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Messages - wallworm

#3451
Model WIPs / Re: Saturn SL2
February 13, 2012, 09:40:02 PM
I look forward to seeing your work! Welcome back :)
#3452
Wall Worm News / WWMT 1.759 Released
February 13, 2012, 09:13:34 PM
WWMT 1.759 includes updated UI links to the new docs site.

It also includes some really cool new 3D Skybox functions in Anvil (the new name I've given to the Displacement Tool... at it is no longer just for making displacements).
#3453
Aha... glad you figured it out. I will have to add that to the docs when I finally get around to updating them.
#3454
I've sent you an email.
#3455
I found a bug in the VMF exporter when exporting a scene with Convexity Walls. The VMF export would fail.

The 1.756 release fixes that bug.
#3456
I have seen that error only in times when I've acciedentally ran a compile when Steam isn't running (even when manually trying to compile various assets without WWMT). For me, it has always later worked when I restarted Steam.

Also, I'm not sure if this is relevant, but there was an update in the last few days after which Steam always forgets  what Mod I've got selected for the current Steam Vproject. Since then Steam isn't remembering what game I should be compiling for.

Out of curiosity, which compiler were you running? Textures? The model compiler? Sky? VMF?
#3457
So the update I released today makes this problem a little better. But still has a way to go.

PS. For anyone not understanding how to export the world geometry... you have to assign the objects as world brushes. To do that... select the objects, open the WW Displacement Tool and then click the Add Bursh Geometry button. The selected geometry is then assigned as world geometry. Remember to only use convex geometry for this purpose! There is a check in the assignment for whether the object is convex... but if you later change the topology and it loses convexity... then it will create an invalid brush in Hammer.
#3458
Wall Worm News / WWMT 1.755 Released
February 09, 2012, 05:36:30 PM
This update makes the UVW of brushes/displacements better than previously. Still... the UVW is wrong.

Several people have been trying to help solve this... but we've hit a wall. I've gotten plenty of feedback but my experience in vectors, matrices and geometric formulas is weak. This has been making me learn more... but I'm far from cracking it.

I have asked Michael Little to help. If you don't know Michael, he's the developer of one of the coolest Max tools any of use level designers can have--Convexity. Hopefully he'll be able to help out with cracking it once and for all :) (Considering he's already built a VMF exporter... I know he can :P )
#3459
The VMF Exporter now inside the Wall Worm tools does not yet export accurate texture coordinates. That is a major issue right now... so at the moment you must still use Hammer to align the textures of your World Geometry.

What you can do to make it easier is open the exported VMF in Hammer, click the Map menu item and click the menu for Check for Problems. Then select one of the items mentioning an incorrect texture alignment and press the Fix all of Type button.

I am trying to solve this problem right now. If you happen to know any MAXScript, please feel free to share input. The problem is stated in detail here.
#3460
Wall Worm News / WWMT 1.754 Released
February 07, 2012, 06:02:13 PM
I loaded a newer version today with some bug fixes and a bunch of options in the VMF Exporter.
#3461
Wall Worm News / WWMT 1.753 Released
February 06, 2012, 10:30:02 PM
I released two updates today:

Version 1.753 released on 2-5-2012

• Fixed the Material handling function in the SMD and VMF exporters. They were supposed to support the Shell Material in the previous couple of updates. As it turned out, when I first tested the functions I used the appropriate class name Shell_Material... but then for some unknown reason changed this to just Shell ... which isn't the same thing. The exporters should now properly export the Shell Material. Sorry about that.

• Updated the VMF Exporter to pop up a dialog where you can choose to include/exclude various elements: displacements, brush geoemtry, models, Convexity point entities, Convexity brush entities and lights. By default, all are assumed, but you can uncheck any element.

Version 1.752 released on 2-5-2012

•Updated VMF Exporter to recognize the MR Sun (exports as light_environment).
•Updated VMF Exporter to format float values to 6 decimal places.
•Updated VMF Exporter to format color values to have no decimal point.
•Updated Sky Writer to Version 0.5. The rendered images now align with the cardinal directions in Source. Previously, the sky was rotated 180 degrees.
•Added Vray supprt to Sky Writer. (This is experimental--I don't have Vray but was donated the logic by Fabian Groß.) Please provide feedback.
•Updated Sky Writer to default to 1.0 for both LDR and HDR Gamma (no longer makes assumptions).

I am still trying to figure out how to export the UV in the VMF Exporter.
#3462
Wall Worm News / Re: WWMT 1.75 Released
February 06, 2012, 10:48:13 AM
I released 1.752 today. Added MR Sun to the light exporter in VMF Exporter.

Also... fixed Sky writer to output in the correct sky orientation.
#3463
Wall Worm News / Re: WWMT 1.75 Released
February 05, 2012, 05:33:34 PM
Loaded 1.751 today. Added lights, layers and grid spacing to the VMF Exporter.

Still banging my head on the world brush UV axis calculation.
#3464
Wall Worm News / Re: WWMT 1.75 Released
February 05, 2012, 11:27:51 AM
Quote from: K@rt on February 03, 2012, 10:23:26 PM
you can make models whilst still having a social life...

Gulli... you must not have read the FAQs--that is common knowledge (see last item)! :)

TO be fair, there has been a way to make maps in Max for years with Maple3D's Convexity (one of my all-time-favorite tools). Even though the Wall Worm VMF Exporter is overlapping the Convexity VMF Exporter... it is not supplanting Convexity in any way, either. The real benefit of the Wall Worm VMF Exporter is that it will export all the displacements and models along with convex world geoemtry and entities (whereas the CVX version doesn't send out the displacements and models).

And until I've figured out the Brush Face UVW mapping, CVX has an advantage for getting brush geometry into Hammer.

I want to make it clear to everyone that even though this exporter may supercede the Convexity VMF exporter when finished (for Wall Worm users at least), it doesn't mean that you shouldn't get Convexity. Far from it! You explicitly need Convexity if you want to add point/brush entities inside 3ds Max; furthermore, the design tools of Convexity are unmatched. I recommend that all Wall Worm users buy a copy of Convexity as it is one of my favorite tools that I hope grows with more users.

I have added Lights, Visgroups and Grid Spacing to the latest local version of the toolset (1.751)... which I will load to the Internet as soon as I've tested it more.
#3465
Wall Worm News / WWMT 1.75 Released
February 03, 2012, 04:38:45 PM
I have made a very large update to the Worm Toolset. Here is the changelog:

Version 1.75 released on 2-3-2012

• Added alternative WWMT SMD Exporter, which is a new MAXScript implementation not dependant on an external SMD exporter. Not as fast as the SDK exporters (Wunderboy and Cannonfodder). This new exporter allows you to export arbitrary mapping channels (see below) and will also supports the Shell Material (It will use the Baked Material in the Shell for export).

When Wunderboy SMD Exporter 1.7 is released, I will recommend you use that one as it will accomodate the same new features I've added here and will work faster. However, until it is released, you can utilize this exporter if you need the features in it.

You can always switch between the exporters in the WWMT Settings floater.

• Added UVW Channel control. You can now choose which UVW channel the SMD Exporter will use. (Only works with Wunderboy SMD Exporter 1.7+ and WWMT SMD Exporter 1.0+).

• Added Quick Hull functionality to the Collision Hull rollout. This function is dependant on you having either Convexity or a version of Max that includes MassFX and/or the nVidia PhysX plugin.

• Fixed some MAXScript exceptions that happened when picking some buttons in the Collision Hull rollout in some circumstances.

• Updated materials on SMDs. You can now use any arbitrary Material. Note that for any material other than Standard (and Standard in slots of a Multi/Sub-Object Material) and the Shell* Material, the name of the material translates to the SMD face material name. (*Note: the Shell Material acquires the face material from the Standard Material in the Baked Material of the Shell Material and is only supported in this manner with the WWMT SMD Exporter. The Wunderboy SMD Exporter 1.6 will still only use the name of the Shell Material but may change in the near future when 1.7 is released.)

• Changed the naming convention of Sequence SMD files. Previously, the file name was simply based off of the name of the Sequence in the UI. Because that could lead to files being over-written if two models in the same path used the same sequence name... the sequence file names are now updated to follow this pattern: ModelName + "_sequence_" + sequenceName + ".smd".

Example: If your model name is "myModel" and it has a sequence called "startMove" the associated sequence SMD file is now named myModel_sequence_startMove.smd .

• Updated Sky Writer to create HDR bitmaps (as EXR/DDS files that you can turn into PFM files in Photoshop). Still need to update cameras to take shots in the same cardinal directions as in Max. At the moment, North comes out as South, East as West. The image is fine but if you need the sun angle to be identical in direction, you need to be aware of this. A fix will come soon.

• Updated Select/Show/Hide Hull buttons to redraw views upon being clicked. Previously, the show/hide would not display until a button was clicked or the viewport changed in Max 2012.

• Updated the functions for applying smoothing groups to the collision hulls. Previously, the functions would only work accurately on hulls that are an editable poly--and it unnecessarily applied a Smooth modifier to other types of geometry. The current implementation will work on both Editable Poly and Editable Mesh. It will also only add smoothing if there are multiple Elements in any individual hull objects.

• Added new global setting to make new models default to $staticprop when turned on in the WWMT configuration floater.

• Added basic brush export support to VMF Exporter. No UVW mapping yet.

The VMF Exporter will currently export the following things:

◦Brush Geometry* (with Smoothing Groups, Material Name applied).
◦All WWMT models as props
◦Your Sky Writer as VMF sky
◦WW Displacements
◦Cameras
◦Convexity Point Entities
◦Convexity Brush Entities

*The brush exporter will only export items that you have assigned as Brush Geometry with the Add Brush Geometry button in the WW Displacement Tool UI or Convexity Walls/Floors.

There are several features that need to be implemented. The two main features are brush geometry UVW and lights.

• Added a Tool Brush Material Library into the WWMT package. You will find it in the WWMT download in a folder called materiallibraries. The file is "wallworm_source_tools.mat" which you can open with the Max Material Editor. Applying the material (like NoDRAW, Sky, etc) will translate into the VMF.

• Added a new submenu in the main WW menu in Max for exporters. You will need to go to the WWMT settings and click Add To Menu to get the updated menu. It includes a button to export scene as VMF and one to export all selected WWMT models to Source.



Like usual, the documentation for this update is currently limited to the changelog. In other words, you have to play around with it to learn something if I haven't yet documented it. I do plan on updating the entire Wall Worm website soon to be easier to navigate and keep up-to-date.

A few words, though.

First, I want to point out that the new SMD Exporter is a result of wanting some new options than the current SMD Exporters have not yet offered. All of the features I've added will actually be in the next release of Wunderboy's SMD Exporter... and I have been collaborating with Wunderboy on the new version. This new addition is not my attempt to usurp anything from Wunderboy as I hold him in high regard and love collaborating with him. The change is made simply because he has had limited time and the new features were ones that I've been wanting for WWMT for a year now. When Wunderboy gets 1.7 released, my recommendation is that you'll want to use his because it is a compiled plugin that works faster than the MAXScript version I've included in WWMT.

One benefit of this addition will be the next time an update to the Max SDK breaks compatibility with plugins--it will mean that WWMT will continue to work in the interim before Wunderboy is able to compile a new version. If the current trends continue, that will probably happen in 3ds Max 2014.

Secondly, the new VMF exporter is not finished. It's almost there... but the UVW coordinates on brush faces are incorrect. At the moment, until I've fixed that, any VMFs exported with the Worm exporter will need to have the texture coordinates fixed. You can do this in Hammer by clicking Map > Check for Problems and selecting/fixing all items that say that there is a texture perpendicular to its face.

If you happen to have technical understanding of Max/MaxScript/VMFs... feel free to help me solve this dilemma. I've posted more details over on the Area Forums. Although I have a lot of experience programming, my 3d math skills are not what the kids would call epic... so solving this has proven frustrating.

If you happen to own Convexity, you will get the added benefit of being able to create point entities and brush entities inside your Max seen too and the exporter works just fine. I may add Entity Input/Output too... but honestly I'd probably need more motivational donations to take that task up anytime soon :) I'm already grumbling to myself because the next version of Max is around the corner and there is that Subscription fee no one looks forward to...

Please report any bugs you find. It's best to submit them here is the forums so that other users can see/discuss. And it is easier on me to respond to a thread once or twice than six different emails :)

Enjoy!
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