Using Props in Your Scene

Posted Mar 3, 2015
Last Updated Nov 7, 2016

While the general advice throughout the Wall Worm documentation is to learn how to create your own assets, there is nothing wrong with re-using the assets from your game. This page give you an overview of using game-provided props.

What Will Export as a Prop

Wall Worm's VMF Exporter will export any object as a prop that meets any one of these conditions unless it's be tagged for exclusion:

  • The object is a WWMT Helper: a prop will export at the position/orientation of the WWMT Helper's root mesh node.
  • The object is a WallWormMDL nodes (Source Models).
  • The object is a WWMT Proxie: a prop will export at the proxie location/orientation of the proxy object.
  • The object has a Point Entity custom attribute applied to it that has a model property (usually labeled "World Model"). Some of these entities include prop_static, prop_dynamic, prop_physics, etc.

When you are creating your assets, and especially for static_props, you will only need to use WWMT Helpers, Proxies and MDL nodes. If you need to control specific attributes to a Proxie, you can apply a Point Entity prop parameters to an object.

Loading an Existing Prop from the Game

To load an existing prop into your scene, you can start with a prop_* entity and load the model's mesh.

  1. Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Level Design > Point Entities.
  2. Select the prop-type from the entity list. For example, select prop_static for props that were compiled with $staticprop.
  3. Enter the World Model name into the World Model list (or click Load MDL File if you have 3ds Max 2015+).
  4. Click the Place Entities button.
  5. Pick the point in the scene where the prop should be placed. (You'll likely see a yellow  (prop_static) or purple (dynamic) cube. This represents the prop until you load a mesh.)
  6. Right-click the viewport to finish adding props to the scene.
  7. Select a prop and open the Modify Tab to change settings on the prop.

Hints and Tips

Orientation Problem

At this time, the MDL Loader does not yet support bones and animations. This means that if the default sequence in a model is rotated or animated, the displayed orientation of the model may not be correct.

Importing Source Assets

This series covers the steps needed to re-use Source assets inside of 3ds Max.

  1. Unpacking GCF and VPK Files
  2. SMD, VTA and QC Importer
  3. Prop Libraries
  4. Using Props in Your Scene

Newsletter Subscription