Wall Worm Forums

Version 4.0 released on 3-5-2019

   * Installation: Added an installer application for Wall Worm Pro and Wall Worm Free. See updated installation instructions.
   
   * Installation: Updated the update scripts to remove confusing notice about reactivating WW Pro on new installations.
   
   * SMD Exporter: Fixed bug in SMD Exporter for WW Free using versions of Max prior to 3ds Max 2018.2. The was causing meshes with a skin modifier to get deleted.

   * Modifiers: Added new modifier RandomElements for 3ds Max 2016+. This function will allow you to randomize objects per element (position, rotation, scale and UVs).
   
   * Entities: Added new function to display connections between entity inputs/outputs in the viewports.
   
   * Toolbars: Added button to display entity inputs/outputs and button to isolate selection of current entity selection and their inputs/outputs.
   
   * Displacements: Fixed bug with the Create Displacements function that would often create extra unused mesh snapshots of source brushes.
   
   * Settings: Updated default settings for Raw Materials to always use the $images shortcut when the raw path was blank. Previously, it could get set to $maps which is often an unwritable directory.
   
   * Starter Kits: Updated several player entities to spawn 8 units off the ground plane by default instead of 1 unit.
   
   * VMT Browser: Fixed crash when trying to load the game's VMT list and there is an unknown system exception. The exception is now caught. However, if there is an exception, the VMT browser will not actually load the the material list.
   
   * MDL: Added new function to load materials that are missing from MDL nodes. This function is found under Wall Worm > Wall Worm Utilities > Load Missing MDL Materials.
   
   * MDL: Added new function to generate Forest LOD nodes from a WallWormMDL node.
   
   * WWMT: Updated batch WWMT Exporter to export only one copy of a WWMT. Previously there could be a bug where a WWMT helper might export twice in a row.
   
   * LOD Tools: Added function to generate new LOD materials for WWMT Helpers with LODs.
   
   * Help Floater: Added details about whether WW Pro is installed or activated.
   
   * WWMT: Added macro to merge WWMT Helpers that share same material.
   
   * Settings: Fixed global settings for SMD exporter to honor user settings immediately across WW. Previously, the setting was not updating until after Max was restarted.
   
   * SMD Importer: Fixed the SMD importer not importing proper skin weights when the WW Engine is set to Goldsource.
   
   * VMF Importer: Fixed VMF Importer not classifying imported scene nodes.
   
   * Hull Helper: Added button in Hull Helper to align hull pivots to the rootnode for selected WWMT Helpers.
   
   * VMF Exporter: Updated VMF exporter to not duplicate props in export even if the scene manager got out-of-synch.
   
   * WWMT: Updated WWMT to check for Skin/Morpher/Morph-O-Matic modifiers or if picked node is a bone when creating a new WWMT. If any are detected, the new WWMT will not use $staticprop or Rotate Origin options even if global setting is set to use them.
   
   * Updater: Fixed MAXScript bug after updating WW and sometimes getting an error about an undefined function when opening a file.
   
   * Toolbar Installer: Fixed rare case of a MAXScript error when installing the toolbars (if the CUIX files are not writable).
   
   * Toolbars: Moved the Visgroup Manager button from the Level Design toolbar to the Grid and Nudge toolbar which contains other viewport management functions.

Thanks for the info and the suggestion. I will look into both.

There are several benefits of using quads because of the shortcuts you can use to select things geometrically. Quads allow selecting loops and rings on your geometry which is not simple to do with triangles without making extra calculations and assumptions. This is why swift loop works only on quads. So make an editable poly in quads and in Polygon sub-object mode you can select a quad then SHIFT-Select and adjacent quad to see how the selection grows; or in Edge sub-object mode double-click an edge to see the selection grow. Those shortcuts are only natively possible with quads.

With a triangulated mesh you need to resort to non-native functions that have to make geometric assumptions (as with Swordslayer's Heuristic Edge Select script ).

This generally means that you have planar elements.

The easiest way to fix something like this is along these lines:

• Weld all verts of the Hull
• In Element Sub-Object mode: Click CTR+A to select ALL
• In Element Sub-Object Mode: Alt-Click each element to keep (deselecting it) DO NOT DRAW SELECTION--just CLICK.
• When done, take note of how many polys are selected in Modify tab. Click Delete to remove these unwanted flat polys.

You are not doing anything wrong but there may be a gap in your current understanding. The model importers in WW import either SMD files or MDL files. Those are intermediary exports (SMD) and compiled game asset (MDL). Once an asset leaves the modeling app, it is generally converted into the game-engine formats. In Source all of the assets are triangles. There is no such thing as a Quad (and remember, a Quad is actually two triangles).

There is nothing wrong with triangles. And they do not inhibit proper deformation. But there are benefits of using quads during the modeling process. The thing is that the actual original topology (and quad architecture) is not likely stored in the game engine formats--they only have tris.

For the most part, the MDL loader in max is for simple tasks like reskinning a prop or representing a model in your level. For the most part, the intent of the MDL loader is not to actually do modeling work on them. If you want the actual quads that represented a prop before it was in the game engine, you'll need to contact the asset author/owner.

I am sorry you are having this issue. I will write a macro to load missing prop materials in an update this week.

Important Bug found in latest WW for 2016 and older. It turns out that all of the new UI work I've added to WW recently has broken WW for Max 2016 and older. I will need to make an install of WW for Max 2016 and older with the current WW . If you have older than Max 2017 right now, do not update WW until you've been given the green light. This bug does not affect 2017+ .

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This bug is now fixed in WW Version 3.912+.