model Name. That name defaults to the node name you just picked (probably Teapot001). Also notice that the model immediately turned orange, as WW likely generated a default material for this object (this is the default behavior when picking a model that has no material).
Exporting your model into Source has two steps: Exporting the Materials/Textures (steps 1-3 below) and Exporting the Model (step 4 below).
Click the Export VTFs button in the WWMT UI
Check all materials and textures you want to export in the popup
Click the Export Selected Textures button
Now that the textures have exported, export the model by clicking the Export QC+Model button.
At the basic level, that's all there is to it.
If you have many WWMT Helpers in the scene and want to export all of the assets at once, you can:
Select All WWMT Helpers you want to export
Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Exporters > Export Selected Model Textures (to export all the materials and textures)
Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Exporters > Export WWMT to Source Models (to export all models)
That method allows you to export any number of models with a couple clicks.
There are more functions and settings to explore in WW, including tools to create collision hulls, animation sequences, Level of Detail (LOD) models, custom gibs and a lot more. But we'll leave it at that for now.
Level Design
Building levels with Wall Worm isn't all too different than building them inside Hammer at the basic level. The primary difference is that you must be aware of the fact that its up to you to keep your brush geometry valid. Wall Worm offers several tools to make the process simple with brush-specific geometry types and modifiers to force geometry to remain valid. The main hurdle for Hammer users coming to Max is changing your design philosophy from atomic to systemic--in other words, don't build things brush-by-brush but instead build systems (see CorVex, which is a brush-geometry tool built for BSP design). If you stay in the Hammer-methodology, then you are missing the point of using Max and might as well stay in Hammer.
You may want to go learn about Grids, Snaps and other Drawing Aids before delving into your first test of level design in Max. Those functions are similar to Hammer, but have more features and settings to understand. Some of the functions like Increase/Decrease grid spacing can be bound to keyboard shortcuts via the Customize > Customize User Interface and looking in the wallworm.com category (there are many hidden gems in there to help make your design process easier).
Your First Brush
1) Turn on 3D Snaps
2) Turn on Snap To Grid
3) Maximize the Perspective viewport
4) Make four Box Primitives as four walls around you teapot
5) Make a Box primitive for the floor
6) Select all five boxes (but not the teapot)
7) Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Level Design > Set Selection as Brush Geometry
Now these objects are tagged as brushes. The VMF Exporter will export them as brushes. Note that this method of brush-work is similar to the Hammer method of brush-by-brush (which I just said is not ideal), but this demonstrates the similarity of Max/Hammer in a basic level.
Your First Brush Material
Now your brushes need some materials.
Open the Slate Material Editor (M on the keyboard)
Right Click an empty part of the Slate View
Click Maps > Bitmap
Browse for a TGA Bitmap on your computer that has a power of 2 dimension (512x512, 1024x1024, etc)
When the bitmap node appears in slate, double-click it and change the name of the map to a relative path (so change "Map #1" in the material editor to "testing/textures/"
Click and Drag the little circle at the right side of the texture to an empty part of Slate (notice the red line)
Let go of the mouse and choose Materials > Standard from the menu
Drop the bitmap into the Diffuse slot of this material
Double click the new material
Change the name of the material from "Standard #25" to "testing/textures/brush1"
Select your five brushes
At the top of the Slate Material Editor, click the Assign Material to Selection button
At the top of the Slate Material Editor, click the Show Shaded Material in Viewport button (be default, textures don't appear in the viewport)
Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Exporters > Export Brush Textures
Click Export Selected Textures
After this is finished, WW will have created "testing/textures/brush1.vmt" with a base texture of "testing/textures/bitmapyouchose.vtf" (where the vtf file name will match the TGA bitmap you selected.
For Wall Worm pro users, any texture type is valid (even non-bitmap textures). For the standard WW, the bitmaps must be TGA files. See Advanced Texture Controls available in WW Pro. With WW Pro tools, you can work efficiently with Substance maps right inside Max.
Controlling the texture transformations (offsets, rotations and scales) are topics for another day.
Exporting the Scene
To export this simple scene, just click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Exporters > Export Scene as VMF. With the dialog that pops open, you can choose to pack the assets, various compile parameters and to compile. Go ahead and turn on the Compile Map on Export option and click the Export Scene as Game Level.
Now WW generates the VMF and sends it to the compiler. Because we did not seal the level, there will be a leak generated (which you'll see in the resulting log). Once the compile is done, you can view the leak as you would in Hammer by clicking Wall Worm > Wall Worm Level Design > Wall Worm Map Compile Tools > Load Leak File. Now you'll see a big red line that is the leak.
From here you can take the standard principles of fixing the level. You'll want to add entities, which are loaded with the Wall Worm > Wall Worm Level Design > (Point Entities | Brush Entities) menus.
You can continue to fix the level to a compilable state, or you can open the scene in Hammer to see your brushes and model.
Conclusion
What I've covered here is just the tip of the iceberg. Here are just a few of the other utilities you can utilize in Wall Worm:
Blended Mapping Material Generator
Sky Writer to render 2D skies
Displacement Sculpting
RAD File Generator
Res File Generator
Soundscape Generator
Animated Sprite Exporter
Animated Texture Exporter
Wrinklemap Exporter
Map / VMF Importer
VMT Importer
A lot more...
I know that the majority of Source level designers are not interested in the level design-side of WW. But for those who have similar interests as I've always had, I think you'll get a lot of satisfaction in building worlds in Max once you get your mind wrapped around it. Because of the long history of Source designers believing it's impossible to make world geometry inside Max, Wall Worm recently hosted a brush-only level design contest to help dispel the myth. Check out some of the screen shots of the levels (remember, the contestants were not allowed to use models, displacements or Hammer).
Brush-Only Maps from WW Contest
gg_futurelobby
fy_delaunay_world
That contest was sponsored by some super-sexy plugin developers: Exlevel, Ephere and enRichPro. All three have agreed to sponsor the next contest, which will not be limited to just brushes. The first place winner received $1k in commercial software licenses. Rules for the next contest will be announced soon.
Other mappers, too, have been experimenting with doing Source level design inside Max. Joris Ceoen is an avid creator with levels that have won Game Banana contests. His level Space Marble Unlimited won a contest recently and is the level featured on the book below.
If you are interested in learning more about experimenting with level design in Max, you can download your free copy of Hammered to the Max: A Hammer User's Guide to 3ds Max.
Common Resources for WW:
Wall Worm Documentation
Wall Worm Forums
Wall Worm YouTube Channel
Wall Worm Twitter Feed
Wall Worm on Facebook
Wall Worm on G+
Some other Fun Tools and Features in Wall Worm
There's a lot more... if this is interesting to you, it'll be easy to find it all.
Working on a few sci-fi tiling textures for a UDK scene. I'll be creating various modular wall/ceiling/floor pieces from these textures. Kind of an old school approach I know but saves a lot of time!
The last screenshot is a bunch of trim textures placed together in the same material in case you are wondering.
Finished the stone wall tutorial PhilipK put up, fairly happy with it so far, although there is a seam in one area I need to fix. Possibly a bit too specularly/glossy right now as well.
A few months ago, we tested de_highlands several times on the mapcore playtest. Now we want to share some progress even if we are far from the end. It's a defuse map setted in Scotland and we want to make a beta version as soon as we can.
Btw, avoid having your scratches in your normal map. It makes sense at first, but it always look weirds, cos it will end up looking like indentations instead. Having the scratches barely visible in the dif, and very strong int he spec, is usually enough.
Keep kicking ass, and study your materials first!
PS. I also noticed your scratches are very blurry. When painting this kind of stuff, avoid using blurred brushes, use harder brushes instead, otherwise you'll get weird "fadings", if that makes any sense.
I re-textured this environment for a friend's Nokia N8 game. He's going to GDC next week to present the game, hope that helps somehow!
Here's the arena ingame after he tweaked it a little:
Working on low poly handpainted textures is so much fun. You are free to do all kinds of crazy uv mappings that is usually not possible with normal mapped textures.
