Maps started in Hammer can now be finished in 3ds Max -- Full VMF Importer finished - Developers

While the there has been a partially working [URL="http://dev.wallworm.com/document/124/vmf_importer.html"]3ds Max VMF importer[/URL] in Wall Worm for a while, it is now fully finished. Imports World Geometry, Displacements, complete UVW, entities, materials and props. I updated the docs linked here to reflects the updated workflow. Screen shots and example video may come in the future. Until then, play and enjoy.

At the risk of recieving a stack of "dumb" ratings... couldn't Propper do this already? (Via the Export function.)

[QUOTE=Whitby;42451762]At the risk of recieving a stack of "dumb" ratings... couldn't Propper do this already? (Via the Export function.)[/QUOTE] Not a dumb question. Propper is about making a prop from world geometry. Wall Worm is about replacing Hammer altogether. Inside 3ds Max you can create complex, concave geometry with unwrapped meshes/textures. AND you can make world geometry. The importer will keep all world geometry as world geometry, all displacements as displacements, etc. And from here you can create complex props inside the level, generate your own, unique textures, etc etc etc.

Thanks, this is going to make bringing maps from hammer to houdini for flow maps a ton easier.

Wall worm, your plugins are always the best Keep up to good work! Thanks for this

Would it ever be possible to do this in reverse, selecting what will be a brush and what will be a model, and then exporting from 3dsmax to hammer? Because I imagine that would make porting UDK maps so much easier.

There are some amazing possibilities here. Cool stuff man

[QUOTE=glitchvid;42451815]Thanks, this is going to make bringing maps from hammer to houdini for flow maps a ton easier.[/QUOTE] I haven't used it yet, but there is a script on Scriptspot for making Flowmaps right inside 3ds Max. So the process could get even faster if you can skip Houdini. [QUOTE=Chaoswolf725;42452863]Would it ever be possible to do this in reverse, selecting what will be a brush and what will be a model, and then exporting from 3dsmax to hammer? Because I imagine that would make porting UDK maps so much easier.[/QUOTE] Yes, Wall Worm is designed to replace Hammer. You can export entire scenes and compile straight from Max. Do not be fooled by the common sentiment that 3ds Max is only for the models. You can do level design AND models inside 3ds Max. I don't even use Hammer. [QUOTE=Shotz;42451965]Wall worm, your plugins are always the best Keep up to good work! Thanks for this[/QUOTE] :) You are welcome. [QUOTE=Jojje;42453022]There are some amazing possibilities here. Cool stuff man[/QUOTE] I hope you enjoy.

[QUOTE=wallworm;42454217]I haven't used it yet, but there is a script on Scriptspot for making Flowmaps right inside 3ds Max. So the process could get even faster if you can skip Houdini. [/QUOTE] I'm not a programmer, and that plugin (at-least the 2 I saw) lack some of the features I'd need, but it'd be a cool alternative to check if they have one more like what Houdini can do in the future.

[QUOTE=Sam Za Nemesis;42456137]I've never used wallworm for exporting VMFs, but can displacements be exported as the same way they are imported? Considering how bad Hammer's terrain editor is I'd rather like to give my terrain it's final touches on Max[/QUOTE] Yes... I've added a lot of tools specifically for displacements. And as a note there is a new update today to fix a bug with the entity parser in Wall Worm.

Hammer already has an export to DXF function, which is a file format 3DS max can read

[QUOTE=brerben;42460185]Hammer already has an export to DXF function, which is a file format 3DS max can read[/QUOTE] I think you are missing the point. The DXF format only exports the geometry. Worse, it exports it into a format where the brushes are unwelded. With DXF you get no UVW, no Materials/textures, no models, no entities, none of your entity properties/outputs, no visgroups, no alpha blend on displacements, etc. The VMF importer is designed to let you bring in your levels into 3ds Max as a complete scene. You can then use it for animating movies, etc. Or you can extend/finish it as a more robust working level for Source as there are Source VMF compiling tools right inside Wall Worm.

Wallworm, I love you for your 3dsmax evangelism. I'll have to give this a shot, I'm one of those people that went from hammer to max and hated every minute of it, but now that I know max I hate hammer. Not map related, but any chance of us getting .dmx and those features like baked wrinkle maps for face flexes? The SFM/Maya crowd lords it over us like we were the butt end of a joke. Edit: oh god I have to batch convert all sdk textures to .tga files. Also if that's the case, are you reading the vmt files and looking for something readable by max or are you skipping the vmt files all together? Also what version .bsp does this make? Is that set by the mod you've selected? Could I back convert a, say, L4D2/Portal2 branch vmf with this and generate a HL2 SP 2013 compatible bsp with this?

I'm using wallworm heavily in my next map, and it's allowing me to do great things with displacements in Max. Thanks so much for all your hard work!

Never understood any of the hate towards Wallworm Tools over the years, they've always been something incredibly inspiring to me; even though I've never gotten around to fully using them. Just the idea that something exists that totally can replace Hammer's shit makes me happy.

I'm going to download this and try it out for myself, but in theory could I just start a map in 3dsmax and then just export it from there into source? Also, do I get the same functionality in regards to entity flags and i/o setups as I do in hammer? [editline]9th October 2013[/editline] I guess the real question is, is this actually a quality replacement for hammer? Or a replacement for [I]some[/I] of the features in hammer?

[QUOTE=TheGoodDoctorF;42465436]I'm going to download this and try it out for myself, but in theory could I just start a map in 3dsmax and then just export it from there into source? Also, do I get the same functionality in regards to entity flags and i/o setups as I do in hammer? [editline]9th October 2013[/editline] I guess the real question is, is this actually a quality replacement for hammer? Or a replacement for [I]some[/I] of the features in hammer?[/QUOTE] Yes... you can start your scene inside 3ds Max and Wall Worm has entities, entity I/O and more. I personally do not even use Hammer. Regarding quality... here are some in-game shots of a level I've been using for testing Wall Worm features. This level was created entirely in Max and never uses Hammer. [IMG]http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/jpeg/page/61_de_sacrilege_beta450001.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://dev.wallworm.com/media/1/image/jpeg/page/62_de_sacrilege_beta450001a.jpg[/IMG] Here is a new video I loaded today on using the displacement tools: [video=youtube;Ch_XFF5_bW8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch_XFF5_bW8[/video] You can get more videos on various aspects of WW on the WW Youtube channel.

This is looking great, any plans for a Maya version?

[QUOTE=Lt_C;42460578]Not map related, but any chance of us getting .dmx and those features like baked wrinkle maps for face flexes? The SFM/Maya crowd lords it over us like we were the butt end of a joke.[/QUOTE] A DMX exporter is something I may add in the future. [QUOTE=Lt_C;42460578]oh god I have to batch convert all sdk textures to .tga files. Also if that's the case, are you reading the vmt files and looking for something readable by max or are you skipping the vmt files all together?[/QUOTE] The tools generate materials from the VMTs. The bitmaps used in the material generator are PSD > TGA > [optionally] VTF. So if the material tool finds a PSD in the VMTs referenced texture, it uses that; if not it looks for a TGA. If using an older version of Max with VTF support, it then looks for a VTF. [QUOTE=Lt_C;42460578]Also what version .bsp does this make? Is that set by the mod you've selected? Could I back convert a, say, L4D2/Portal2 branch vmf with this and generate a HL2 SP 2013 compatible bsp with this?[/QUOTE] Wall Worm uses the native Source BSP compilers. So it just saves the VMF and sends it to the compiler to handle it as the compiler wishes. There is one undocumented setting that controls the output of some characters that are different between VMF versions... but I am not entirely sure that the compilers even care. [QUOTE=azgag;42467086]This is looking great, any plans for a Maya version?[/QUOTE] Unlikely. Someone would have to buy my license of Maya and then pay me for the months it would take to get up-to-speed in that app... and however long it would then take to rewrite a ton of programming in a new environment. Considering the sum of donations I've received for Wall Worm in the last three years... I'm pretty confident in saying it will never happen. You can always start using Max :)

when importing vmfs, what does it do for the models?

It imports models from QC/SMDs... about which you can read more in the docs linked at the top. So it does require you to have extracted those assets too if you want the models brought in. I know that isn't the most convenient situation if you are using assets that are only in MDL format... but that is the current state of the importer.

Thank you so much for this; I love your plugins.

[QUOTE=code_gs;42483286]Thank you so much for this; I love your plugins.[/QUOTE] You are welcome. I love them too :)

Well this is encouraging me to use 3ds max more. Also can maps be STARTED in 3ds max? (Possibly a dumb question but doesn't hurt to ask)

[QUOTE=Itauske Roken;42490270]Well this is encouraging me to use 3ds max more. Also can maps be STARTED in 3ds max? (Possibly a dumb question but doesn't hurt to ask)[/QUOTE] Yes. Indeed you can. For me, personally, there is no way I'd ever make a level in Hammer ever again. It's all 3ds Max for me. PS. I will be releasing a .MAP importer that mirrors the VMF importer too. I've already imported a bunch of my old CS 1.6 levels today testing it. So I'll be loading that update perhaps this weekend.

so you could essentially port maps from other games now, if you got them out of that engine and into 3dsmax neat!

[QUOTE=Jojje;42498445]so you could essentially port maps from other games now, if you got them out of that engine and into 3dsmax neat![/QUOTE] Well the yes... but that is a separate issue. This thread is mainly about the VMF importer. But yes, Wall Worm also has a VMF exporter. Sending other game levels can be a bit tricky since you still have to make sure world geometry is convex and assign such geometry in WW as the world geometry. PS. I added a new update today. You can now also import older MAP file formats.

I'm having trouble installing this for 3D Studio max 9, it might be the AVGuard MAXScript Extension, but I don't know. Max complains about an auto uninstall.

[QUOTE=Glaber;42519867]I'm having trouble installing this for 3D Studio max 9, it might be the AVGuard MAXScript Extension, but I don't know. Max complains about an auto uninstall.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure I can help. I did get word that an older version of WW worked in Max 9 with AVGuard ... but I can no longer test in any versions before Max 2011 due to how licenses work on Autodesk Subscription. I used Max 3/4 ... then 2008-2014 . Now I test 98% on 2014 and 2% on Max 2013. Also, I updated the VMF/MAP importers today. This update fixes some errors on brush imports and makes the import work faster.

I downloaded AVGuard but I'm not to sure how to install it. or what one is the 64 bit version.