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[wallworm]

I have a bunch of updates to release but I am holding off until we have finished migrating the domain to a new server. The current one is giving us fits so it's time to upgrade.

Anyhow, here are some of the updates you will see in the next version. There will probably be more:

MAJOR UPDATES TO MATERIALS AND TEXTURE EXPORTERS! The material exporting system is being overhauled entirely. Phase 1 is done. This change gives more versatility and optimization to the handling of materials and bitmaps. (The old system is temporarily available if you go into Wall Worm Settings and turn on Legacy VTF).

This update changes the methods of how materials are generated and the paths that VTFs get exported to.

* Materials (VMTs) are now written directly by Wall Worm. Previously they were generated by VTEX... but that scenario created some of the limitations in the exporter because it always forced a model's VMT to be in a specific directory (meaning models could not share any VTFs with any other materials output into any other directories).

* VTF Output paths are now defined in the NAMES of the BITMAP NODES of all BITMAPS. This means that you will need to rename any and all bitmap nodes. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE FILE NAME! This refer's to the node name of the bitmap map in the 3ds Max material editor. For example, most bitmap nodes have a default name of something like "Map #1", etc. That name will have to be changed to the destination you actually want. But the exporter now makes this easy (see below).

Because of this change, if you re-export a VMT but do not re-export the VTFs, the new VMT will not reference the bitmaps (VTFS) in the correct place!

* The Material export dialogs now allow you to change the output paths of textures.

* The material/texture exporters have been updated. Now the material exporter will label the materials as VMT Materials and will label the bitmaps as VTFs. The VTF label no longer has the filename path of the TGA but now lists the target local VTF path/name.

* The model material exporter has been updated to match the brush material exporter so that you can export just a material without exporting VTFs.

* Material exporters now automatically check/uncheck the checkbox for exporting of materials and bitmaps based on whether or not they already exist as VMTs/VTFs in the game directories.

* The Material Exporters now require that Game Info Dir is set in the global settings.

* The material exporter dialogs load much faster now even if there are large bitmaps in the materials.

* Animated VTFs (Image File Lists or IFL files) now animate at the correct speed in Source.

* Scrolling textures (bitmaps whose U Offset and/or V Offset has been animated) now export properly and have the correct scrolling direction and speed.

* Quick Hull and Hull Helper updated to catch errors with creating hulls from invalid Elements of a mesh.

* Updated Worm Face to place decals 1 unit above surfaces for better display in the viewport. They still export on the surface of the clicked point.

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Since I'm not loading this version for a few days, it won't be available online. But if you want to test any of these features, feel free to email me and I will send you a copy.

[wallworm]

If you see this message it means Wall Worm forums have been transfered to the new server. I still haven't loaded the new updates, though, as they go onto the WallWorm.com domain... which hasn't been transfered yet.

[wallworm]

WWMT 1.85 is now released!

Not only the features listed above, but also these:

◦Updated Anvil placement helper to match the size of the current displacement Length.

◦Added function to Anvil to turn a collection of selected faces into displacements.

◦Added function to Anvil to convert a collection of selected Planes into displacements.

◦Added function to Anvil to create displacements by clicking faces (only works on Editable Poly objects).

◦Added two new buttons in Anvil Move mode... -90 an +90. These rotate all selected objects by +/- 90 degrees in their local Z axis. This is to fix displacements that are oriented incorrectly with the new Anvil displacment generation methods. Some of the objects are rotated incorrectly in their local Z axis.

◦Added various error catching updates to miscellaneous functions dealing with displacements.

[extrapickles]

Very nice! Thank you.