Wall Worm is a collection of plugins, utilities and scripts for using 3ds Max as a Source Engine Pipeline. It will only work in 3ds Max. Many people use Wall Worm in older versions of Max, but those versions will not get much support, if any, from future developemt. The current recommended version is 3ds Max 2022.3+.

For 3ds Max 2021, there is a major defect with DirectX materials. These are the materials Wall Worm uses for Displacement blend materials. If using Max 2021, you need to install 2021.3 to avoid crashes.

Always download the very latest service pack for your version of Max!

Notes about 3ds Max 2022 compatibility:

Starting in WW 5.9.3, the Wall Worm installer now uses the PluginPackage system for 3ds Max 2022+. The way WW uses the PluginPackages requires you to install 3ds Max 2022.3+. Earlier versions of 2022 will not work with the latest installers. See Missing Icons and Functions in 3ds Max 2022 for more information.

If you cannot afford 3ds Max, you can get a free educational license from Autodesk. That license lasts for three years and is a fully-functional version of Max. For freelancers, there is also now 3ds Max Indie that is a full version of Max available to many people around the world.

Using Older Versions of Max

Wall Worm is actively tested in the current and previous versions of Max. At this time, active development is only for 3ds Max 2022+. Wall Worm does and has worked in previous versions but they are not tested anymore.

Previously Tested Versions

Wall Worm has worked in Max 2008-2021 in the past, but is no longer being tested in those environments.

For 3ds Max 9, you need to have the Avguard MAXScript Extension Package installed and Max 9 Service Pack 2 ... but I cannot speak from personal experience as I never had Max 9.

For 3ds Max 2012, you must install Max 2012 Service Pack 2 or later or the compilers do not run!

Note that the SMD Exporter may not export proper bone weighting when using a Skin modifier on versions of Max prior to 3ds Max 2014.