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[wallworm]

Just got my license to 3ds Max 2015. Woohoo! Installing now. I'm excited to test the viewport performance enhancements, the new scene browser, and ShaderFX. Hopefully it is all smooth. After I get the current WW 2.0 finished, I'll be looking into ways to integrate ShaderFX into the WW workflow.

I'll probably post some thoughts on Max 2015 later on today.

[wallworm]

So I've tested Max 2015 today. I couldn't open many of my larger projects because they have plugins that aren't available for 2015 yet.

The first run caused several stalls/freezes. But the second run seemed good. Maybe the initial sluggishness was because I ran it right after install without restart...

I found a bug with Wall Worm in 2015 too. I'll probably have a patch for that in the next few days.

It's still too early to tell how this release is. I'll share more opinions when I've used it more.

[wallworm]

So I think the sluggishness I noticed yesterday was a result of the computer needing restarted after the install. I played around some more and find that the UI is snappier. There must have been a lot of optimization under the hood. That's a good thing.

I do have a fix for installing WW on 2015 but it isn't fully tested (as it is a part of a much larger collection of updates). Email me personally if you want to test these new WW updates in Max 2015.

Also, I found that a 2014 bug in Viewport Canvas made its way into Max 2015. Post in that link if you confirm the bug. And report it with the Help > Speak Back > Report a Problem menu in Max.

[wallworm]

Over the last week I've been using Max 2015 almost exclusively. Rayfire is supposed to be out any day for 2015, which is the last plugin that I use regularly that I was waiting on.

Anyway, there is really only one thing in the new version that I see as a major bug at moment in what I do, and that is the new adaptive viewport navigation. I really like the concept of this new feature, but it has a major set of flaws. The new adaptive viewport navigation is intended to solve the age-old problem of needing to set the navigation scale with Z all the time--you know, when you scroll in and suddenly the zoom/pan appears to stop working because it is going so slowly, when you zoom out and suddenly your model is 50 miles away!

The adaptive navigation resamples the zoom scale based on the object under the mouse when you start a zoom/pan. It largely works well. But there are some problems--for example, if you hover over a high density mesh with Edit Normals... it will constantly seem random as one second it samples the model and the next it samples the normal sub-objects. Please go comment and vote on enhancing this now.

Otherwise, it is working really well. The viewport is simply amazing. Even with 8x anti-aliasing, viewport speeds are great.

The new layer manager (merged with the scene explorer) is also really nice because it finally allows nested layers and dragging objects from layer to layer. I think it needs to be tweaked because some functions are buried in a couple more clicks than necessary (adding selected scene node to layer requires quad menu actions when it should have a button like old manager for one click action). So although I'm not exactly happy with the current state of the new manager, it certainly adds many functions most of us have wanted for years. Go vote for these tweaks and enhancements to the Scene Explorer.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of this with you all.

[Joris Ceoen]

Great, I should consider switching to 2015 I suppose :)!

[wallworm]

Great, I should consider switching to 2015 I suppose :)!

Well it's not something I'm necessarily recommending yet, but I've gone ahead and moved over. The issues mentioned above can be annoying, especially if you don't understand them. I am expecting that both issues will disappear with SP2.

[wallworm]

Just for the record, I have now been using 2015 exclusively for a couple months. As far as I'm concerned, it is the Max to use now.

[Joris Ceoen]

Does PolygonMap work with the 2015 version? I'm starting to finish Cathedral now. I'm gonna make a Hostage map out of it with some interesting, and hopefully new twists that will put the gameplay almost entirely in the cathedral itself. No more outside routes with bombsites, because let's face it, never gonna happen.

[wallworm]

Yes, there is a PolygonMap update. At this point, the only plugins I own that I don't have for 2015 are Glu/Pwrapper from 3d Aliens and Snowflow from zwischendrin.com . I use these plugins only rarely, so I chose to move up. I do hope that they get updated but not holding my breath. The benefits of the viewport performance far outweigh my desire to use those plugins. There are still have to get used to adaptive zooming at first, and the layer manager is different--but mostly in a good way. Just remember to install SP2.